Religion and the Rise of Atheism

Recently my friend, Lloyd Agte, forwarded an article to me asking if I wanted to weigh in on it. [1]  The article posed the question: “Will religion ever disappear?”  The author is Rachel Nuwer. It was a fairly long article so I printed it out in order to be able to mark areas I wanted to respond to specifically.  As I read the piece I thought of several of my friends who identify themselves as atheists.  I also realized my comments might end up too long for a simple email response.  So, here is my attempt to “weigh in” on the discussion.

First, here is my disclaimer.   I am a retired Unity minister whom one might expect to be biased to begin with.  That said I have over the years modified my belief systems in many respects.  I do believe in God, though my perspective is certainly different from traditionalists or fundamentalists.  I hope you will see what I mean as I proceed.

I used to argue that there are no “real” atheists.  They were simply folks who did not believe in God by that name or characteristics.  Surely they believed in the Cosmos, the “greater than I” aspect of self, or some other concept of life that most persons would include in the broad definition of God.  Generally speaking, most atheists do not believe in some form of life after death, no divine plan that is responsible for the unseen order of all that is.  For those persons there is one shot at life and this is it.  Oblivion follows. 

While the article points out that atheism is growing, both in sheer numbers as well as a percentage of the world population, it is still a relatively small population.  Should such growth continue, one could postulate that religion, as we know it would eventually disappear.  Of course, the reverse could be true as well, given the proclivity of “believers” to hold on to their faith.

In the course of my education I was introduced to a definition of religion in its simplest of form.  Religion is a system of beliefs.  Interpreted most broadly this could cover almost every conceivable set of beliefs one might subscribe to, including atheists.  Their “system of beliefs” would include such things as one life to live, nature as a system of adaptations supported by scientific principles.  Indeed, science would be the cause celebre for explaining the physical world and all of its forces.

The article also pointed out that religion’s appeal is that it offers security in an uncertain world.  So, the more secure and satisfying the world appears to be, the less need for the support offered by religion and the greater tendency to see scientific thought/principles as the reason for the way things are.  I was reminded at this point of early humankind who placed great emphasis on “gods” of nature; the movement of stars in the skies, the rotation of the seasons, and eventually the understanding of development through evolution.  Icons were developed representing these unseen forces that appeared to bring order and security (or the lack of it when necessary to correct the faulty behavior of humankind).

The author indicates that in countries “where the majority of citizens have European roots are all places where religion was important just a century ago, but that now report some of the lowest belief rates in the world . . . People are less scared about what might befall them.”  She goes on to say, “As climate change wreaks havoc on the world in coming years and natural resources potentially grow scarce, then suffering and hardship could fuel religiosity.” 

One of the principles the author shares has to do neuropsychology of the species.  This principle states that we have two basic forms of thought:  System 1 and System 2.  System 2 evolved relatively recently and enables us to plan and think logically.  System 1 is intuitive, instinctual and automatic.  What this suggests to me is that we are born with System 1 operating for all of us no matter the circumstances or location of our birth. “It makes us prone to looking for patterns to better understand our world, and to seek meaning for seemingly random events like natural disasters and the death of loved ones.”  There is more in the development of this concept in the article, which I will leave for you to read on your own.

It seems to me that we might conclude, at least for now, that religion developed in the pre-science period where explanations for the world came mostly from the natural, intuitive nature.  A system of beliefs developed and modified over time based on a faith in things unseen, but taken as true for lack of any other explanation.  As scientific knowledge grew a new set of explanations came about that for some seemed in opposition to religious beliefs.  This is the crux of the matter.  Is religion/atheism a simple case of either/or?

For me the conflict exists due to the distortions of religious systems based on controlling the masses and bending their independent will to the “higher authority” represented by the church.  If you are going to believe the world (our earth and everything that ever existed on it) came about in all its glory in seven days, you are unlikely to ever accept any other explanation regardless of the demonstrated reality of modern scientific methods.  Most religions long ago resolved, at least in part, what appeared to be a contradiction between religion and science.  Again, for me, the problem of religion comes about through the absolutism of Fundamentalism, which today seems to be growing, especially among the religious right.  Is this the result of the uncertainty existent in our world today—economically, environmentally, and physically?  I would argue that it is.

