Gotta' Have Faith

Never talk religion or politics, right? Wrong. This rule of thumb is, I believe, based on the premise that talking about these matters always causes arguments. I would challenge that by simply saying that if you can't hold a discussion/debate about these things without descending into arguing then you need to fundamentally examine the reasons why, because in 21st century life we need to be talking about them.

Let's put politics aside for this post and centre on religion..

My experience of religion began during school. I attended a Roman Catholic primary school and so was indoctrinated from a young age into what my young mind found to be a scary, intimidating religion. My early vision of God was of a terrifyingly vengeful overlord, commanding an army of creatures that resembled children with wings, who would swoop down and punish me if I did anything wrong. By the age of ten, unsurprisingly, I had a lot of questions.

My secondary school was also Roman Catholic. Here I encountered some of the most authoritarian zealots it has ever been my misfortune to endure, and that was just the teachers! Frequent mandatory attendance of masses, hymn recitals, forced participation in prayer, and generally being told I was unworthy and sinful ensured that, within a year of being there, I was already rebelling. In short order I hated it all. They would not answer my questions, I was punished for even having them. I left secondary education with an unmistakable, even if somewhat buried notion that religion was not a good thing, however I still believed in the God concept and a good deal of the associated dogma.

For several years after I left school and well into my twenties I found spiritual matters intriguing and was exposed to some major religious texts, the Bible, Torah, Koran and the Upanishads in particular, and also developed a fascination with occult, wiccan and pagan beliefs. 'Paranormal' phenomena fascinated me. I was also reading a lot of psychology and some of the 'spiritual growth' literature that litters the self-help section of bookshops. I was searching for meaning, for the answers to those questions that I left primary school with, that were ruthlessly ignored in the subsequent years. I did have some amazing moments of clarity. I gained an invaluable insight into the basis for some of the worlds major religions. Some of my questions were answered, but only to create new questions.

That period feels like the halycon days to me now. I came out of my twenties still basically a believer, but with some serious doubts. I guess I got to a point where I decided I'm not religious but somewhat 'spiritual'. Since then many things have shaped my opinions on the God concept, religion and spirituality. These musings have kind of come to a head lately, and although my views (as ever) are subject to change without notice pending new information, I have made certain conclusions about religion, faith and spirituality.

I am an atheist. If it was mandatory to be part of an institution of belief then I would be a Humanist (thankfully it isn't). I'm not one of those militantly atheist folk though, the type usually associated with Dawkins or Hitchens. I am fundamentally opposed to forcing my views on others, and I feel no need to vehemently disprove other peoples theories or beliefs. I do not believe in God, heaven, angels, an afterlife or miracles. For me, these concepts all fit into the broad category of 'magical thinking', along with so-called paranormal phenomena such as ghosts, UFO's, time-travel etc. I believe in science. I trust the scientific method to provide me with answers to life's fundamental questions, both now and in the future. Where religious folk gain comfort from God, and spiritual or 'paranormal' explanations satisfy some, I am comforted by the explanations of science, logic and reason.

Does this mean that I believe religion is bad or wrong? Of course not. Too many people throw the baby out with the bathwater, citing the suffering and death meted out by humanity in the name of religion as good enough reason to condemn it. I do understand that viewpoint, I too find religious intolerance and persecution intolerable, indeed it would be easy given my early indoctrination to hate Catholics, to hate all people of faith, but reason and logic combined with my sense of humanity and empathy will not allow me to. I understand why faith is important to people and if organised religion satisfies their needs then I would not only support them but defend their right to believe.

In some ways I occasionally envy the simplicity and certainty that faith seems to provide people. I believe fundamentally that the need to believe in God stems from two facts of human nature. We are all alone within ourselves, inside our own minds. It is not easy or comfortable to be alone so we prefer to believe in a God who is always with us. One day we are all going to die. The idea that at that point we just cease to be is almost unbearable so we choose to believe that we will ascend to heaven to be with God forever. For me, getting to the point where I am now has meant conquering my inbuilt fear of being alone, and of one day dying. I believe I have arrived. Being alone does not perturb me, I am completely comfortable within myself. I have very difficult moments, but who doesn't? Naturally I do not want to die for a long time. I feel I have much to contribute and much to live for, but I am comfortable that one day I will die and that will be the end of me. Any fear of dying is countered by my will to contribute as much as I can while I am alive.

I'll conclude with this quote from the amazing mind of Albert Einstein - “A human being is a part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feeling as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.”


Copyright ©2018 Richard C. Greenlow. All rights reserved.