One Thing Leads to Another
Starting out at The Sudanese Thinker, where I was introduced to Sam Harris speaking about atheism, very thoughtfully, I might add, I was led, as the world wide web is wont to do, to this excellent series entitled Does God Exist? Sam Harris & Rabbi David Wolpe Debate.
I just love this stuff and this is why, even though I have spent most of my adult life searching for the perfect descriptor, I cannot call myself an atheist.
These kinds of debates revolving around atheism and mature interpretations of religion always remind me of M. Scott Peck's Stages of Spiritual Growth, in which atheism is, at level three, not the highest stage. Level four, mysticism, is where humankind really begins to understand the nature of the God debate and at that level, IMHO, the debate becomes unimportant. Rabbi Wolpe's summation beginning at the 4:38 mark pretty much sums it up. Or as the moderator in the Wolpe-Harris debate sums it up, quoting Henny Youngman, "I once wanted to become an atheist. I gave it up. They have no holidays."
I just love this stuff and this is why, even though I have spent most of my adult life searching for the perfect descriptor, I cannot call myself an atheist.
These kinds of debates revolving around atheism and mature interpretations of religion always remind me of M. Scott Peck's Stages of Spiritual Growth, in which atheism is, at level three, not the highest stage. Level four, mysticism, is where humankind really begins to understand the nature of the God debate and at that level, IMHO, the debate becomes unimportant. Rabbi Wolpe's summation beginning at the 4:38 mark pretty much sums it up. Or as the moderator in the Wolpe-Harris debate sums it up, quoting Henny Youngman, "I once wanted to become an atheist. I gave it up. They have no holidays."
posted by Louise at 8:01 pm
4 Comments:
I, too, have a problem with the Atheist descriptor. It has come to mean a rejection of God, a nonbelief in God, etc. each of which implies the prima facie existence of God. I was raised in a religious family and attended church and Sunday school, yet never had any belief in any sort of God. BTW, I use big 'G' God as convention and as respect for those with faith. I, also, find these discussion fascinating and edifying.
I do subscribe to the Judeo-Christian philosophies and social mores. I decribe myself as a Christian Atheist which seems strange to Christians because one cannot be both which I find rediculous. After all, Hindus believe in many Gods in which no Christian believes making that Christian a Hindu Atheist.
I choose the Christians and Jews because that's where I was born and raised, it is my history and nation. More, Christians are only interested in converting me, Jews don't really care if God's existence is questioned. Hindus will kill an Atheist and Muslims don't need a reason to kill.
For me God, god, or gods simply do not exist. I cannot deny the existence of something that never existed. I know that's confusing, but it's the best I've got. The second best is to quote Karl Rove, the George Bush political brain, "I was not blessed with faith."
I guess the best description I have come up with is that I am a secular Christian. I got that phrase watching Larry King one evening when he described himself as a secular Jew. Like you, I was hauled off the church every Sunday so I learned the basic philosophy and literature of the Bible and I don't consider that a bad thing at all, even though attending church and going through the same boring ritual every week bored me to tears.
There is no doubt in my mind that we get our moral compass from religion. Even the atheist family/non-church goer gets it from religion because the social environment in which they live are based largely on those values.
Two thousand years of Christianity can't be just waved aside. The faith has been a major influence on the development of Western civilization, whether the atheist likes to admit it or not.
I also have more respect for the literalist Christian than I do for the hard, rigid arrogance of some atheists.
And another thing, I don't think literal interpretations are necessary for one to call him/herself a Christian. There are a set of beliefs at the core of the faith that have no fantastic fairytale element to them at all. Many people devote their lives to the fulfillment of those beliefs but who consider the fairytales to be just that - in many cases, just interesting traditional stories that can teach morals and life lessons.
Nothing to add but agreement.
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