Finally, I distinguish between religion and spirituality.  Religion, as a system of beliefs, may exist independently of one’s spirituality.  Religion requires persons to subscribe to a set of principles and codes, often at odds with the way the world works today. It excludes those who do not subscribe to the “rules.”  Spirituality, on the other hand subscribes to few, if any, codes of conduct or religious practices.  Spirituality is a view that is inclusive rather than exclusive.  It is intuitive in nature.  Rather than seeking hard and fast rules, it operates as a blending force that sees all things as part of something greater.  The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

In a world that appears often to be out of control, hurtling toward oblivion, persons may tend to defer to the concept of a “god” ultimately taking care of us when we realize we cannot take care of ourselves.  I would like to go on here about children and their natural tendency to believe they are taken care of.  This goes beyond the care of parents. I believe they intuitively know they have come from and are heading toward something greater than themselves, but which INCLUDES them.

The author’s conclusion is that “even if we lose sight of the Christian, Muslim and Hindu gods and all the rest, superstitions and spiritualism will almost certainly still prevail.  Humans need comfort in the face of pain and suffering, and many need to think that there’s something more after this life, that they’re loved by an invisible being.”  I do not subscribe to the “invisible being” concept.  I subscribe to the principle of All That Is as an interconnected, omnipresent essence in all and through all that embraces us and responds to us according to our beliefs and actions.

I hope you will take the time to read the article by Rachel Nuwer footnoted at the end of this article.

---

[1] http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20141219-will-religion-ever-disappear

Comforting Peace

It seems to me there are an unusually high number of people in transition right now.   I have noticed in posts to Facebook by my friends, or friends of friends, of loved ones in the process of moving on in life’s adventure.  Of course, the news is full of the almost daily deaths due to gun violence, much of it hitting closer to home than we ever imagined it would.

This challenges us in many ways.  We all know that the time will come for each of us.  Some of us are prepared to “be there” for our loved ones as they move closer to the time of parting from us physically.  Somehow we have found the love and strength to abide in the “peace that passes understanding.”  Still, it is never really easy to voice our final farewell.

When a tragedy of some sort comes unexpectedly, we are seldom ready.  At times such as that instinct often takes over and we are numbed to the tasks at hand that we must attend to.  We are enabled to move through the experience deciding, acting, and comforting others as necessary.  When the immediacy of the need passes, we may fall into our own quiet oblivion while we find our personal healing and renewal.  Perhaps these words from a man who was my mentor and my friend will encourage and strengthen you in your time of need as it has me many times.

I Am There

By James Dillet Freeman

Poet Laureate Of Unity

Do you need me?

I am there.

You cannot see Me, yet I am the light you see by.

You cannot hear Me, yet I speak through your voice.

You cannot feel Me, yet I am the power at work in your hands.

I am at work, though you do not understand My ways.

I am, at work, though you do not recognize my works.

I am not strange visions.  I am not mysteries.

Only in absolute stillness, beyond self, can you know Me as I am, and then, but as a feeling and a faith.

Yet I am there. Yet I hear. Yet I answer.

When you need Me, I am there.

Even if you deny Me, I am there.

Even when you feel most alone, I am there.

Even in your fears, I am there.

Even in your pain, I am there.

I am there when you pray and when you do not pray.

I am in you, and you are in Me.

Only in you mind can you feel separate from Me, for only in your mind are the mists of “yours” and “mine.”

Yet only with your mind can you know Me and experience Me.

Empty your heart of empty fears.

When you get yourself out of the way, I am there.

You can of yourself do nothing, but I can do all.

And I am in all.

Though you may not see the good, good is there, for I am there.

I am there because I have to be, because I am.

Only in Me does the world have meaning; only out of Me does the world take form; only because of Me does the world go forward.

I am the law on which the movement of the stars and the growth of living cells are founded.

I am the love that is the law’s fulfilling.

I am assurance.

I am peace.

I am oneness.

I am the law that you can live by.

I am the love that you can cling to.

I am your assurance.

I am your peace.

I am one with you.

I am.

Though you fail to find Me, I do not fail you.

Though your faith in Me is unsure, My faith in you never wavers, because I know you because I love you.

Beloved, I am there.

