Our Thoughts About God

This image sums the first of many questions I asked myself when I began my spiritual journey over 7 years ago.

"Our thoughts about God are just that: thoughts about God. They are not God. They approximate God. This includes the thoughts, now written, of the biblical writers and all theologians since. All their thoughts and all their writings are not God, but approximations of God." -David Haward (You can see more of David's work here.)

This was when I began to differentiate between my thoughts and what God is. How I define God is just that, my definition. To embrace the idea that our thoughts are just approximation carries with it a humbling affect. It allows me to understand how someone else may view and define God (or anything else for that matter) differently. God then becomes malleable (a playdoh god, maybe?)  able to change shape and grow depending on the viewer. This tells us more about ourselves than it does about God herself granting us another window into the heart of our neighbor. Is there a God beyond our personal playdoh god? Sure, why not, who knows. Does it matter? That depends how important it is to you for your thoughts about God to be real.

This is something most people don't readily think about because it introduces a sliver of doubt on what they consider to be the foundation of their beliefs. But doubt is not the "gateway drug" which leads down the slippery road to Atheism, it is a constructive tool which helps us analyze our beliefs. Analyzing what we believe helps us to better understand why we believe the things we believe. Would you rather accept a belief system you simply inherited from your parents and/or environment or would you like the chance to choose what you believe for yourself? In the end we decide what religion to follow (or not follow), which house of worship to attend, and what spiritual practices to practice. In the end we make our choices based on our thoughts after weighing the evidence we analyzed. Now multiply that process by several billion people and it becomes clear that our thoughts about God are simply that, our thoughts.

Defending God

I've been gone for quite a while mostly busy with school but I thought I'd share something I came across again yesterday. Andrew Hackman, from Hackman's Musings, shared this verse on Facebook.

And the Lord said, " “Follow him through the city and kill, without showing pity or compassion. 6 Slaughter the old men, the young men and women, the mothers and children, but do not touch anyone who has the mark. Begin at my sanctuary.” So they began with the old men who were in front of the temple. ~ Ezekiel 9:5-6

How does this verse make you feel? Are your initial thoughts to defend or oppose it? What if we made some minor changes to the verse like the following:

And Allah said, " “Follow him through the city and kill, without showing pity or compassion. 6 Slaughter the old men, the young men and women, the mothers and children, but do not touch anyone who has the mark. Begin at my sanctuary.” So they began with the old men who were in front of the temple. ~ The Holy Quran sura 9:5-6

Does that make a difference? Would you defend one more so than the other, or do you find them both abhorrent? What if I tied these words to Hitler? Would it make a difference if we added context to each of these scenarios? What if we explained that the residents of the city needed to be exterminated or else they would continue to commit heinous crimes against humanity?

The words themselves regardless of the source are abhorrent, period.  The issue some people struggle with is what to do about the source. If the source is someone (or some group/institution) you identify with what do you do with a verse/quote promoting genocide? What does that verse/quote tell you about the source? Are your tribal loyalties so important to you that you would defend the source regardless of what he/she/it may say?

If you can work out some clever double think so that your source stays innocent and blameless while promoting something as sicking as genocide AND still be able to sleep at night, then I applaud your skills in mental gymnastics. I, on the other hand, can not look at a verse like this without feeling sick. Opposing this verse doesn't mean I throw out the Bible entirely or despise the religion (or the believers) around it. I just can't believe in a deity which calls for genocide in one verse and then promises showers of blessings and love in the next. It is the image of a barbecue-obsessed deity, who demands obedience or blood, that I have rejected after many years struggling with questions brought up by reading the rarely mentioned parts of the Bible. Studying the Bible in-depth is what set me on the path to the conclusions I've reached today. (Although, I wouldn't mind grilling with Thor.)

The "Dangers" of Being Open to Other Beliefs

What's better than a great question you can mentally wrestle with for hours?

The questions which come from attempting to answer the first one.

Andrew Hackman, of Hackman's Musings (jeez, if I continue mentioning this guy any more in my posts I may come across as a stalker), shared on Facebook a gem of a question, along with this comic, I'd like to pass on to you like the flu. I hope I infect you.

"What if you expected yourself to be as open to another faith as you desire others to be open to yours?" 

This question is geared more towards people who believe they already have the truth and want to share their truth with you. Of course they'd rather not have you share back, evangelism can't work if you're BOTH open-minded. Dialoguing with another person is a great way to get infected with foreign ideas and concepts.

But what really are the dangers of exposing yourself to other beliefs? If you have confidence your faith will not waiver by a handful of words what harm will come by simply listening to others? If anything it can be a good test of your faith. If a thought provoking conversation with an unbeliever causes your spiritual knees to wobble then wouldn't you want to discover why? Not everyone is born to the faith they follow, at one point in their life they may have made a decision to follow their current beliefs, they were once open to then foreign beliefs and ideas. Why stop there? Why stop being curious?

