Lay Theism

Now that I am not consuming a constant stream of right-leaning rhetoric via radio, TV, church, or otherwise, I don’t have the same knee-jerk reaction to “liberal” thinking as I used to.  I now seek a very wide variety of news and information sources (including the occasional conservative rant).  After reading for a while the other night, I ran across this passage by Robert B. Reich on his web site:

Liberalism is the opposite of fanaticism. We cherish tolerance. We value deliberation. We respect rational argument. We oppose all forms of tyranny. We have faith — and it is nothing but faith — that, in the end, they won’t be able to drown us out, because common sense and common decency are on our side.

What I find interesting about this quote is that it should apply to all people… this is not an extremist viewpoint owned by the left.  It’s a humanist point-of-view.  It’s the way it should be.

The older I get, and the more I study the human condition, the more tolerant I am… the more thoughtful. However, he is not quite right – replace Liberalism above with Humanism (or even Atheism) and then we are getting somewhere.  I think there are opportunists and idiots on both extremes of the left and right. I find that the folks in The Great Middle are the ones that respect human rights and liberty regardless of personal beliefs, ethnic background, or lifestyle.  The people that I know that strongly identify with either conservatives or liberals tend to be judgmental, closed-minded, dogmatic goofballs.

And, switching gears, I’ll go out on a limb and say that “The Great Middle” is the slice of our US population that is going to elect Senator John McCain as the next President of the United States.  Why a Mormon and an Evangelical Christian thought they were electable illustrates what a bubble they live in.  And on the left, Barack Obama is just too far to the left… and we won’t even talk about Hillary Clinton.  That leaves the most “moderate” candidate standing at the end of the day.

Congratulations extremists on both sides!  You’ve chosen our next Commander in Chief.

Nicely done Atheist Revolution and Hopeful Spirit for collaborating on the Christian Blog Carnival.  Atheist Revolution quotes Hopeful Spirit as quoting Atheist Revolution as follows:

Kudos to Christian blogger, Hopeful Spirit of On the Horizon for including my post, “Doubting Your Faith?” in The Seventh Day blog carnival. Hopeful’s rationale for including the post?

Why is a post from an atheist included in a blog carnival hosted at a Christian site? Because the philosophy here at On the Horizon is and always will be “radical inclusivity.” Christians are called to love everyone, including — and many would say especially — our atheist and agnostic brothers and sisters. The author included this description when submitting his article to the carnival:

This post asks Christians who are doubting their faith to consider a possibility that may be new to them - the possibility that their doubt is a healthy reflection of their rational mind trying to break free from superstition to experience genuine meaning.

Here’s an opportunity for Christian and nonbelieving readers to engage in a meaningful dialogue!

If you are interested in this sort of dialogue, check out the carnival and let them know you were there.

I couldn’t resist.

I noticed this book on my recommended list on Amazon:

• The Book Your Church* Doesn’t Want You to Read
  (* Or Synagogue, Temple, Mosque…)

It reminded me that Christianity was created by our ancestors around 100 generations ago from some of the favorite stories and yarns of that time.  Religious authors took their cues from popular culture and wrote down various versions of the stories being passed and certainly added their own flair.  This is partly why the Bible is contradicatory and inconsistent… it’s not the divine word of God magically transcribed by prophets.  It’s just oral traditional written down by different authors. 

It’s worth reading the first few pages regardless of your point of view.  If you are religious, take a look at the excerpt (scroll to page 28 for the best reading).  After all, you weren’t born a believer, so you may not always be one.  You owe it to yourself to think for yourself.  For instance, I was typically childlike in my thinking up to about age 11 – a good Sunday school kid that sang “Jesus Loves Me” and believed what I was taught (including Santa Claus, Tooth Fairy, etc.).  By the time I was 12, I was baptized and a believer because it seemed like that’s what good Christian boys did.  By 15, I was proselytizing regularly.  By 17, I was acting as a typical hypocritical Christian teenager.  By my early 20s, I started to examine life and the world more critically.  Now in my 40s, I realize that these are all tales told by men, abused by many, and something we would be better off without. 

And what of all the other children in the world born at the same time as I, but to Muslim families, or Hindu, or Buddhist, or Navajo, or Nuer???  Are they all doomed to an afterlife in hell just because they were not fortunate enough to be born to Christian parents?  I don’t think so.  This was organized religion’s undoing for me.  This premise made no sense and caused me to question faith in religion or god.  Why would one (or any) be the right one? 

Easy answer?  They are all wrong.

Start living this life.  It’s the only one you have.

Oh, and if you need guidance for how to live your life, start with The Golden Rule — you’ll be impressed how far that can take you.