What to Believe?

A Different View of Religion...

[responding to atheists] [tolerance and open-mindedness] [faith / reason/ experience]

Responding to Atheists

Consider a spectrum of religious beliefs (using Christianity as an example):

    I KNOW there is no god and anyone else is superstitious, weak, mentally ill, etc.
    I doubt there is no god
    I don't know if there is a god
    If there is/was a god - it does not care about us or has died (Death of God theology after the Holocaust)
    ...
    I believe or hope there is a god and respect the teachings of Jesus
    I believe in something like the Christian God but have many doubts about the details
    I worship the Christian God and accept the Bible as a tool to guide me
    I KNOW the one true God and know the answer to every difficult question and anyone else
       is following Satan, evil, unenlightened, etc.

If you are at either end of the belief spectrum, I'm sort of stunned you made it this far. That is, if you KNOW there is no god - or if you know there is one, true God and know the one correct way to understand the Bible, etc. - why are you bothering?

If you are not completely closed-minded with regards to things like the existence of God, the nature of religion, etc., I would like to respond to Mr. Jager's paragraph:

"The problem I see with religion is that it passes on information from generation to generation and believed as fact that does not make any sense. Virgin births, rising from the dead, living in the belly of a fish for three days and three nights, talking snakes, talking asses, talking to invisible beings (praying) and the sun standing still in the sky just does not make any sense -- yet it is believed by millions of Christians. People who talk to, or hear invisible beings talking to them are delusional and should be in a mental hospital, yet Christians who talk to, or hear invisible beings talk to them are sane? What is wrong with this picture?Millions of Christians constantly beg (pray) for special favors from their invisible friends. Yet, all that begging has not ended hunger, poverty, wars, or stopped any disasters (man made, or natural)."

as well as to the kinds of things you are likely to encounter on atheist or free-thinking sites.

There are four points that the paragraph implies:

Religion is passed on from generation-to-generation. Well, so are science, morality, music, etc. I find it analogous to learning about love - we ask and watch our parents for information, we reject most of it, we re-learn their lessons, we pass them on. Like love, some of our parents may have warped views and pass them on - doesn't mean that love doesn't exist or is evil.
Miracles are unbelievable. This is what we call circular logic: God is impossible -> miracles are impossible -> God is impossible. Once you drop the premise and consider the possibility of a Creator God - how can you accept that as a possibility and then deny a specific miracle? But let's consider evolution... Now I tend to think that science has it right - the world is older than implied by the Old Testament and man was a relatively recent innovation. You can be (I am) a Christian and still believe that the Bible has great value - I view the creation story as a useful analogy. I also have no problem with someone who believes the story literally - a Creator God is supposed to be incapable of creating the world with a created fossil record that helps us learn about the possibilities of evolution? I see no evidence that Jesus cares about my beliefs on the literal truth of the Bible, my views on creation, or any of the miracles Mr. Jager sites. I do know that all of the Bible stories have things to teach me - if only I am willing to listen.

One of the beautiful things about any religion is that it opens you up to the possibilities of miracles. Far from religion making you close-minded - what could be more open-minded than to admit that things may happen that one cannot explain or understand?
Invisible "friends" - This is another use of BAD logic (someone help me with the Latin term). Johnny exhibits behavior A and is insane, Mary exhibits behavior A, therefore Mary is insane. More fundamentally, this drastically misstates the relationship most Christians have with God. Talking to God is 99% prayer - see below. Hearing God happens in many, many ways - probably the least common is actually hearing God speak directly to you. Most people "hear" God by reading the Bible, by experiencing nature, by looking at a situation more thoroughly and with thought as to how one's behavior might contribute to or help diminish a given problem, by re-examining motives, through dreams, etc. And if you want to say that it is not God but my subconscious mind that answers me - well, Thank God for my subconscious mind and for answering me through it!
Prayer is useless - it does not work. I guess surgery is worthless - people still die. Much more importantly, this misunderstands the nature of prayer.   God knows what we want before we do - prayer is not for His benefit or to suggest what He should do (people who pray are not like the nagging spouse - "Honey, could you pick up... I wish you would..."). Prayer does the following things:

a) Focus our thoughts on what is important and our role in accomplishing it.
      ("Please let me pass this test" is answered more frequently when we study!)
b) Provide a moment to slow down and reflect.
c) Open our minds to the possibilities of miracles and answered prayers.
d) Encourage humility.
e) Encourage feeling thankful for what we do have.
f) Remind us that no matter how bad things get (no matter how many prayers go unanswered),
   there is hope - there are lessons to be learned - we should prepare for and be ready to accept
   the next good thing.
g) Encourage us to be honest with ourselves (and God).