A believer's easy answer would be "I have the truth now so everything else is irrelevant", but that answer doesn't cut it for me. I believe in the insatiable curiosity of humankind and our desire to connect with one another. To crush or hinder that spirit saddens me and, in my opinion, feels like you willingly accept to entrap yourself in a cage in hopes of receiving a false sense of hope and security in a chaotic universe. The universe is fluid, it keeps changing, evolving, and growing, so what makes us think we don't change as well? As an Agnostic/SBNR (ugh, I despise labels) I try to expose myself to a wide variety of beliefs (which there ain't too much here in the South) because I find religion and spirituality are beautiful expressions of our humanity. The language of religion, stories, and rituals gives us a way to connect with one another, so exposing myself to other beliefs helps me to connect to more of my global neighbors.

Being open minded to other beliefs doesn't mean you HAVE to agree with others, it means being attentive and actually listen to what others are sharing. Wrestle with it, find the commonality and the differences between you and the foreign beliefs. Most importantly, again in my opinion, find out the why behind what they believe is important to them. When you discover that your global neighbor shares in similar hopes, dreams, and fears you will find that we are all cut from the same cloth, or if you prefer, molded from the same clay.

Do I Offend?

Religion is a touchy subject, it has its pitfalls but it also has those beautiful awe inspiring moments found in the stories they tell. When I speak about those stories I do so with full respect to the people who place their faith in them.  I'm not here to pull the rug from under anyone's feet, that's counter productive. I do however shine a light on the evils caused by men using religion to carry out their unjust deeds. Even Agnostics have morals and values, we're just as human as everyone else. Every now and then I'll write a post or make a passing comment related to religion which causes a Facebook friend to "delete" me, or I find myself on the receiving end of a long winded speech as to how I'm going to Hell. These don't phase me anymore I just find it curious as to why people find it necessary to act this way. First,  I do become a bit discouraged that a long time friend would sever our digital friendship over a difference of opinion/belief since social networking sites is the main way I keep in touch with many of my friends. (A busy stay at home dad working to finish a M.S. on a tight budget doesn't get out to socialize much.) So unless I run into them by chance at the grocery store I may never see them again. (By this point I realize that if they get THAT offended over a string of words we weren't very good friends to begin with.) Second, threatening me with eternal torment in Hell is like threatening me with a flock of evil, flying (but decently dressed) monkeys. I'd just find it amusing.

So I asked myself, how did I offend others? Was it my choice in words? Was it the method in which they were delivered? Was it the message itself? Or was it simply because I'm on the "wrong team"? I'm a fairly friendly person, so much so that my wife says I'd be friendly to Hitler. I don't go around spouting hate either. What I've concluded ( those offended please correct me if I'm wrong) is that I'm simply batting for the wrong team. Once you're seen as the "enemy" all sorts of walls go up. Some will try to convince you to come over to their team so that they won't have to view you as the enemy. Others will cut off all interaction so that they don't become infected with your beliefs. Either way things change, people change. And as we enter into a new year let us ask ourselves how we will change? Will your changes make a difference in the lives of others? Or will your walls seclude yourself from others causing you to fear them?

Surviving "The End"

So with another doomsday come and gone I thought I would bring up some questions I've been pondering.We've survived several lesser known doomsdays from "prophets" as we neared the Mayan 2012 apocalypse. I never believed anything would happen on 12/21/12 but now that it's passed without a bang will people fall for these doomsday predictions again? With the most well known doomsday come and gone I believe (and hope) people will be less willing to lend an ear to the boys who cry wolf. There will always be more prophets heralding the end, and more charlatans preying on the fears of the people. Which brings me to my next question: how will this affect the belief in end time prophecies of religious believers? Will they continue to believe in their prophecies because the Mayan apocalypse was a false, secular prophecy? Or will this cause them to question their eschatology?  Will this also lead to questioning their beliefs in Heaven, Hell, and the afterlife?

Feel free to chim in with your thoughts. I hope to get some feedback from religious believers who've been affected by the passing of this non-event.

Conversations with Ourselves: Making Sense of It All

Throughout this series the core theme I want to get across is the importance of asking questions. Questions allows us to explore and create within our vast universe. And as we explore, our interconnectedness to each other and the universe is strengthened. But living with all these questions rattling around in your head can be unnerving especially when you're trying to make sense of it all. On the surface, questions don't offer an immediate peace of mind. This is why people gravitate towards religion which offers answers to many of life's questions. I'm OK with religion being used in this manner even though some would say it is a crutch. Sometimes life is too hard to deal with and there is no shame in believing in something to help you through life's obstacles. What I am against is people bashing others in the head with their "crutch". You can't serve love on a plate of hate.

