So, once again, I’m revisiting material from class. And I apologize to everyone who has legitimatley studied theology and finds me a bit on the slow side but I’ve never done this before so it’s all new to me.
I’m back to something that really bothered me. It was from a questionnaire sent out to UUs about their beliefs about the nature of God where they were asked to finish a statement that began, “I conceive God as…” and one of the choices was: “A human creation – functions to preserve existing power structure.” I find this so very sad that I just have to take a moment to address it.
I totally get that horrible things have been done in the name of religion. I’m not ignorant about human history. But horrible things have been done in the name of government and yet we still need that, too. I’m not someone who thinks that humankind would be better without either government or organized religion. Let me speak to a few issues.
If you’re someone who thinks we don’t need religion, I’ll tell you briefly why I disagree. Religion speaks to the Big Issues in life. Philosophy will do that for you as well but I believe that religion has a better corner on that market of systematically and wholistically addresssing the meaning of life. I believe that human beings need time and space to consider the Big Issues (morality, ethics, where we came from, why we’re here, what happens when we die, how to treat other people, etc.) and religion provides that. I believe that life is richer when we address these issues and I believe that the vast majority of people take an interest in them at some point in their lives. Religion provides a time and space for this and aside from all the good it does for communities, aside from all the assistance congregations offer to their own members, religion provides a service for its members in addressing the Big Issues that makes life richer and fuller and answers questions that matter toward the end goal of self-actualization. While I’m taking this BYOT class I’m knee-deep in that aspect of religion.
Most religions are also oriented toward service – toward bettering the lives of their congregants and their communities. Whether this is the role of government or not is seriously up for debate and as long as that debate is raging we desperately need large, well-funded institutions whose goal is to assist individuals and families. Dude, that’s religion.
If you’re someone who thinks we might need religion, or do need religion, but we need the “right” religion and too many are “bad,” let me say this. Religion is just like anything else where you have hugs swaths of the population taking part in a mutual endeavor – education, government, public safety. All of these functions are carried out by people for people. Great things are going to happen, and horrible things are going to happen. You have to ask yourself if the good outweighs the bad. In the case of religion, and for the reasons I spoke of above, I believe it does. I believe that religion calls upon individuals to do their best, to help their fellow world citizen, and to think beyond themselves for the betterment of their communities. Does this happen all of the time? No, it doesn’t. Do people do horrible things in spite or religion or even because of it? Absolutely. But I think that in the case of religion the good outweighs the bad and more wonderful things happen in the name of God than horrible things. And I don’t believe that particular faiths have a corner on the market of being better or worse, except for cults which I’m willing to chuck out of the umbrella of religion.
And the basic, bottom line is that I don’t hold God accountable for the evil done in His name while at the same time I give Him credit for all the good. Maybe you think that’s cheating but I just don’t. The positivity of the force that greets me when I pray is so powerful, is so overwhelmingly good, is so unrelentingly wonderous, that I know for myself that it is a source of good. Human beings, on the other hand, from and with whom I have experienced much ugliness, are more than capable of generating the kind of negativity that could turn the planet earth into a wasteland. When I think about the wonder that is creation – as I type this I am listening to the waves crash gently on the shores of Lake Michigan – I am blown away by the beauty of the planet He created for us. The miracle of creation (which I believe was accomplished via evolution under the eye of God) is a force of such wonder that it overwhelms both the petty and deeper hurts of human life. That doesn’t mean I can always see that. When I’m experiencing particular hurts in my life it sometimes interrupts my ability to appreciate God’s goodness, but I seek to come back to God because I believe, deep down, that He is the source of the world’s goodness. Perhaps nature is one of the best examples of that goodness, and it is all around us, and easily accessible. The next time I am hurting and unable to pray perhaps I shall turn to nature to try to reinivigorate myself with God’s benevolence.
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