Mr. Jager and others have used events like 9/11 to question Christians - and think the questions are unanswerable. Well, in a sense they are - Christians are taught that trying to understand God is (understandably!) difficult / foolish - and that judging God is just plain wrong. But we are given LOTS of models to help us understand. God may be working through history to change the world - we see examples of that throughout the Old Testament. God is available to provide comfort - to those who went through the experience and to survivors. God allows humans free will - and allows us to experience the consequences. Christians are called to forgive and to try to understand how our actions and inactions may have contributed to the evil in the world. It seems to me that Christians have a much richer framework in which to understand and react to events like 9/11 than do atheists...

[responding to atheists] [tolerance and open-mindedness] [faith / reason/ experience]

Tolerance and Open-Mindedness

It is true that people on the extremes of the scale above can exhibit close-mindedness and intolerance. Christians are often criticized for some terrible things that have been done in Christ's name.

First off, hatred is incompatible with Christianity. The primary commandment is to love. Further, Christ gave a model of how to spread the word - you do so by example and by speaking openly with people who are willing to hear. You do not mistreat those who do not want to hear - you walk away. Christians how display intolerance and hatred are arguably not Christians.

What is a Christian to make of other religions? After all, didn't Jesus say "I am the Way"? Well, Christianity is the only way for me. That message is important for me and its truth is self-evident to me. Christianity answers all the questions and worries that I have - it sings to my soul - and God has specifically encouraged me to follow that path. Does that mean that God has never had a relationship with people in different ways? Does it mean He does not continue to do so? I can't see how I can answer that question. Gandhi was clearly not a Christian - did he have a relationship with God? Would I question or criticize God if in His wisdom he defined many paths to a relationship? Could even atheism be considered a relationship with God? (the rebelling teenager is still a daughter or son).

No, I don't reject other religions. I don't say other Christians have it wrong (though I may explain why certain practices or beliefs do not speak to me). I don't say other religions have it wrong - I say seek out God, seek out a relationship with God. Do it any way you can- here is what I tried and why and here are the results but you try what speaks to your soul. Keep trying until you find a peaceful and joyful relationship with God. Mr. Jager (and other atheists) do not threaten my beliefs when they point out the many different faces of Christianity or of religion in general.

[responding to atheists] [tolerance and open-mindedness] [faith / reason/ experience]

Faith / Reason/ Experience

There are people who grow up in a particular version of a particular religion and stick with it. The Bible even provides us with an example (Timothy) and we speak of Timothy Christians when we are talking about someone raised in the faith. But there are also Paul Christians - people who embrace Christianity but only after a life-changing event. And there are people across the spectrum.

While I was raised in a (Methodist) Christian church, it didn't really take. I sort of knew there is a God - but not one who really cared about us as individuals and certainly not one you could read about and form a relationship with. Then a miracle happened and I knew that not only did God exist - he cared! Still, no particular religion called out to me.

Finally, a series of events drove me to the brink of suicide and I finally reached out to God - praying/begging for years for some sign or relief. Eventually, I felt surrounded by messages that cried out, "Give Christianity a chance". I took some baby steps and said, "God, I will take some steps if this is what You want for me...". And God answered my prayers and gradually gave me back my life - the one I had been wasting and ruining without His help. And there is a new life waiting for me - the life He really wants for me - if I just stop stubbornly clinging to the existing shell of a life.

Religion - particularly Christianity - may involve any of the three things above in varying degrees. Some are raised in religion and their belief may be largely faith-based. Some come to religion via reason. Some come by experience. All Christians benefit by being open to the possibility of experiencing God - not necessarily in a spoken word or a burning bush, but POSSIBLY.

If you are open to the possibility that God does exist and does care about you, I urge you to reach out to God. Read the New Testament, attend a church - attend as many as it takes to find the right one, interact with fellow Christians. Or, if Christianity does not help you find a relationship with God, research and try some other way. Seek to find God - I guarantee it will change your life.

[responding to atheists] [tolerance and open-mindedness] [faith / reason/ experience]

email me at doug@hardts.net

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