So how do we make sense of it all? How do we make sense of life with a bag of unanswerable questions or, worse yet, questions which leads to other questions? What has helped me in my personal journey is coming to terms with the chaos of life and knowing that we are already There.



People desperately seek out a constant state of happiness, they want to know that everything will be OK. They want the assurance that nothing will go wrong, they want control over the future. But no matter how hard you struggle no one's future is ever secured. (And in terms of Christianity and the afterlife, no knows for sure that they will go to Heaven, they can only hope and believe they will.) So what then? Do we go through life a nervous wreak waiting for the axe to fall at any moment? That would be as pointless as a dog chasing its own tail! Once we come to the understanding that life is full of chaos and we stop trying to control the uncontrollable we can begin living. Shit happens. Life is full of ups AND downs. Instead, we should surround ourselves with good friends and family to celebrate the ups and to comfort each other during the downs.

It is easier, and much more interesting, for me to live with the questions than accept a prepackaged answer. Questions help you connect with the world around you, they help you to grow spiritually, mentally, and emotionally. They help us to discover and embrace our humanity more fully. So sit back relax with a few good friends and enjoy the moments we have on this pale blue dot.

Part 1) Conversations with Ourselves: The Question
Part 2) Conversations with Ourselves: The Internal Struggle
Part 3) Conversations with Ourselves: The External Struggle
Part 4) Conversations with Ourselves:  Reflections on Who We Were
Part 5) Conversations with Ourselves: Making Peace with Chaos
Part 6) Conversations with Ourselves: Making Sense of It All

Conversations with Ourselves: Making Peace with Chaos

One of the most frightening things about my journey into the realm of endless questions is the chaos. For Christians, or any believer,  their faith grounds them to a tangible answer, it can give hope during chaos. But even then some of those religious answers don't make any sense especially when bad things happen to good people. How then do we deal with chaos?

A believer would hold on tighter to their foundation, to their god, and hope and pray for the best. If things go their way they thank god for watching over them and move on, if not then the most likely acceptable answer is that god had different plans for them. This mentality exempts you from really dealing with the chaos of life. As long as god is in control you don't have to face the chaos of life, you don't have any real reason to empathize with the suffering of others because god is in control of their lives. Whatever happens is suppose to happen for a greater plan (which begs the question why even pray during hard times when your suffering might be a part of The Plan?). This was one of the breaking points which caused me to drift away from Christianity. I absolutely can not accept that human suffering is "good" and necessary in fulfilling a divine plan. Any suffering is just that, suffering. But instead of wishing it away or hoping that an invisible, silent god (who apparently thought it OK for you to suffer) would take the pain away, we should be seeking out a more human approach. We should support each other even if we're powerless to help, sitting silently with those in pain does more good than a powerful, silent god.

The best visual example of the struggle with chaos is in the 2009 dark comedy film by the Coen brothers, A Serious Man, a film about a physics professor, Larry Gopnik, whose life begins to crumble around him even though he's been a good man, a serious man.



It was a difficult transition moving from a reliance on a silent god towards making peace with chaos. There were many low points in my life where I truly wanted to wish/pray things away. But that wouldn't have solved the problem nor helped me to deal with my emotions.  I feel this transition has strengthened my empathy towards my global neighbor as well. And as we strengthen our relationships with our global neighbor the easier it gets to face the unknown. Where once I simply blamed the troubles of a stranger on their lack of faith I now realize that the rain does indeed fall on the just and unjust. So why not reach out and share an umbrella?


Part 1) Conversations with Ourselves: The Question
Part 2) Conversations with Ourselves: The Internal Struggle
Part 3) Conversations with Ourselves: The External Struggle
Part 4) Conversations with Ourselves:  Reflections on Who We Were
Part 5) Conversations with Ourselves: Making Peace with Chaos
Part 6) Conversations with Ourselves: Making Sense of It All

Conversations with Ourselves- The Internal Struggle

In part one of this self reflection series I had talked a bit about what I love about self reflection and the creative sacred space born from asking questions. (On a side note before I get too far I have a copy of The Sacredness of Questioning Everything by David Dark which I believe relates to what I'm talking about but I have not gotten a chance to reading it yet. Will dust it off as soon as I finish reading Cloud Atlas.) The courage to even ask any question which may challenge the faith of your parents is a HUGE step in it of itself. Asking questions doesn't mean you are betraying God, your faith, or even jeopardizing your place in the here after.  Questioning your beliefs merely means you want to explore your spirituality, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. If you're a part of a religious community then your spiritual leaders will most likely say that asking certain questions may lead you astray. The "believe what we tell you, ask only the appropriate questions" should fire off all sorts of alarms in your head. If it doesn't then you're not ready to ask, explore, discover your own spirituality if you allow others to decide your spiritual life.

