Many atheists despise religion because it is not true. They wonder that anyone could be dumb enough to believe such fantastical things as are found in the mythology of religion - all religions, since none are based on a scientific, post-enlightenment understanding of the universe.
While their devotion to truth is admirable, they are missing the point. People are not religious because they have become convinced of the truth of the myth. Rather, religion is about psychological nourishment; it's about feeding the human soul.
Let's consider the Christian faith. When people go to church they are told that they will live again with their loved ones who have died. They are told that they are loved by God. They are told that the wrongs that they have done to others will be forgiven. They are told that evil people will be punished and good people will be blessed and rewarded, in the next life if not in this one.
In short, Christianity fits the shape of the hole in the human heart. It provides an answer for all the features of our world that are tragic and repulsive: we are self-aware beings with unlimited ambitions but tiny, limited lifespans, we are lonely and hunger for love all our lives, we are shamed by our hurtful deeds and words but we cannot undo them, and we wonder at ruthless people prospering while kind-hearted folks are taken advantage of.
This message of hope is wrapped in a profound aesthetic and meditative experience, together with a community of the faithful. It is paired with an imperative to practice universal benevolence - goodwill towards all human kind. This generates an ethic of community, charity, and service that is one of the most attractive features of Christianity.
Atheists who attempt to convert religious people by attacking the truth of the mythology are practicing a futile tactic. They don't understand the human psyche. They don't understand the deep needs that drive the billions of religious people in the world. When they do, they will become better at communicating their message. That's why atheists and religious people tend to talk past each other so much. They have two very different models of religion in their minds. The atheist mind is focused on the truth claims of religion, the religious on the relgious experience.
I enjoy participating in religious experiences, even though I am an intellectual atheist. I recognize that the peace, the self-insight, the comfort that comes from religious practice and meditation and prayer makes me a happier and healthier person. It's not for everybody, but it's certainly for people like me. I despair at the tragedies of this life, and I long for a better moral ethic than is offered by the materialistic nihilism of this world. I am becoming more culturally Christian, and as I do I grow more proud of who I am. Christianity encourages me to focus my attention outward, on the needs of others, rather than selfishly mulling over all the things I am missing in my life.
If you would have told me 11 years ago that I wold be going to church again when I was 29, I would have been incredulous. But here I am. What drives me is my sincere hope is that I may be a blessing to all who know me. If I am, I know the Christian ethic will play a part.
Update: I wrote on a similar theme a few years ago. If you enjoyed this, you should also check out part one in the series on how atheists misunderstand religion.
What a lovely post. I could have written it myself if you substitute Jewish for Christian. After having been engaged in yet another argument with my "fellow" atheists about how stupid Christians are, this is really nice to see. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your feedback Liz. I come from an area where atheism is the norm, and religion taboo. So I'm writing with my social group as an audience.
DeleteI Disagree
ReplyDeleteI understand why people flock to religion, this passage sums it up well:
"Let's consider the Christian faith. When people go to church they are told that they will live again with their loved ones who have died. They are told that they are loved by God. They are told that the wrongs that they have done to others will be forgiven. They are told that evil people will be punished and good people will be blessed and rewarded, in the next life if not in this one. "
Thinking that these things are true, by the believer, impacts their life much more than the consequences you put forth:
"This generates an ethic of community, charity, and service that is one of the most attractive features of Christianity."
For it lets them off the hook for seeking justice and showing compassion, by excusing suffering as 'god's' plan, and thinking that wrongs will be righted in an 'afterlife' instead of seeking to make this world a better place for all. It also changes their motivations, to motivations of reward and punishment, rather than compassion and self-fulfillment
I think perhaps you've not read the many, many atheists who have addressed exactly the argument you're making: that you believe it because it makes you feel good, not because it's true.
ReplyDeleteI for one find the position abominable. You are ethically and morally responsible for checking your beliefs at the door of truth. Example to show why:
I'm an owner of a cruise boat that holds some two thousand passengers. It's been a while since it was last checked for mechanical and structural soundness. I could hire someone to check out my boat and make sure it's sound, but that's expensive. It makes me feel better to believe that the ship is fine and it is certainly good for my bottom line, so I convince myself that it is so and allow it to go out to sea one more time with two thousand people on board. My boat sinks and everyone on board dies.
I had no right to believe that my boat was sound as I had no evidence for it and good reason to suspect that it may not be. My refusal to take responsibility for making sure my beliefs were true directly caused the deaths of two thousand human beings. It is my fault.
The same is true of your beliefs. So what if it makes you feel all happy about things, you have the responsibility to make sure that your beliefs are in fact true. Your argument holds no moral water whatsoever and stands as great judgment against your character. Some may be happy to say, "Well, if it makes you feel better then it's your right." I for one do not and cannot respect anyone that is so relativistic that they will believe the claims of the person who makes them feel best; it's repugnant to me.
Besides, do you really mean to imply what your argument in fact does: I know it's all bullshit but I'm going to plug my ears and keep trying to convince myself its true anyway because I wish it was. I've heard your argument many, many times and I really have to doubt that this is in fact what you mean and that the truth of the claims in your religion are completely beside the point. I suppose that you very well may but even as cynical of human nature as I've become I have a hard time actually believing that anyone can be THAT spineless.
"The same is true of your beliefs. So what if it makes you feel all happy about things, you have the responsibility to make sure that your beliefs are in fact true."
DeleteUm, why does anyone have a responsibility to make sure a "belief" is true? Especially one that NO one can prove or disprove? No one knows if there are spiritual realms, other dimensions, a creator, or if everything just happened to magically appear from nothing and neatly turn into an unusually orderly universe. Why can't everyone believe what they want about how we got here - as long as we're not forcing those beliefs on others? Especially if it comforts us about an uncertain afterlife? After all, if believers are wrong in the end, they'll never even know. If nonbelievers are wrong in the end, well...that's something different now, isn't it?
So you like religion for the same reason that you enjoy a movie or some other fantasy. At least you realize that it is fantasy. At least you know that it is all imaginary. But the one's who burned people at the stake and the one's who do unspeakable evil today in the name of religion think its all absolutely true. They won't accept that it is fantasy That's the problem.
ReplyDeleteJacob, your analysis/reasons, as to why individuals are religious, though correct in many ways, is not all encompassing, nor accurate for all individuals, as I think you are aware, at least I assume this from reading a few of your other posts on this subject.
ReplyDeleteAs to religion being true or a fantasy, or more specifically the existence of God being true or a fantasy; in the monotheistic sense; of course this cannot be proven scientifically. God, or His existence, cannot be measured by precise scientific instruments, a prerequisite for establishing an objective, verifiable truth, so it is useless to argue for the existence of God from this standpoint. What's is interesting, for both the religious and the non-religious, keeping in mind the ability to precisely measure as a means to establishing scientific veracity of a hypothesis, is, both religious and non-religious individuals would, in all likelihood, agree that they are possessed of their own personal will, and yet an individual's will cannot be precisely measured. Does this then mean the will is a fantasy?
As to the evils mentioned here which have resulted, allegedly
because of religion, these evils are not the result or fault of religion, but rather the result of individual men bastardizing the idea of God/religion to achieve some temporal advantage.
Does God exist? I have faith that He does, but I cannot prove this, scientifically or otherwise, nor do I know God exists without a doubt. But the idea of God, and the ideas which have come to us in the Bible, specifically in the story of Christ on earth, are well worth considering and attempting to live, not for the alleged benefits of an alleged afterlife, but for this life we live day to day.
The complete atheist is more respectable than the man who is indifferent. He is on the last rung preceding perfect faith.
Albert Camus