(A copy of “I Am There” is now on the moon . . .carried

there on the Apollo XV voyage by Astronaut James B. Irvin,

and left on the moon for future space voyagers)

Something To Think About

For many years I have believed in the theory that the outer universe was a macrocosm similar to the microcosm that is our human body.  I saw the structure of our body—the cells, atoms and molecules—like a universe of stars and galaxies.  Science has informed us that the space between the atoms that comprise our bodies have the same relative space as exists between the stars in the Cosmos.  We are more “space” than “substance.”

Over 40 years ago, in a newsletter I published at the time, I wrote about an experience I had one Sunday morning.  I arose early, retrieved the Sunday paper from the porch and sat down in my study to read it.  At some point I looked up from the paper and out the window I saw Colfax Avenue, a main east/west street in Denver.  Traffic was light due to the early time of day and the fact it was Sunday.  As I saw a car heading east on Colfax I suddenly had the vision of the city as a nervous system in the body.  The car became the “carrier” of signals to parts of the body from the brain.  Then I imagined the various other systems of the body expanding on the concept of how the body was like a small universe.  The cells and tissues were like a solar system.  All of the elements of the body connected one part of that micro universe to other parts.  The whole process of imagining this took just seconds, but it profoundly affected my sense of connection with all that is.

Since man first contemplated the make up of the universe and how it all began, there have been competing discussions about the “Big Bang” theory and others.  Einstein, in his theory of relativity, posited that gravity bends light, which would result in the creation of ripples in the fabric of space and time.  Such an activity of waves of light would support the “Big Bang” theory of how the universe began.  These “waves” have never been able to be seen before.  This morning, however, USA Today reported that scientists at the South Pole, using special telescopes in the clear, dry atmosphere there, believe they have discovered those actual waves of light rippling out from the center of the creation of the universe in an ever-expanding flow.

As I envisioned those ripples moving outward in an infinite flow like ripples in a pond after a tossed stone breaks the calm surface, I could not help but imagine a What if scenario.  Since the dawning of conscious awareness in humankind we have wondered if we are alone in this vast universe.  To many of us it seems impossible that in the vastness that comprises our “home” we have no neighbors.  What if by looking out into the universe for those neighbors, we are actually looking back in time.  Again, science informs us that everything we see in our skies happened millennia ago and is just now registering in our sight. 

What if in the ripples of that pond humanity is placed at some point within the concentric circles that move outward into infinity?  If we see ourselves as a kind of midpoint in the evolution of life, then in the ripples beyond where we are there might just be other probable points on the evolutionary scale representing further evolved forms of life.  What if we are looking back at life forms less developed than we are? What if looking forward there are other civilizations more advanced than we are?  What if there is an evolutionary continuity of life from the simplest beginning wave outward, infinitely, to more complex forms in waves advancing before us?

Life seems to constantly move from the simplest forms into ever-increasing complex forms.  What if this really is how life unfolds?  What if this is the “heaven” we have before us?  What if there is an ability to recognize both the history and the future of life and to communicate with those aspects of “Reality?”  Our consciousness has only scratched the surface of its full potential.  Much more lies beyond our current view. Scripture tells us, Faith is the substance of things hoped for; the evidence of things unseen. (Hebrews 11:1 KJV)  I am also reminded of the words of Browning:  Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp, Or what's a heaven for? 

Something to think about.

My Long-Time Friend

I have a long-time friend whom I met (in this lifetime) back in the early 1980s.  We were married for ten years and have now been divorced for many years.  Shawn is one of those persons in life that once you meet you know you have always known her and will always travel with her through life times, no matter what events draw you close or tear you asunder. With deep passion we loved and with great heartbreak we fell apart.  But we have remained friends through it all.

This dearest of friends is now engaged in a struggle with cancer, among other health  challenges.  Her vital spirit is not dampened, but fear abounds as one might imagine.  She recently visited me because she felt I needed support.  She knew I was on the down side of depression.  She is like that.  She always knows.  And I always know about her.  I must share that I hurt so deeply for her and the pain and fear she is experiencing.  I can only do what I know to do and that is to love her and pray for her without end.