[Litany Against Fear by Gavin Aung Than, you MUST click here and see the entire Litany Against Fear cartoon at Zen Pencils. Incredibly inspiring.]

I'm not advocating leaving your faith altogether but to recover the reins to your own spirituality. If you can make the decision to choose which house of worship to attend then why can't you decide the boundaries of your spirituality? Any relationship which requires certain unflinching, unquestioning loyalty is bound to cause pain. If you see God as the source of unconditional love, why then are there conditions to receive and experience that love? You must believe X or God will love you if... are conditions, plain and simple. Some will say that God loves everyone, but then continue with you must accept God into your heart or you must accept Jesus' sacrifice, etc, etc. But what happens when you begin to question the religious teachings that surround that unconditional love? What happens when certain events lead you to question your relationship with the divine all together? What happens when you just can't accept any of it?

How do you struggle with the questions which may unravel what you believe to be foundational to your human experience? It's difficult, I believe even more so than the external battle with friends and family members who may not agree with all this self discovery. For me it eventually turned into a spiritual practice. To sit and meditate on who we are and the enormous creative potential of who we can be is very spiritually rewarding. And that's the clincher, what's keeping you from discovering yourself? Is it fear of the unknown, fear of what others may think of you, fear of what you may discover, fear of becoming something/someone else, or fear of losing your beliefs? All of these hurdles include fear, but we must not be a slave to fear. Although I don't pray I do recite the following prayer before a test, interview, etc.:

The Litany Against Fear

I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer.
Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my fear.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where the fear has gone there will be nothing.
Only I will remain.

This is recited by an order of women called the Bene Gesserit in Frank Herbert's science fiction Dune universe. It's a bit silly to recite a science fiction prayer to battle the fear of something like an exam. A string of words is not going to help me ace the test, so why recite it? To help remind myself that the prayer is just as silly, hollow, and weak as fear itself. The questions you are afraid to ask are just a string of words.  They are not incantations to a spell which will immediately turn you into a monster. They are just words. The questions are simply a mirror to discover yourself. How can we love our neighbor when we're afraid to know, let alone love, ourselves?

Part 1) Conversations with Ourselves: The Question
Part 2) Conversations with Ourselves: The Internal Struggle
Part 3) Conversations with Ourselves: The External Struggle
Part 4) Conversations with Ourselves:  Reflections on Who We Were
Part 5) Conversations with Ourselves: Making Peace with Chaos
Part 6) Conversations with Ourselves: Making Sense of It All

Conversations with Ourselves-The Question

I love conversation. I love the interaction, mingling, sharing, and even merging of thoughts produced by conversing with one another. It is a way in which we can grow together. Of course there are many pitfalls to conversations in which I will not get into today (name-calling, being argumentative,  miscommunication, assumptions, etc.). I want to focus on the power of conversation and especially on self reflection.

(H/T to McGrath from Exploring Our Matrix for sharing this photo).

Self reflection is something which I enjoy so much it's almost second nature to me. Asking questions is what guides me through my daily
self reflection moments. I am a thinker, and I always will be. I can get lost for hours down the rabbit hole following question after question. I can't help myself from asking questions, to think and wrestle with those questions and see what (or, more importantly, who) emerges. Answers are too easy, and easy answers can be messy and come with strings attached. But when you wrestle with a question, you come from the experienced a changed person. Not necessarily good or bad ( that's too black and white) but a changed person, a new creation. There are no easy answers to life, although some of us may feel better with easy answers, being human is an experience which must be experienced. And with each experience we are transformed, with each thought and wrestling we become something new, and in our actions we create a space for new things to flourish. THAT creative space is what I used to call God and what I still hold sacred.

So the question I ask others, but mostly myself, is "who are you, really?" For me THIS is the question which catapulted me into a sea of questions. Are we merely a collection of experiences, memories, genetic code, characteristics? Are we afraid to ask, or afraid to discover? What if we discover something about yourself which causes us shame and embarrassment, what then? What if what we are is completely alien from what we've been told since childhood? How do we wrestle that? How do we live? How do we be human? How do we love? The questions can go on and on, and we can either wrestle and learn to live WITH them, or we can take the easy prepackaged answer.

So who are you, really?

Part 1) Conversations with Ourselves: The Question
Part 2) Conversations with Ourselves: The Internal Struggle
Part 3) Conversations with Ourselves: The External Struggle
Part 4) Conversations with Ourselves:  Reflections on Who We Were
Part 5) Conversations with Ourselves: Making Peace with Chaos
Part 6) Conversations with Ourselves: Making Sense of It All

Internal Battle

David Hayward illustrates what many of us believers in exile have experienced.When David shared this on Facebook he said  he wasn't going to say anything to "just see what happens". That rascal. On his website he says that he is a graffiti artist on the walls of religion. I'd go one step further and say he's a holy rascal.  

