Posts tagged ‘religion’
Two Epiphanies
Over the holiday weekend I had two epiphanies concerning those two topics my mother told me never to discuss in polite company, religion and politics.
The first revolved around religion. Highly regarded physicist Stephen Hawking announces in his new book that God is not an essential ingredient to creation. Indeed the Big Bang can be explained without God in the equation. It is possible, according to Hawking, for something to come from nothing. I’d estimate there were three types of reaction to this finding. Atheists rejoiced. Polite Christians said Hawking was mistaken at best and spiritually lost at worst. Impolite Christians told Hawking that God had some choice words for him upon his imminent death from Lou Gehrig’s Disease (ALS). I was in none of these three camps. I’ve never called myself an atheist because I find most atheists to be as dogmatic in their disbelief as the most obnoxious Christian. In fact, a conservative friend of mine recently remarked that for folks who don’t believe in God, atheists manage to talk about Him almost more than the average religious person. I tend to agree. I’ve always maintained, I don’t know if there is or is not a God. I don’t find His existence relevant to my everyday life. I also don’t believe that anyone else knows for sure that there is a God.
The epiphany occurred when I thought about Hawking’s comments about gravity. He said something, which I admittedly don’t understand, about gravity being the foundation of something arising from nothing. Have you ever seen gravity? I haven’t. Yet every night we go to bed 100% sure that we will awake the next morning to find our bed firmly on the floor. We are equally sure that when we emerge from bed, we will not float up to the ceiling or for that matter that our entire neighborhood won’t be hovering in mid-air. I’m sorry but this is not science. This is faith. We have faith that gravity, the force that keeps us grounded, will not suddenly disappear. Now most folks would tell me “I believe in gravity” is not equivalent to “I believe in God”. I’m not at all sure.
A Klein Bottle
When I studied advanced mathematics in college, one of the things that really bothered me was when we started discussing concepts that defied my notion of reality. An example is the Klein bottle which I would call a three dimensional version of the Möbius strip. You can construct a Möbius strip by simply taking a strip of paper and gluing its ends together but first twisting the strip once before you glue. The circle you have created has the following quality. A fly walking on the outside of the circle will find itself on the inside of the circle once it gets beyond the twist. In a sense this represents the fly moving from a two dimensional space, momentarily into a three dimensional space as it moves from the “outside” of the circle to the “inside”. In the Klein bottle, a fly walking along the handle of the bottle can conceptually, go into a fourth dimension and then wind up on the inside of the bottle. Although rational to any competent mathematician, it was to me totally preposterous and it was the point at which mathematics started to resemble religion to me and I became disenchanted. Mathematics scholars would simply call me ignorant. Perhaps they are right? But let’s get back to the gravity example. I take gravity for granted. I have often heard believers in God say “how can you not see evidence of Him everywhere you look?” Indeed, if one has faith in God as I have faith in gravity, then He is evident everywhere around us.
This brings us to the next epiphany, related to the first one. I spend a good amount of time arguing with folks on the Internet about politics. We live in such polarizing times that I often encounter folks who say things like:
“Obama wants to destroy this country.”
“Our government wants to make slaves of us all.”
“We have abandoned our Constitution.”
“We will have Sharia law here any day now if we’re not careful.”
The list goes on and on. I defy anyone to take these comments out of context and not identify their speaker as a paranoid schizophrenic. I’m sorry but taken on the face of it, these comments constitute the ravings of a nutjob. However if we factor in the prism of perception that bends the clear light of day and distorts it, then these comments are not so crazy. The folks who say these things interpret the signals around them in a way completely different from me. Perhaps I’m the nutjob? The bottom line is that debate with people who say extreme things like this is futile. How can I possibly convince someone that Obama does not want to destroy this country if every signal they absorb convinces them otherwise? It is like trying to convince a believer that God does not exist or convince an atheist that He does. Everything Obama says passes through this prism of perception that makes me believe in him and makes radical conservatives think he is the anti-Christ.
For those who really believe the United States is fundamentally in danger of collapsing from within, there is no changing minds. Will this stop me from debating? Not likely. I enjoy the exchange of ideas, even when I am confronted with what I believe are irrational ones. Perception is reality. It is true in religion as well as politics and it accounts for intractability from both ends of the belief spectrum.
Respectfully,
Rutherford
A Little Religion in the Wrong Hands
I stumbled across this silly video today and it reminded me of the religious debates I’ve been in over the past few weeks regarding Muslim radicals. Here we have a pure ass exercising his right to free speech and suggesting, backed up by his Christian Bible, that women victims of domestic violence should not divorce their husbands. The dialog, if you want to call it that, then devolves into a discussion of cleavage, as prohibited by the Bible.
Clearly, this dude’s twisting of scripture is not comparable to that of a Muslim who thinks he should fly a plane into a building but it clearly supports my assertion that every religion is ripe for misuse by its nuttier followers. That nuttiness can range from harmless to homicidal.
