belief in god means ...

Recently I have found it interesting reading two blogs [My Life and Church of the Churchless] where the authors are writing, with added comments from readers, on topics exploring atheism in the first and aspects of belief and what can we know in the second. Although I have intended to do so, I haven't yet read either Christopher Hitchens' book, God is not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything, nor the one by Richard Dawkins, The God Delusion.

The problem I have found with most writers regarding atheism is they go at disproving god by showing how wrong religion is. It's not hard to show the errors in religion, but many atheists then make a leap of logic to say that proves there is no god. Do religion and god necessarily go together?

It's not hard to prove religion is wrong when it uses something like history to prove itself, teaches a behavior that is destructive of life, or claims a sacred text to be infallible when in reality it is full of contradictions. Do you know of anywhere besides religion that you can have two contradictory claims about the same event and still claim the text is inerrant? Don't bother asking a fundamentalist that question as they will say it just is (which is kind of how atheists begin their arguments).

I think I have written about this before but there is something new out there. Einstein's 1954 letter is now for sale where he writes there is no god and hence the Jews (which he was one) are not god's chosen people. His letter isn't long enough to prove there is no god, but many want to think because he knew a lot about science and mathematics, he knows a lot about everything.

For me, the problem with there being no creator is two-fold. Nothing starts from nothing (as we know it) but something had to even if it's god. Somewhere in life, there is a mystery, an unknowable or unprovable something-- even for a scientist like Einstein.

Then I come to the second issue I have which leads to me not being an atheist-- How do I explain the supernatural experiences that not only I but many others have had? I already know the answer to that from an atheist-- you imagined them because you wanted to believe something. If I insist it was real, that there was a physical reality to it, then they might add I should consider getting some mental help. *s*

Well my need for mental help might be possible but not for that reason. I am pretty objective about what I accept as being true spiritually. In the case of god, I think there is no way to prove existence or not for anyone besides ourselves. It takes as much faith to believe there is nothing spiritual behind this life as it does to believe there is.

Frankly I don't see a problem if someone is an atheist until they tell me that it's the only intelligent thing to believe as Einstein basically said in that letter. I think many atheists assume that all people who believe in god do so with the hope of eternal life for themselves. Not necessarily so. It is possible to believe in god as a creator, that there had to be a spiritual plan behind this universe because it is so logically set out, and still not believe life for humans goes on. There can be a creator but not have his/hers/its fingers in everything that happens. There can be belief in a god, a spiritual dimension to physical life and not think prayer works like a genii coming out of a magic lamp.

Belief in god does not answer the mystery of the universe because you are still left with from where did god come? Many religions will provide those answers, but not only do they not agree on what it was, but they all have distorted facts to suit their power structures. Religion being off base however is no reason to disbelieve in a spiritual dimension to the universe and beyond.

When I left the local church out where I live, I had discussed what I believed with the pastor and why it was important to not continue attending there. Basically with a smile, he said my husband and I should start a new church since our beliefs were very contrary to what he believed Christianity taught. He would really think that now except he's no longer in the world. He was, by the way, a very good man, special in so many ways. When I think about him, I smile, bless his fundamentalist soul, but I do wonder what he saw when he got to the other side. He was so sure he knew.

Here's some of what I believe. The fact that there is a god does not mean any religion has to be right. The world is complex on both a physical and spiritual plane. We can keep learning about all of it through a whole lifetime and not know it all. We can find spiritual truth and relationship with the other side on our own without a guru, pastor or unerring book.

The spiritual mysteries of this universe go way beyond any one simple truth-- for those hoping only one answer will explain it all. Those, who have decided they know all they need to know about the spiritual realm, who are not open to learning more and only listen to what confirms that belief, are fundamentalists-- no matter what other creed they hang around their necks-- and that includes atheist.

For me, from the time I was a child, as early as I could experience anything, and long before I had any religious knowledge, I felt something with me and in me that wasn't only me. As a small child, I saw someone and named it as my playmate. As an adult, I didn't see it but felt it with me. I cannot tell you what it is; but it's always been there. Many people would label it for me. Some would give it nice names and some bad. I just know it's there and don't need to put what it is in a box. Unfortunately it doesn't provide me miraculous answers to all my questions or maybe I don't know how to ask. It just is there with love. I have called it god for wont of a word that better describes it for me.

Throughout my life I have had experiences (not of seeing the other side although I know those who do). My experiences have been dreams, coincidences, things that come along in ways where I didn't control. My experiences, sometimes years later, gave meaning to my nighttime dreams. They validated them through physical occurrences. These are things I cannot explain by biology alone but realize to an atheist, they are no proof, but they are part of why I believe the physical life we can see is not all that is there.

Next blog will be on the subject of religion. Although I have written about it before, this is a thought that came to me the other day...

(The painting by Diane Widler Wenzel and entitled 'Primeval Sea' is from my art collection.)