[Intellect vs. Belief by David Hayward]

Has this happened to you? I struggled with this internal war for years before letting go of religion. My beliefs have changed. I feel it has led me to be more compassionate and loving towards my fellow man. This works for me because I've realized that our spirituality is uniquely our own. You don't need an outside force (religion) telling you HOW to be human. It can be useful but not exclusively necessary. Churches are hemorrhaging members and they are doing everything they can to bring lost sheep back into the fold. Most use fear tactics which backfires mainly because people they (churches) fail to understand one of the main reasons people leave is because they don't feel comfortable in that community. They leave because they don't feel welcomed, they feel alone within the community, and even feel that there is more fear than love being spouted from the pulpit. It just doesn't work for them. But just because it doesn't work for them means your faith is meaningless. Quite the opposite: by discovering your spirituality is your own allows you to grow in your faith, to grow in love.  THIS works for me. What works for you?

You've Changed

A big thank you to Andrew Hackman of Hackman's Musings for sharing this recent cartoon by nakedpastor (seriously can't believe I haven't subscribed to his RSS feed. Subscribed!).

[You've Changed by David Hayward]

I've gotten the You think too much and you read too much the most when I speak to others about my deconversion. Although, I would rather describe it more of discovering my own journey than a deconversion. I was never converted to Christianity in the first place (I was one of the lucky souls born into the faith) and there was no single moment where I abandoned Christianity cold turkey. This cartoon vividly describes my departure from the church. I believe if we look beyond the snappy one liners we'll find the pain of separation beneath and in between the statements. Anyone who's left the church (or any faith) can attest it is a painful experience to wrench yourself from your community, friends, and family. Those left behind feel betrayed, and the one leaving feels alone, exiled, without a home. It's not an easy decision that many are willing to make, yet feel they must to feel true to themselves.

I remember one conversation I had with my wife about my change of faith when I had an epiphany and I freely admitted I could not pray without feeling I was somehow lying. I had convinced myself for months I could stay in the church and go through the motions only to realize in the end I would  be lying to everyone around me. This doesn't mean I refuse to go to church if invited. I would bow my head out of respect and reverence but I would not be praying to any god. I pray with my kids at night and during meals because we had decided to raise the children Southern Baptist. I keep my beliefs to myself unless asked directly.  So when I have these types of interactions with believers I don't take it personally anymore because even the beliefs and ideas I hold now are subject to change.

It is not an easy decision to step away from any community. And as someone who thinks too much I thought about this constantly before making any public declaration on straying from the fold. The fact that we ("the straying sheep") thought about the social ramifications means we do care. Our ties to family, friends, and to our community and roots are very important, but so is our personal quest of self discovery. When I left the church it wasn't because I was being led astray by the devil or that I love sin too much. I left the cackle of voices telling me how to be human and set out on a journey to experience my humanity. I had questions to ask and wrestle with and no environment in which to tackle these questions. Some would ask "why ask these questions in the first place?" and then go on to show me their bag of answers.

I'm not looking for easy answers, I'm looking for questions that will last a lifetime answering.

I'm looking to discover myself in others and others in myself.

I'm looking to simply be.

Blog Series: Sunday Sermon Podcasts- That Rascally Rabbi: Holy Rascals

I am very fond of my old Religious Studies teacher, Rabbi Rami, so I decided that I would share podcasts weekly of his talks with the Unitarian Universalists of Murfreesboro I visited back in 2010. Today's podcast was recorded back in February 2012 entitled "Holy Rascals: Crazy Wisdom for Crazy Times."
   

   
   
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I've always enjoyed Rabbi Rami's storytelling style. I love the concept of breaking out of your "cage" and pursuing that place, whatever that place may be. So what do you think? Is there anyone else you would also consider a modern holy rascal? Rabbi Rami and his fellow holy rascals have been working on a film project for quite some time you can find here.

1 in 5 Americans are "Nones"

Well there's a new survey out by the Pew Center stating that nearly 1 in 5 Americans, 19%, are without any religious affiliation up from 15% back in 2008. You can read more details about the survey here. What caught my attention about the survey is the correlation between those born as a None vs. "Switchers", those switching between religious affiliations. The article mentioned a 2009 survey stating that 10% of Nones are switchers, and also mentioned was an interesting factor which may keep their (our) numbers low: Nones may not be having enough babies. The issue then becomes whether a young None couple will actively raise their children as Nones or allow them to decide for themselves. This ties in with my previous post on passing down religious identities, I'm raising my children to decide for themselves rather than actively raise them as Nones. And I believe most Nones (including SBNRs) would be more inclined to allow their children to explore than those within an established faith. (At the time this was written my 5 year old ran back downstairs after I put him to bed and reminded me I forgot to pray with them.) I would like to see a survey done exploring at what age most people begin to question their faith and switch.

