Lay Theism

In light of Tony Snow’s untimely death today, I think this piece he wrote not quite a year ago for Christianity Today is pretty sad:

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2007/july/25.30.html

To believe in something so fervently just to bring comfort to yourself and your loved ones about the pain, suffering, worry, and randomness of such events makes no sense. Even some of the passages seem written to convince the reader (and maybe even the writer) that his beliefs are not just fantasy.

Blessings arrive in unexpected packages—in my case, cancer.

Seriously?

Those of us with potentially fatal diseases—and there are millions in America today—find ourselves in the odd position of coping with our mortality while trying to fathom God’s will.

Uh, yeah… it’s certainly a challenge to discern “God’s Will” in a plan that includes as much death, disease, and destruction as His apparently does.  Just because people find strength through adversity does not mean there is a grand design or a designer.  In fact, I would suggest that this is direct evidence that there is NOT.

Although it would be the height of presumption to declare with confidence What It All Means, Scripture provides powerful hints and consolations.

OK, this is a problem.  Hints?  Consolations?  If I were all powerful and had left behind a book that was to give My most intelligent creatures some indication of my design, I might do better than vague hints and worthless consolations.  The bible is such a inconsistent mess, it’s hard to believe anything sensible can be gleaned from it. 

I don’t know why I have cancer, and I don’t much care. It is what it is—a plain and indisputable fact. Yet even while staring into a mirror darkly, great and stunning truths begin to take shape. Our maladies define a central feature of our existence: We are fallen. We are imperfect. Our bodies give out.

Here’s where a believer’s logic completely breaks down.  If it is “The Will of God” that you have cancer, why are you seeking a cure?! It’s God’s Will! Quit trying to alter God’s blessing for you. Even worse, these great and stunning truths were already there before you had cancer.  You were mortal before you had cancer. Why is it after these awakenings that people decide to live their life differently or more purposefully?

Love is free, and if you aren’t getting plenty of it, then you are not living right. Experiencing love without God getting the credit is wonderful. It focuses the energy and directs the action… it’s all you.  There is no other force behind your life.  Whatever you do with and for others is entirely your free will.  That’s what makes it so amazing.

Now get off the Internet, and go hug your kids, or kiss your wife, or walk your dog… Go tell someone that you love that you love them, especially if that’s not something you say frequently.

Truth conquers all…  I wish.  Clearly this is one of those maxims that requires its own brand of faith to believe.  The difficulty of the problem is compounded by the sheer number of “truth-tellers” that do little else than to spread myths, half-truths, and downright lies. 

I certainly have faith that this human race will slowly become enlightened.  The number of rational thinkers currently on this little blue marble FAR outnumber those at any prior period in human history… and that number continues to increase not just in absolute terms, but also in relative terms.

That’s all I have for today… thanks for reading.  Incidentally, do me a favor and let me know you stopped in by dropping me a comment.  I enjoy doing this for the cathartic effect, but wouldn’t mind an intelligent discourse on occasion as well.  Cheers!

I wrote a while back about the inadequacy of the study by Bruce Hunsberger and Altemeyer of non-believers entitled Atheists.  In fact, the subtitle of their book is at best misleading because of the focus on the atheists in only three samples. Their surveys were very well written, but their samples were terrible. But that was another day (more here).

Today, I want to point out an impressive study with a strong methodology, large sample (35,000), and fascinating conclusions.  The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life has just completed a tremendous survey of religion in the United States and has revealed exactly what I suspected (emphasis mine):

More than one-quarter of American adults (28%) have left the faith in which they were raised in favor of another religion - or no religion at all. If change in affiliation from one type of Protestantism to another is included, 44% of adults have either switched religious affiliation, moved from being unaffiliated with any religion to being affiliated with a particular faith, or dropped any connection to a specific religious tradition altogether.

The survey finds that the number of people who say they are unaffiliated with any particular faith today (16.1%) is more than double the number who say they were not affiliated with any particular religion as children.

My guess is that religion is NOT supplying the answers that people seek.  How can it?  It’s mythology. All religions were completely, 100% dreamt up my men… typically primitive men desperate for explanations regarding tragedy and natural phenomena. 

As more information becomes available via the Internet, our 250+ channels, modern schooling, book stores, etc., people will have more and more difficulty reconciling truth and reality with ancient texts.  Another highlight of the study includes the numbers of “Unaffiliated”. 

Hey, there I am!  I like the description “Secular Unaffiliated”.  How cool is that?  The term Atheist always gives me heartburn because it seems to be used almost like a weapon… for shock and awe. It certainly cuts to the chase. Although, almost anything is better than “bright” - oh, please…

I am not sure what “Religious Unaffiliated” means, but in the future, I would rather see a category called Non-Believer or Non-Theist, and I’m happy to join the atheists there.  I know there is really no distinction between my non-belief and atheism, but note that only 1.6% were comfortable identifying as the latter. 

It’s one of those weird things… when you find that you are an atheist… because it is essentially impossible for you to believe in the claims of religion – you have no choice of succinct label.  Once you are at the point of non-belief, you are, in fact, an a-theist.  HOWEVER, many people (ahem, present company included) still have trouble identifying with that lot.  I have found when it comes right down to picking the words that come out of my mouth when asked (what I am) are “non-believer”. That quickly turns to “You’re an ATHEIST?!” (typically with significantly increased volume on the respondent’s part). To which I must reply, “Yeah, I guess I am.” Then, because I am choosy about the company I keep and allowing the conversation to steer into that area, we usually proceed to have an intelligent conversation.

I know this veered off into “me” territory, but I think this survey is strongly indicative of the unraveling of organized religion, which is exactly what happened to me.  And, unlike over the last several millenia, once the genie is out of the bottle this time, no one will be able to put him back.

As an aside, great post from Majikthise.

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.