Respectfully,
Rutherford
Religion as Extortion Racket
I don’t usually write about religion in isolation. The few times it has appeared in my articles there has been some political angle. Tonight will be an exception. It will also be personal and not the least bit academic. Recently in the comments section of my blog there was a lengthy discussion of religion and it, in part prompted the following musings.
We need to begin at the beginning. The year is 1992. Soon after the election of Bill Clinton and shortly before her 72nd birthday, my grandmother succumbed to cancer. What followed was absurd and the resulting pain perhaps well deserved. My grandmother was not religious, not remotely. In fact, after my grandfather lost his right arm in a factory accident and the dust had settled, my mom asked my grandmother if she prayed in the immediate aftermath of the incident. My grandmother responded, “of course not. Who was there to pray to?” That was the mark of true non-believer, someone who when the chips were really down, still did not believe in a higher spirit. So it was absurd that my grandmother should receive a religious service and burial. Most of us who have lost a loved one know that the funeral arrangements are as much for the living, if not more so, than for the deceased. And so it was the wish of my grandfather and my grandmother’s sisters that she should receive a religious service.
Since my grandmother did not attend church, the pastor at the service did not know her from Eve. His ignorance of how she lead her life was obvious from the moment he opened his mouth. Had he known her, he would have known she was the finest, most decent woman imaginable. Only my mother and my wife could match her. My sister and I use her as a yardstick for how far we have come and how far we have yet to go. Yet at the height of his eulogy, when emotions in the room were most raw, he declared “let us all pray that God will accept this woman into His kingdom even though she did not accept Christ as her savior. Perhaps though her soul is in peril, God in his infinite wisdom and compassion will have mercy on her.” Soul in peril, indeed. From a moral and ethical standpoint, my grandmother could have wiped the floor of that funeral home with everyone assembled including the minister. I was enraged. You see, even though I was not religious at the time, I at least gave religion some credit for its healing powers. I believed that ministers, doctors of the soul so to speak, abided by the same creed as real doctors — “first, do no harm.” On that late-November day in 1992, that minister did harm. He wounded the hearts of at least some of the bereaved.
Fast forward to April of 2010. It is almost 18 years later and my grandfather, on the verge of turning 90 had lived his allotted time. It was now time to bury him. This funeral would be the exact mirror image of the one I attended 18 years ago. You see, late in life, my grandfather “found Jesus Christ”. The minister knew my grandfather’s second wife very well and knew granddad at least well enough to talk credibly about him. However his most important message was clear. “All those who have found Christ, will see this man again one day. But understand, if you have not found the Lord yet, do not delay because no man knows when his time will come.” Ah, I see. So the only way I will ever get to see my grandfather again, is to accept Christ as my savior. This sermon echoed the same sentiment as the one almost two decades earlier. Comfort could only be found in Christ. Non-believers would suffer, not only in the next world, but even in this one because if you do not believe, then you can only despair of ever seeing your loved one again in the afterlife. The proceeding started to resemble a multi-level marketing meeting as various people rose to eulogize my grandfather, but more importantly to declare their belief in Christ and how THEY were going to see granddad again someday. It was a club you see. We were not here to talk about the life of a man. We were here to celebrate our membership in the club and how only members would reap the benefits of membership.
As I sat there I saw religion, at least in this instance, exposed as an extortion racket. Either believe, or your soul will be at risk. So will your well-being, your ability to deal with your own death and the death of your loved ones. You can have peace of mind but there is a price to be paid. Only through Christ will any comfort come. The content of your character is irrelevant. As long as you pay up at the faith counter, all will be good. And when do the proponents of this racket choose to pry their trade? When loved ones are most vulnerable and in the most pain. That is what I found so shameful and unforgivable. What should have been celebrations of the lives of my grandparents were little more than sales pitches for a product.
With all this said, I still know that religion does bring many people comfort. I do know that right-minded churches work hard for their communities and donate time and money to those less fortunate. It’s that very knowledge that leaves me irreconcilably confused. How could people practicing a belief system of love, turn it into some membership scheme and extort non-members using their peace of mind as leverage?
I am not religious. But I do not go around denying the existence of God. I am not smart enough to disprove the existence of God. I don’t let His existence or lack thereof dictate the course of my life. I do know this much. A loving God honored my beautiful grandmother and demanded nothing in return and he forgave my imperfect grandfather. And if there is a heaven somewhere, both of my grandparents arrived there.
And my grandmother is kicking my grandfather’s ass, as we speak.
Respectfully,
Rutherford
“Religulous” — Irreconcilable Differences
About twenty years ago, I was chatting with a colleague of mine about another co-worker. My friend told me, “Jimmy thinks that every night while he is asleep that his soul rises out of his body and travels the world, only to return to his body by the time he wakes up in the morning.” He laughed uproariously and I joined him in laughter as I said, “Yeah, that’s funny. Kinda like that story about the guy who was born of a virgin and then got killed and rose up into the sky a couple of days later.” I kept laughing, my friend did not. He stopped dead in his tracks. I wasn’t deliberately laughing at his religion. I was making a point of how dare he ridicule the supernatural beliefs of someone else when his own belief system was far from scientific.
