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.

I really like SOF (Speaking of Faith) on NPR Sunday mornings (yes, really). Krista Tippett has the good fortune to interview the most interesting people, and today it was Kate Braestrup. She serves as chaplain to the Maine Game Warden Service to support and comfort those that experience loss or tragedy in the Maine wilderness. A Unitarian Universalist minister, she is called upon to support search-and-rescue missions when children disappear in the woods or when snowmobilers disappear under the ice. I like her theology, which she says has become simpler over the years. She sums up her theology as “God is Love”. I am just a small baby step beyond her in that I refuse to include “God” in the whole idea of love. The way she presents her beliefs reduces to a semantic argument that certainly doesn’t require God to remain a wonderful idea.

The show’s producer, Colleen Scheck, makes an excellent point that has nothing whatsoever to do with theology, faith, or spirituality:

I love this week’s program with Kate Braestrup, chaplain to the game warden service in Maine. Simply, her practical theology just makes sense to me — a daily translation of spirituality into caring, useful, deliberate action.

Although, I am not as commited as the full-time chaplain, my wife and I spend most of our free time in the mode of caring, useful, deliberate action. Certainly, Kate, of all people, sees enough random tragedy that much of it makes little sense (if any). What impresses her is the “miracle” of people wanting to help. Every time there is tragedy, people appear to assist in any way they can… out of love for their fellow man. She indicated this to be the essence of love (and God) that she feels to be so profound. I agree… except (once again), this has nothing to do with God. I may be oversimplifying her point-of-view, but not much.

Why is it that people insist on a divine explanation for compassion, beauty, love, weather, etc.? We can all save ourselves a giant leap of faith by embracing life as it is, without the spooky magic and mysticism. The framework of theology simply is not required… in fact, it adds an inordinate amount of unnecessary noise to the process.

Although, would she be as revered if she were an atheist/agnostic psychologist serving the exact same role?

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.

The meaning of life is simple:

You have been granted a single life. You may choose to do with your life anything that you like. You give life meaning by choosing what you want to do with it.

That’s it… You, and only you, give your life its meaning.  It’s that simple.

What I find deeply meaningful and satisfying may be of little interest to you. Similarly, the things you cherish most in life may bore me to tears. Generally speaking, however, I would say that most people, including myself, find family relationships to be among life’s most meaningful aspects. But I respect others who might disagree with what I find most meaningful. The error in searching for one common meaning of life is to assume that every human being is wired the same way and sees the world the same. Every individual is different, and has a perfect right to be different.

What should you do with your life? You should pick whatever it is that you believe in, or whatever it is that makes you happy, or whatever it is that is most important to you, or whatever it is that you most enjoy doing. Then you should work to make it happen. Choose the thing or things that you want to do with your single, unique, precious, human life, and make those things happen.

It does not matter what it is that you choose to do — do whatever is important to you:

• If it is saving the environment, then go do that
• If it is making beautiful art for yourself and other to enjoy, do that
• If it is finding a cure for cancer, go do that
• If it is making a film about something that you feel strongly, do it
• If it is entertaining people to brighten their lives, go do that
• If it is making lots of money so that you can buy more stuff, go do that

And so on…

So how do we give life meaning? It is about loving and being loved. It is about helping and being helped. It is about giving and receiving, asking and accepting. It is about working with other people and allowing them to work with you. Life is about dreaming of something better, and then making it happen. Life’s meaning is about what we do today and tomorrow with the time we have available. It comes in thinking about that time — that precious moment that is your life — and making the most of it in a way that is unique to you.

The fact is that you, and only you, give your life its own, personal meaning. You can choose to do absolutely anything you like. Each life is unique to the human being who designs it, and the way you define your life’s meaning is up to you. This is how it always has been, and how it always will be. 

You can give your life whatever meaning you want. Pick whatever it is that is important to you. Decide what you think you can do to help your fellow human beings move forward, and then go do it in whatever way that you think is appropriate. It is your life and it lasts about 30,000 days if you’re lucky — make the most of it. 

Adapted from “Why Doesn’t God Heal Amputees?“

I thought I would try something here… 

A Beliefometer!  Let me know if you think I have it close.  I’m afraid I may have the labels all wrong.  And where do Televangelists go?  What about that Catholic girl you knew in high school that smoked weed and screwed everything in sight, but confessed weekly? 

So, basically, Atheist = Absolute Zero and the real nutballs that would kill or die strictly for their religious dogma (vs. say dying for freedom or liberty) would be, for example, Islamic Jihadists = 100.  Then you have all the zombies in between… the folks that go through life never really questioning the odd traditions that they were brought up with.  The Sunday/Wednesday Christians (very popular with the Southern Baptists), the Cussin’ Christians (it’s OK to say ‘Fuck’… WHAT!?  It’s just a word.  It’s not like I said goddammit), the don’t-want-to-go-to-hell Easter Only Christians, and all the rest. 

Comments?  Suggestions?

Or, maybe this was just a weird idea and I should scrap the whole thing.