I can get all "metaphysical" about the philosophy of healing.  I can say that healing is the reality even
if the body is released and soul moves on.  For me, right now, even knowing that is little comfort.  I
share that belief with Shawn, but I know how hard it is to hear it--experience it--through the fear.

So, my readers and my friends, I ask you to support us both with your prayers for strength, life and courage.  I am eternally grateful!

To My Long-Time Friend
(Whom I Met Just Recently)

We are long-time friends, you and I,
Who met just recently.
Pasts and futures acknowledged
As one impacting play
Of knowing,
Forgetting,
Remembering.

Universes have we traveled together,
And many we wandered alone.
Yet in the heart-search that urged
Us forward
We have felt the closeness of our Spirits.

Whatever paths we ultimately may follow
As once again we seek our
Self-direction,
Our eyes now lock in single embrace,
A mutual eternity.

And in this now-moment we
Laugh again,
Cry again,
Love again—

I love you
My long-time Friend
Whom I met just recently!

Written for Shawn
February 1983

High Noon At the OK Corral

Okay, I’ve had it with the ultra conservative gun enthusiasts in this country!

As we commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Columbine School shootings and the Virginia Campus killing fields, and the current mass killings, I find it unbelievable that we are still arguing about an individual’s right to arm him/herself to the teeth just because the Constitution is vague enough to allow unending interpretation.

Over the years I have had two significant arguments (shall we say politely, discussions?) with other persons about the foolishness of thinking you “protect” yourself and your family by owning a gun. In both cases my discussion partner certainly had above average intelligence and in every other way seemed a “normal” and easy going individual. The first discussion came at the time of our last economic downturn in the 80’s. At that time the “smart” folks were buying gold and silver so that they would have a universally accepted medium of exchange when civil unrest destroyed the social and economic structure of the country. You may not remember the Hunt brothers’ efforts to corner the silver market, which sent the price sky high. The effort, which ultimately failed, left many people facing the rapid decline in the value of the silver they bought. For the record, I also bought some silver at the time. Last year, as prices began to increase toward the price I originally paid for it, I sold it along with some other silver coins and bought a computer.

The other discussion came a couple of years ago in the context of discussing hypothetically the possibility of food riots that might come about through scenarios such as climate change and global warming when whole segments of the world’s agricultural geography turned to deserts.

In both of these discussions my position was and still is, that under such conditions there would be no ultimate positive outcome because you owned a gun. Truly, living by the sword (gun) leads to dying by the sword (gun). Anarchy, rioting, mutual self-destruction would be the only possible outcome. There will always be someone with a bigger gun or more “friends” in his/her gang to outshoot you and take over your supplies.

What is my proposal for dealing with this stupid gun issue? I propose arming every man, woman and child with an AK-47. Maybe two or three for each of them. Then let’s all gather at our own OK Corral in Death Valley in multiple circles and shoot each other DEAD! The winner in each circle forms with other “winners” in yet more circles so they can all shoot each other. This continues until there is no one left. No, there won’t be any survivors! With that much gunfire everyone sooner or later will be wounded mortally. Hooray! Now the earth can return to its pristine beauty and peace (after a time of regeneration) without the interference from the species supposedly at the top of the food chain, the most intelligent and superior being—the human.

Maybe there is another way. I believe there is, of course. Unfortunately, I am losing my faith in humanity’s ability to follow the course of action necessary to prevent the chaos and destruction that would ultimately come from the over-arming of society. I even ask, “What society?” A society that depends upon gun ownership for survival has already failed to survive. Don’t even bother to put up the issue of hunting. It is a diversion from facing the utter lack of credibility that most gun owners display with that argument.

It is at this point my argument turns to the metaphysical arena. I believe in the eternality of life. For me there is no possible escape from living. There may be many times of change such as we witness in so-called death. I believe there has always been life. It didn’t start with some Creation Myth. Those stories serve only as our human attempt to explain how everything got started. For some reason it seems impossible for us to simply keep moving forward without having to explain how we got started. I believe we are engaged in an eternal learning experience and that we have multiple life opportunities in the process of becoming the ultimate expression the highest and best that is possible.

I believe we have consciousness capable of accomplishing anything, and doing so with love, acceptance of differences, support of sustainable living practices and with the ability to sing and dance together. My heart aches that I have not danced enough! My feet still stumble at the prospect of actually dancing, but I promise to seek to always dance in my mind and heart with anyone willing to share the experience with me.