I also believe the numbers stated in the survey may be a bit low since many Nones may not want to come out as an unbeliever, mainly to avoid the risk of losing social and family ties. I know I'm the only None I know in the Chattanooga area since the majority of the population has a religious affiliation. They (We) are still slowly growing even without a wave of babies or active recruiters, but I highly doubt that the non-religious will be a major category as a religious identity in America. Well at least not during my lifetime, but who knows we did see the first African American president elected into office and possibly the first Mormon president in the coming months.

Get Out!

"To the Atheist watching this telecast if our belief in God offends you, Move!... We don't want you and we won't miss you." John Hagee

I've been silent here for well over a month for personal reason I won't go into too much detail. Let's just say that I had to part ways with an unnamed major cellular company. I worked at their call center for the last year and a half before the stress got to me and I snapped. I am going back to school in the fall to get my M.S. in Computer Science so I'll have a bit more free time to post. One video posted yesterday by Vorjack at Unreasonable Faith (love these guys) caught my attention this morning.



Hagee and the rest of his Super Best Friends are in their death throes clawing and gnashing at everyone and everything that doesn't fit their version of Christianity. What can you do when the latest surveys and reports in the last few years state that churches across America are hemorrhaging young people? Shut the door, plug your ears, and yell. They feel that their existence is in peril, and it is unless they change. And since change is seen as a threat, as polluting the holy, it is out of the question. To them it is much easier to tell your neighbor to move than to shake their hand. It is easier to ignore their existence and even threaten them than to coexist with them. Why? Because they, Hagee and friends, are so stuck on the idea of exclusivity that reality becomes a cosmic battle of dominance. It is either us or them, only one side CAN win. Like the dwarfs sitting in a pitch black stable in C.S. Lewis' The Last Battle some (not all) evangelicals would rather live in their version of reality than embrace the possibility that our neighbor may not be the boogie men some megaphone-mouthed pastors portray them as, but may even be *gasp!* human. What bothers me about this video is not Hagee and his comments, but the audience's overwhelming support. It's the everyday people and their support of these unloving comments in a "house of love". I'm sure at some point the congregation sang a hymn about how much God loves everyone. An ideal which unfortunately has been sacrificed for the temporary survival of the group.

As the shift continues towards more non-traditional forms of spirituality (or even None at all) the fundamentalist theists will get louder and more violent in their rhetoric. The non-theist, agnostic, atheist and non-traditional spiritualist must hold our ground not in fighting fire with fire but to extinguish hateful words with love and understanding. Our goal should be to lessen the suffering of others not add to it. And for those still in a religious group like this one who feel uncomfortable I urge you to leave, not to convert you to my side but to urge you to find your own path, your own cosmic song to sing. Get out and follow that which inspires you to be a better you.

Savage Morality

It's videos and stories like this one which make me giddy about the interwebs.



What Dan Savage is doing is not "attacking" the Bible but tearing down the self imposed veils of ignorance and hypocrisy when it comes to what the Bible actually says. Some students who came to the convention thought they were going to hear about anti bullying and walked out when they felt their beliefs were under attack. I have yet to find a full clip of his speech (I'd like to hear it in its entirety) but the kids who walked out missed the point that you have to attack the source of bullying. What is fueling bullying against gays? It's not the Bible (which only has a handful of references to homosexuality) but the people using the Bible to bludgeon people different from what they consider the norm. Andrew Hackman (Welcome Back!) at Hackman's Musings summed it up best with the following:

 The anti-homosexual position does not belong to a deity.... it belongs to you.

 

Incuriosity

Daniel Florien from Unreasonable Faith shared this interesting quote a few weeks ago by Stephen Fry.

"The only reason people do not know much is because they do not care to know. They are incurious. Incuriousity is the oddest and most foolish failing there is."

—Stephen Fry, The Fry Chronicles

[ Marks at Parent Teacher by David Hayward, The Naked Pastor. If you haven't visited his site or seen any of his art or cartoons then you're missing out.]

To play a bit of devil's advocate I would add some people may not have the time or luxury to be curious. I'm extremely curious and love exploring new ideas and concepts but I barely have time to even blog let alone time to myself for imagination and curiosity. Regardless I still agree that you must have a thirst for knowledge to be knowledgeable. What bothers me the most are so called experts on a topic in which they've only studied the facts that support their own claims (e.g. the "experts" proclaiming in 2010 that Muslims are attempting to take over America with mega mosque training camps). I love wrestling with  questions, especially questions I myself can not answer. I love it when I come across a new term or idea I've never heard before.

