Religion without God?
 |
| Google Image |
“Faith is the possibility of re-interpreting what seemed so
cut and dried from ‘the world’s’ point of view,” writes Tomas Halik, the Czech
scholar I quote often in these blogs.
But if faith makes demands on us, atheism and agnosticism have
their own burdens. Drew Christiansen recently wrote an article in America
magazine entitled, “The Unbelievers, An Overview of ‘Religious Atheism.’”
“Religious atheism?” That’s a contradiction in terms, you
might say. But it signifies the discontent some atheists and agnostics feel
about the dry, cold reality of a godless world and their efforts to adopt the comforting
trappings of religion.
Some atheists and agnostics, it seems, long for the art,
architecture, community and festivity they see in religion but resist the
“transcendent” impulse. They seek an alternate way to find meaning. Christiansen
quotes a Canadian philosopher who has written that “Happiness is about the
ability to reflect on one’s life and find it worthwhile.”
For some, says Christiansen, poetry has become “a surrogate
for religion.” And then, of course, there’s civil religion, touting things like
loyalty, patriotism and militarism, providing “the social cohesion religion had
previously given.” And for some, sports and entertainment have become religions.
As for the idea of valuing the trappings of religion without
religion itself – without God, in other words – many religious people are just
as “guilty” as atheists and agnostics. In Catholicism, I think of some clergy,
especially some priests and bishops, who appear to worship the liturgical and
non-liturgical garments that distinguish them from others, the praise and
admiration they see as their due and their sense of righteousness. Some of
them, apparently, have never internalized the theology they spent years
studying.
Some TV Christian evangelists are other examples, and
Judaism, Islam and Buddhism are not immune from stressing appearance over “substance,”
by which I mean a sincere faith that shows in how you live.
But just as only a few scientists err by drawing unwarranted
conclusions, superficial religious people are, I believe, in the minority. It’s
hard to be shallow about something that has to do with your life, not just your
career.
Still, a genuine obstacle to accepting religion for many in
today’s world is the perceived lack of freedom joining a religion represents. I
think that has been a particular problem for my faith, Catholicism.
 |
| Drew Christiansen Google Image |
“We must acknowledge that a deficit of freedom in Catholic
culture is an obstacle to modern men and women hearing the gospel,” writes Christiansen.
It also results in “avoidance, resentment and cognitive dissonance” in
individuals and in harmful divisions within the church. “Our capacities to live
the Gospel fully and proclaim it boldly are stunted by insufficient respect for
mature religious freedom within the church,” he writes.
Though I share this vague feeling of coercion about
membership in organized religion, I wonder if it is real or whether it is
merely a widely accepted stereotype into which I’ve been drawn. I recall that
after I left the priesthood and became a journalist – and afterward in my brief
career as a public health bureaucrat – I was surprised by the authoritarianism
of my “superiors.” The bishops and pastors under whom I served were much less
authoritarian, and I believe that’s even more the case today.
Do we modern people accept a “lack of freedom” in business,
sports, and other organizations but not in religion? Religions are, after all,
human organizations apart from any claims made to be divine as well. As with any
human organization, there are rules, guides, principles and people on an
organizational chart. If we choose to accept the organization, acceptance of all
that is implied.
I could never be a monk, “confined” to a monastery and under
the authority of an abbot or other “superior,” partly because of the perceived
lack of freedom. But I recall once discussing this with a monk, who said he joined
a monastery to focus on God. He was happy to leave the organization of the
monastery, and even details more directly relating to his life, to the abbot.
And if we mean by lack of freedom the necessity to accept
doctrine, is that a real obstacle? As I’ve written in these blogs before, you
have to allow time for some doctrines to “grow on you.” And if they don’t, they
will simply be irrelevant for you. A church is a community of faith that, among
other things, professes similar beliefs, but there is no test. Though there is
no need to deny them – recognizing their importance to other members of the
faith community – some Catholic doctrines are simply irrelevant to many of us.
Some would call this being a “cafeteria Catholic,” embracing
only the doctrines with which you agree. But practically, all Catholics –
including the most conservative – do this, and with reason.
Many of the atheist or agnostic authors quoted in
Christiansen’s article acknowledge the incompleteness of a life without
religion. Quoting philosopher Jurgen Habermas, Christiansen writes that
religion provides “an awareness of what is lacking or absent in our lives.” And
some among these philosophers acknowledge there’s no substitute for the real
thing.
One of my favorite gospel stories is less known because of
the popularity of the other famous father-and-sons story, that of the prodigal
son. But the story I have in mind is the one about the father who asked each of
two sons to go to work in his vineyard. The first said he wouldn’t go, but later
went. The second said he would, but didn’t.
Which, asked Jesus of his listeners, did what his father
asked? The answer is obvious.
Many, including “religious” people more interested in
religion’s trappings than loving God and neighbor, are like the second son.
People sincerely searching for God, on the other hand, may take time –
sometimes a lifetime – to say “yes.” Jesus explains to his listeners that these
“resisters” are represented by the “prostitutes and tax collectors” who enter
the kingdom of God before all those who say “yes” but don’t mean it.
Comments
Post a Comment