Let me just say that I am a big Leonard Pitts fan. He writes for the Miami Herald. And while I very rarely repost something someone else writes, this op-ed piece was so important to me that I felt the need to help get it out there in my small way.
I am very close to an ardent atheist (several in fact). One in particular is an evangelist to atheism, a megaphone to his faith that there is no god. He feels so strongly about his position that, while I avoid talk of religion, I can count on almost every conversation coming around to it. I do get his point about organized religions doing a lot of harm. No question. But, as the saying goes, never let religion get in the way of your faith in God. As I am very close to this angry atheist ("AgAt" - yep, there's a term for it) I try not to push his buttons. I tend to step lightly. And, when the subject comes up of his non-faith, or his faith in nothing, or his insistence that the universe is as it is solely based on random chance, I try my best not to become an angry theist, which I consider just as rude and pushy as AgAts. What really unnerves me is when he acts as though believers are intellectually inferior to people like him who are very strict believers in a "science only" approach to the universe (which I like to think of as creation).
Now, don't get me wrong. While I do attend church, I am not a blind follower of whatever the preacher/teacher says. Not even close. Sometimes I just think, well, the God I believe in just isn't like that. But that's OK. He/She is entitled to think whatever. But if I leave with some lessons about how to be a better person (believe me I can use a LOT of those), then it was worth it. This is the longest stretch I have gone in at least 10 years without helping to lead worship in church with music. I miss it. Because it made me get to church. It made me think deeply about trying to be a better person. God knows, I can use all of that I can get.
Anyway, here is Leonard's piece. I wish I had written it. I am sure glad that he did.
IN MY OPINION
Leonard Pitts: a universal explanation for religious atheists
BY LEONARD PITTS JR.
LPITTS@MIAMIHERALD.COM
I was standing in line with God, buying tickets to see M onsters University. He’s a big Billy Crystal fan.
“So,” I said, “have you heard about these religious atheists?”
God gave me a look. “Is this a joke?” He asked. “Like, two rabbis and a duck walk into a bar?”
“No,” I said. “It’s a story that ran in the Washington Post recently about religion in America. It was fascinating. Turns out 12 percent of those who say they don’t believe in you nevertheless pray. Some of them pray to something they call a ‘universal spirit.’ It also said 18 percent of atheists say religion has some importance in their lives.”
“Really?” said God as the line edged forward. “So where’s this coming from?”
“It was from a Pew study that came out in October. For some reason, the study didn’t get much traction, but the Post story has been making noise all over the Internet. People are blogging about it, tweeting about it.”
“I hadn’t heard,” said God. “My Internet’s been down.”
“So anyway, I said, “about these religious atheists . . .”
“What about them?”
“You don’t think it’s weird? They don’t believe in you, but they pray?”
“To this ‘universal spirit,’ ” said God.
“Yeah.” We edged forward again.
“Why should that bother me?” asked God. “I am a universal spirit.”
“But it’s hypocritical,” I insisted. “The story even talks about atheists who mimic religious practices, who gather in so-called ‘godless congregations’ on Sundays to, I don’t know, meditate and reflect.”
“This annoys you?” God waggled His fingers at a toddler who was staring at Him.
“A little,” I conceded. “Just seems like they’re trying to have it both ways. Heck, some of them throw hissy fits at any passing mention of you. If I write some innocuous line — ‘Lord, have mercy,’ let’s say — suddenly, I’ve got atheists out the wazoo.”
“Sounds painful,” He said, “atheists out the wazoo.”
“I’m just saying: If you believe, believe. If you don’t, don’t. Make up your mind.”
“You think it’s that simple? It’s not. Faith and doubt do not oppose each other. They define each other, like light and shadow.”
“Wow,” I said, “that’s deep.”
“I have my moments,” said God.
We got to the window. “Two for Monsters,” I said. God showed his AARP card and got the senior discount.
“Here’s the thing,” said God as we lined up at the snack counter. “I designed you to seek me, to feel a need for me. Some people — that 12 percent you’re so fired up about — maybe they don’t find me in what you call ‘religion.’ Maybe that means they’re missing something. Or maybe religion is.”
“What if they don’t find you at all?”
“Finding is important,” said God. “But seeking is important, too. Seeking teaches patience, opens your mind, shows you your own limitations. That’s where wisdom begins.”
“But come on,” I said, “ ‘universal spirit?’ Doesn’t that sound cheesy?”
God shrugged. “I’ve been called worse. Besides, have you seen the things some religious people do, supposedly in my name? They blow things up in the name of God. They stone women in the name of God. They fight in the name of God. They hate in the name of God.”
He looked sad. “I wish, more often, they would hug in the name of God. Serve in the name of God. Heal in the name of God. Make peace in the name of God. I would like that very much.”
We got to the snack counter.
I ordered popcorn and a cherry Icee.
“He’ll have water,” said God and when I looked at him, He said, “I gave you good, strong teeth. Why do you want to rot them?”
The kid behind the counter handed the water bottle to God, who handed it to me.
“Don’t forget to recycle,” He said. “My oceans are not garbage dumps.”
I sighed. “Yes, universal spirit,” I said.
2 comments:
Muluken has recently decided he does believe in God. So now he grills me from time to time about how I can account for certain things if there were no God. Of course, these things can just as easily be turned right back around on him. There is no accounting for anything if you base it on faith. You just choose, or perhaps feel compelled, to believe. I'm quite certain he believes now as a reaction to all his friends at school going to church and making him feel as though NOT being a Christian makes him and his family terrible people. So, more than a Christian I'd say he's a conformist. I think many Christians are. Many kids are indoctrinated from an early age to believe or burn in hell. Gee, maybe if we taught reading and math with the same binary system of consequence we'd solve all the issues facing education. Perhaps the church is on to something here. I don't know. I'm just sayin'.
I trust I'm not the friend you speak of who gets mad when discussing religion. It drives me batty but I understand where people are coming from when they say they love God and enjoy going to church to have one man tell them what that that flawed book means because they've been taught they can't create meaning from it on their own.
Ha, one last jab. Safe to say if there were a God he wouldn't invite me to a movie!
à l'effet contraire, mon frère
I think you are exctly who God would like to stand in line with to a movie. I think it would be stimulating for you both.
Tim
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