I can't imagine not being curious, not asking questions even of beliefs I (currently) hold to be true. I don't question my traditional religious backgrounds to be rebellious, because I love sin, or because I hate God and Christianity. I continuously question everything because I find it more spiritually rewarding. When I use the term spiritual I use it to describe my humanity, my humanness, my weaknesses and my strengths, all that makes us human. I believe we are born curious (note the word believe) and that as we grow we are raised to avoid asking certain questions and avoid giving certain answers to our children. If I don't know an answer to a question my children ask of me I tell them there are some things daddy just doesn't know. So then we sit down and try to discover the answer together.

What I believe people fear the most is not so much the mental taboo of asking difficult questions but what to do with the new knowledge once Pandora's box is opened. I can't unlearn that men of the church, not God, decided which books were to become the Bible. The mere notion that there were other possible book candidates for the Bible must be mind blowing enough for any regular church going Christian. It's easier to not ask certain questions, to not open certain door which may lead us to doubt. But then avoiding questions I believe stagnates spiritual (there's that word again) growth. I'm not saying that questioning your religious traditions and background will lead you directly into the pit of Atheism, but asking questions will lead you to discover a bit more about who you are and our relationships with each other.

The Choice

So as I was perusing through the Sunday morning preachers on TV this morning I tuned into Charles Stanley preaching about the loving choice God gave us in the garden.

God gave Adam and Eve a choice which was an act of love on his part. You love me because you choose to, not because you have to, that's not really love. So he gave them a choice. They made the wrong choice and notice what he said: the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die.  

The topic of choice had me thinking of the Wheel of Fish scene on UHF (yes that UHF) where the contestant had a "choice" between their weight in fish or what was in the mystery box.



To Phyllis, the game show contestant, it truly did appear as if she had a choice, and who would pass up a mystery box anyway? From the perspective of the game show producer there was only one right answer, the other making for some humorous TV. The point where Christianity falls apart for me is the choice between eternal love/bliss or eternal damnation. No one in their right mind would choose damnation, but with damnation as one of the two choices is it really a choice? Even though I'm not a Christian I love the symbolism of love and redemption found within the faith but I believe Christianity can evolve (yes religion does evolve) if it moved away from the choice between Heaven or hell/ obedience vs. disobedience and focused more on love for our fellow man. So now when pastor Stanley, or any Christian for that matter, tell me the choice given at the garden was a loving choice I can't help but think back to that empty box.

The Reason

Since the birth of this blog I've stated that its main purpose is for reflection and not as a pulpit to put down the beliefs of others. And as far as I can recall I don't go out of my way bashing the beliefs of others except when it comes to acts of clear injustices. Just by looking back on my own personal growth I've moved from Seventh Day Adventist-> Theist -> almost Muslim convert-> Theist again -> Pantheist/Agnostic/Humanist. I can't really decide what I am now cause a) I don't really care for titles and b) I don't want to be pinned down to another tribal group again. When it comes to questions about God and the afterlife although I find the questions intriguing at the end of the day I'm not comfortable accepting ANY of the answers provided by any faith. I don't believe our existence in this reality is meant to be spent thinking/praying/hoping for safe passage into the next reality (i.e. Heaven). I just don't find any of the answers believable or even useful in my life. Religious answers can still be useful to others even if I find them useless. If a Muslim finds peace in his daily prayers to Allah who am I to take that peace away from him, and the same goes for anyone else from any faith. I'm not out to convert others to my point of view simply because I understand that the journey I took to get to where I am is something that can take years of reflection and thought. To get to where I am you can't just offer a statement of faith or offer a prayer to the Flying Spaghetti Monster, (Praise his Noodliness, R'amen) it is a lifetime of wrestling with unanswered questions and understanding how that struggle makes us human. THAT is what drew me away from religion and towards spirituality. 





I know I posted this video before in my series on Atheist Spirituality but this video captures the beauty of being human, and accepting the mystery and joy of simply being. But just because I'm not a religious man means I'm disgusted or even against religion. I absolutely love listening to testimonials, to simply listen to another person's journey is foundational towards loving our fellow man. I may not accept your beliefs but I respect its importance to you. Your story is a part of who you are, so who am I to destroy your identity? But I do see religion as language and story, but even if I don't accept the story as truth I love listening to a good tale because it describes the struggle of being human. The only thing I am against is whenever story (religion) taken as literal truth causes pain, suffering, and injustice to others. THAT is what I am against, not the religion itself but the pain caused to others. To simply be, love, and experience my humanity is more than enough for me.