So, it’s no wonder that I was eager to see Bill Maher’s new film, “Religulous”, a deliberate melding of religious and ridiculous. Bill’s claim is that this film will not offend believers. Honestly, I doubt that. The film is at once mocking and devastatingly critical. Some highlights:
- A “reformed” homosexual talks about how he helps gays fill the emptiness in them that makes them gay.
- Bill visits what can only be called a religious amusement park complete with tourists snapping pictures of the re-enacted crucifixion.
- We hear from a man who claims to be the second coming of Christ (and has lots of praying and paying worshipers following him).
- We’re introduced to a stoner priest whose only real religious tenet is getting high.
Bill does not play favorites in the film although he is a bit hard on Muslims. There are two very striking moments. During the crucifixion re-enactment, the camera pans up from “Jesus’” suffering body to the sky where a jet airliner is flying overhead. Later in the film we visit a holy Muslim site in Jerusalem where someone starts running a vacuum cleaner. Bill’s intent is clear — to contrast what he considers to be fantasy, with the scientific realities of the modern age.
The film’s tone changes from gently mocking at its start to darkly horrifying at its conclusion. Bill’s verdict is that “the end of days” will not come because of any divine decisions. It will come because deluded people with fairy tales in their heads will destroy our planet in some realization of misguided prophecy. You leave the film either dismissing Maher as an intolerant non-believer or agreeing with him that our collective refusal to say “I don’t know” about the mysteries of life and death, will eventually get us all killed.
Most of all, however, you come away from the film understanding that faith really cannot be discussed or debated. Many of Maher’s interviews look like two people speaking totally different languages. With the exception of a few religious hucksters and a very funny and practical vatican priest, all of Bill’s interview subjects evidence an impenetrable barrier of blind faith. These folks can no more understand Bill’s skepticism than he can understand their belief in angels, prayer and speaking in tongues. (The “amusement park Jesus” did get Bill thinking though. He compared the father, son and holy ghost to the different manifestations of water: liquid, steam and ice. Bill was impressed with the analogy although he eventually dismissed it as hokum.)
As the film ends, amid pictures of suicide bombers, atomic explosions and utter chaos, Maher pleads with the 16% of the US that do not affiliate with a particular religion to rise up and put a stop to what he believes will bring an end to us all. Surely, Bill knows that no one in that 16% will make any more headway than he did. It is truly a case of irreconcilable differences.
Respectfully,
Rutherford
The Obama-Moses Ad: God is Dead
Last week we entered Silly Season in presidential politics with the McCain campaign publishing two ads that look like audition tapes for “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart”. New York Times columnist Bob Herbert wrote an op-ed on Saturday discussing the black man, white woman taboo exploited by the Britney Spears ad. To the modern eye (including mine) this subtext went completely unnoticed but to the American bigot who has not emerged from the pre-civil-rights era, the message was there, albeit subliminal. On “This Week with George Stephanopoulos”, David Gergen made a similar analysis, this time citing the “Obama thinks he’s Moses” ad and indicating that the message clearly understood by traditional southerners is that Obama is an “uppity” black man.
I don’t need to go to those arguments. Lots of reasonable people didn’t see what Gergen and Herbert saw. I did see one thing that I am shocked no one else is talking about. The Obama as “The One” campaign ad is an affront to faith. I am not religious, but if I were, I’d be insulted by this ad. The ad says that the high aspirations, lofty goals and faith that we can have a better society, represented in Obama’s soaring rhetoric is a joke. It is something to be mocked. In attempting to ridicule Obama, they ridicule all that is positive about Obama’s message. The ad is an exercise in detestable cynicism. The ad is shorthand for “Vote for McCain because God is dead.”
The McCain campaign makes the very bad mistake of ridicule by comparison. In the Spears-Hilton ad, the comparison is odious but logical. Spears and Hilton are perceived as mindless celebrity burnouts. The implication that Barack is a fad, soon to burn out, is obvious. However, in the “Moses” ad, Obama is compared to Moses who led his people to freedom with the help of God. This means either that Obama is a truly great man or that Moses himself is laughable. If we cannot believe in Obama, who asks us to appeal to our higher callings, then by extension, we have no reason to believe in God or faith in anything at all.
It is one thing for a campaign ad to attempt to destroy a man, it is quite another for it to attempt to destroy hope, idealism and the lofty goals for our country.
A man who tells us to abandon our dreams is not fit to be President of the United States of America.
Respectfully,
Rutherford
Peace and War
Two years ago I posted a video and lyrics from a beautiful holiday song and it has become somewhat of an RL tradition. Today I am just posting the lyrics to the song, based on a Longfellow poem. Even though the song mentions God, I believe regardless of religious persuasion the listener can find a message that resonates. Unfortunately, we live in a time of peace and war. In the spirit of the day, I will deal with war some other time. Today, we talk about peace.
No matter how bad things seem to be, there is always tomorrow and always the opportunity for good to defeat evil. No matter what damage is done, evil cannot destroy hope for a better tomorrow.
Respectfully,
Rutherford
WordPress.com Political Blogger Alliance
December 24, 2010 at 1:00 am Rutherford 99 comments