It is incumbent upon each of us to find positive ways of thinking and living. We must begin to live trustworthy lives, express the highest integrity in our dealings with others, and stop the futile What’s in it for me? attitude that disengages us from cooperative efforts and separates us from others. It would be nice if simply thinking about being a better person would make it so, but it doesn’t work that way.

Stone by stone a wall is made,
And each stone must lie square.
Petal by petal a rose unfolds,
And each petal must be fair.

Little by little a faith is built,
And day by day it grows;
Stronger at last than the wall of stone
And lovelier than the rose.
-- Author Unknown

Perhaps, if we honestly make the effort, we can find the strength to live by faith instead of the gun.

The Shape of Things To Come

As the container, so will be the shape of the substance filling it.

Just as water takes the shape of the container offered to be filled, so does the Essence of Life fill our mind and heart according to how we have shaped and developed them. I often write about our belief systems because they represent the key to the experiences we have. Our beliefs condition absolutely every part of our lives from how we choose and relate to our friends and families to how healthy, happy and successful we are. Our belief system shapes what we offer to be filled with the potential energy and abundance that is available for us to embody.

Obvious examples in the religious field range from fundamentalist Christians with their strong belief that we are sinners requiring redemption and salvation to so-called atheists who deny the reality of a higher power, whether named God or Spirit or whatever. If you believe in yourself as a sinner, you will act like one. The results will most likely be that you feel you do not deserve a better life and the hardships you experience are due to mistakes you have made in your relationship to God or “tests” that God gives you to prove you are a worthy person to receive His love.

On the other hand, if your beliefs are more like the potter working with the clay he shapes into his projects of art, then you will work with the understanding that God has given you every possible opportunity to succeed by providing His Infinite substance for you to shape and form by your thoughts, actions and reactions into a positive framework for living.

When the disciples of Jesus could not cast out the demon in a young boy and they came to Him asking why they could not perform the task. Jesus told them,

Your faith is too weak. I tell you this: if you have faith as a grain of
mustard-seed, you will say to this mountain, “Move hence to yonder place!” and
it will move; nothing will prove impossible for you.
-- Mat. 17:20 RSV

Jesus was not talking about the size of the mustard seed so much as He was talking about the pattern within the seed that indicated its potential to become the matured plant. In the same way, the acorn holds the pattern of the mighty oak. It is the pattern of our beliefs that determines what we are able to accomplish in our lives. That pattern is the shape of our container and the substance of God fills that shape accordingly.

In this connection I thought of persons who channel wisdom figures and it occurred to me that they present a framework or container of their understanding and that shapes the content of the information delivered. For example, Kathlyn Kingdon[1], who channels Master Djwhal Kuhl, has an extensive background in psychology, music, both as conductor and composer, and as an author and lecturer. It is natural that the information channeled from Master DK will utilize her experience, skills and vocabulary to present his lessons. In my opinion this accounts for the smoothness of the transition from Kathlyn to Master Djwhal Khul in her presentations. I must add, however, that the messages are not limited to the knowledge of the person serving as the channel. That knowledge is simply part of the framework or container through which the message is made relevant to the students.

So, what will be the shape of things to come for you? If you knew that you could decide how you wanted things to be, what would you decide? If you could go anywhere, where would you go? If you could be successful in achieving your goals, what goals would you set? You see, my friends, the shape of things to come depends on the choices you make in regard to the questions above. How you answer them begins the charting of your course. Your answers identify the container you hold out to be filled. In the final analysis this has little to do with religious doctrine. It is also more than simply positive thinking. No journey can begin without a goal and no hope can be fulfilled without the belief in the possibility.

Of course, there is always the choice for doing nothing different. You could continue to feel that things are out of your hands or that others control your decisions. I would urge you to consider the acorn and remember that you have the seed of Spirit within you. There is no limit to what you can bring forth in your life. What is required is that you believe in the possibilities and that you offer yourself as the container to be filled.