Time Lord Victorious

Time Lord Victorious

There were a couple of recent articles found here and here, and a Doctor Who episode I recently rewatched on Netflix which all run along the same theme. They all touch upon the theme of a supreme/higher being with absolute power. The Doctor Who episode entitled "The Waters of Mars" displays one of the Doctor's darker moments after rescuing Captain Adelaide Brooke who should have died on Mars and is an important figure to earth's history thus altering, or so he thinks, a fixed point in time. The Doctor proclaims himself the Time Lord Victorious as Captain Adelaide Brooke challenges the monster the Doctor has become.

Captain Adelaide Brooke: "And if my family changes, the whole of history can change. The future of the human race. No one should have that much power."

The Doctor: "Tough."


Not only does the concept of an all powerful deity being in 100% control of everything in the universe reeks of injustice and immorality (at least to me), I can't imagine anyone with that much power over life and death without a broken heart, or in the Doctor's case, two broken hearts. A deity with absolute control over the cosmos may be comforting to many but to others comes across as a complete monster over the slaughter of women and children in the Old Testament and unjust as the giver (and withholder) of "God-given" rights. I acknowledge that this may simply be a difference of opinion in how we view the divine, but a deity which asks of us complete submission and repentance without reciprocating shared suffering and shared forgiveness seems too alienating for my taste. As the brilliant Amelia Pond says in "The Beast Below"

"If you're were that old and that kind, and the very last of your kind, you couldn't just stand there and watch children cry."

I find that the concept of an all-loving God is more comforting than an all-powerful God yet the all-powerful God seems to over shadow the all-loving. A God who suffers,a broken and lonely God, seems more in touch with humanity than one who rules over its creation. The image of the divine I lean more towards is that of God as a verb more than a noun, an action instead of a being.

So What?

I know this piece of news is a bit outdated but I just had to share. RNS posted an article over a week ago about how 4 out of 10 Americans just don't care for anything spiritual. Check out the link to read up on all the numbers but to me I still think numbers are well, numbers. But what catches my attention is the question behind the survey. Why are people drifting away from religion and things spiritual? I believe that Barry Kosmin, co-author of the ARIS and director of the Institute for the Study of Secularism at Trinity College hit the nail on the head.

“But a lot of these people are concerned more with the tangible, the real stuff like mortgages or their favorite football team or the everyday world,” Kosmin said.

People are more concerned with the here and now than what may or may not happen in the afterlife or concerned with seeking for the meaning of life. I know to many people religion is their number one priority and there is nothing wrong with that. I'm not saying just because your neighbor has different priorities that you should change yours, but it wouldn't hurt to get to know the why behind your neighbor's priorities. For example, there was an overly cheery, elderly gentleman who joined my family in the hospital elevator down to the ground floor. We were on our way back home from a visit with my wife's grandfather who is still recovering from major surgery when we ran into this elderly gentleman in the elevator. He was smiling from ear to ear and making small talk and joking with another passenger in the elevator when he made an interesting comment.

"I've not much time left in this world, we're all going to a better place."

 Now in the South you run into someone just about everyday who enjoys witnessing and sharing their faith, and at first this comment appeared as another public witnessing. It wasn't until on the ride home that it hit me: the comment was a cry for help. The poor man was probably visiting someone, his wife perhaps, who doesn't have much time left. He is comforted by the fact that his loved one will soon be going to a better place and that the pain will soon be gone. If I had realized his suffering sooner I might have at the very least given him an it's gonna be okay smile than just a hello smile. Believe me there's a difference. I would have gone as far as having a quick 3 minute prayer session with the gentleman in the hospital corridor even though I don't believe in the power of prayer. Why? Because my spirituality is based on my relationship with my fellow man. Our shared suffering and our shared joy is what brings us and binds us to one another. So when Americans in this survey are saying so what to traditional religion and God I don't think for a second they are saying so what to their fellow man. I believe they are redefining the boundaries of their community and identity. I believe they are moving from just loving their neighbor who sits next them in church to also loving their non-Christian neighbor who they pass by in the supermarket.

Does it really matter if more Americans consider themselves as a part of the Nones category or even as far as this subset of So What? I believe our morality flows from our humanity and our interconnectedness with one another than from any outside divine source. In the original article by Cathy Lynn Grossman, Scott McConnell, director of LifeWay Research, fears that this apathetic mentality and the goodness vs. godliness mindset is a disaster for Christians, "If you're not worried about heaven, you won't notice or care if Jesus is essential your salvation. You're not thinking about any consequences," McConnell says. I believe this fear is more based on the fear of identity erosion than about consequences. Just because you don't believe that Christ is your savior means that all morality gets thrown out with the window. Anyone who has lived in a dormitory understands that even if the dean or the RA is not around doesn't mean you can light firecrackers in the hallway or fail to pay attention where you're "aiming" while using the restroom. We all still live under one global roof and being apathetic to religion and spirituality does not mean we will forget about consequences.