[1] See The Matter of Mind: An Explorer’s Guide To the Labyrinth of the Mind, Vajra Flame Foundation,
http://www.vajraflame.org

The Expectation of Faith and the Impulse of Love

It was in the mid 1960’s that I discovered in the used book section of the Good Will Store in Spokane, Washington the little book of short stories written by Henry Van Dyke. The Blue Flower was published in 1902. I purchased the book because I liked old books and this one was embossed with gold leaf and colored art that made it particularly attractive to me. I was later to discover a story within that book that has lived in my heart ever since. In fact, I had used the story as my Christmas sermon in 1966. I had hoped that our family might make a tradition of sharing the story each Christmas. While that did not develop, the story has continued to move me each time I read it.

What follows is briefer, but based upon that story: The Other Wiseman.

Artaban had missed the appointed meeting with Caspar, Melchior and Balthazar, the three other wisemen who had agreed to go to greet the newborn King, each bringing his special gift.

Now, nearing the end of his life, Artaban was confronted with giving his last of three gifts for the King—a most beautiful pearl--as ransom for a young girl being sold into slavery. His long journey of 33 years seeking the King had brought him back to Jerusalem just at the time of the crucifixion of Jesus. He had already given away his other two gifts, the sapphire to buy food and herbs for a dying man, and the ruby to save a newborn child from the sword of Herod’s soldiers. As he gave his last gift for the King to the girl, the sky darkened and the ground shook in heavy pains of labor. Stones tumbled from the walls of homes along the street. One fell and hit Artaban on the head. As he lay with his head on the girl’s shoulder resigned that his search for the King had ended without his finding Him, the girl saw the old man’s lips move as though in answer:

“Not so, my Lord! For when saw I thee an hungered and fed thee? Or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw I thee a stranger, and took thee in? Or naked, and clothed thee? When saw I thee sick or in prison, and came unto thee? Three-and-thirty hears have I looked for thee; but I have never seen thy face, nor ministered to thee, my King.”

Then Artaban as well as the girl heard the words, faint and far away:

"Verily I say unto thee, Inasmuch as thou hast done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, thou hast done it unto me."

His journey was ended. His treasures were accepted. The Other Wise Man had found the King.

As I finished reading this story on Christmas Day 2006 in a flood of tears of deep love and admiration, I realized a Truth about myself. Within minutes I flashed back over my life from birth to the present. I had been told all my life that I could accomplish anything I set my mind to. The circumstances of my birth were special in that I was conceived  to a woman who had been told that her very life would be in danger if she were to carry her third child to term. In my early twenties when I learned of this story of my birth many things fell into place in my mind. I began to realize that there was a great expectation about me; that I was born into this life to make a difference. I flashed forward to a later time in my forties while meeting with a small group of three other persons and in a deep altered state. I was again impressed with the calling that I was here to do something significant, something that would have implications to the course of humanity.

Then I was in the moment of a recent session with a therapist who skillfully freed the lock I had imposed upon myself all my life about the expectation that I was to do something special. That expectation, buried deep in my psyche, had the result of my feeling as though I had never lived up to my potential, that I had let not only myself down, but also those for whom I cared. I could never do enough and often what I did do fell short of satisfaction.

At last I came to a recent day and once again to the story of The Other Wiseman. All of the life story I had just flashed upon was true in one sense, but not as I had believed it all of my 70 plus years! Yes, I am special! And, you are special too. We all are. What I have come to realize is that I am an expression of love. Even though I have not expressed that love as well as I might have in the past, I now feel an overwhelming sense of that wondrous, unconditional love in my being. I feel the breaking apart of limitations and of clouds of darkness and ignorance. I hear not only the commendation, but also the injunction to love even the least of these, my brethren.

I have grown up with an expectation embodied in the faith others had in me and have discovered the impulse of love within my being. No words can adequately describe the freedom granted in this love. It is first a freedom for my own expression, to be who I am and to enjoy who I am. It is the realization that true love is always enough because it will inevitably lead one to doing those things that bring healing, peace and satisfying fulfillment. Will this change the world? Perhaps not. This new impulse of love is my understanding of my gift and the motivation to be that love as clearly and as completely as I am able. Change the world? I only know it has started me on the path of change. To that extent my world, and maybe yours, is changed.

(This is an excerpt from the complete article written for my hoped-for upcoming book: Moments.)