The God Issue
“I refuse to prove that I exist,” says God, “for proof denies faith, and without faith I am nothing.” “But,” says Man, “the earth and the universe are a dead give away -aren’t they? It could not have evolved by chance. It proves you exist, and so therefore , by your own arguments, you don’t. QED.” “Oh dear,” says God, “I hadn’t thought of that,” and promptly vanishes in a puff of logic. “Oh that was easy ,” says man, and for an encore goes on to prove that black is white and gets himself killed on the next zebra crossing.[1]
What exactly IS religion?
To each their own when it comes to religion; both literally and figuratively. No two believers or disbeliever’s are alike. How ever you define religion, one thing is clear; it involves a person and their interpretation of a concept that he or she deems important enough to connect with. If this concept is a god, philosophy, or even a methodology, it is so significant to the individual that it becomes an integral part of the person in some form.
religion - noun [ME religioun, from L religion-, religio reverence, piety, religion, probably from religare to tie back, tie up, tie fast + ion, io] 1: the personal commitment to and serving of God or a god with worshipful devotion, conduct in accord with divine commands especially as found in accepted sacred writings or declared by authoritative teachers, a way of life recognized as incumbent on true believers, and typically the relating of oneself to an organized body of believers. 2: the state of a religious 3 a: one of the systems of faith and worship : a religious faith b: the body of institutionalized expressions of sacred beliefs, observances, and social practices found with a given cultural context 4: the profession or practice of religious beliefs : religious observances; 5 archaic: scrupulous conformity : conscientiousness, fidelity 6 a: a personal awareness or conviction of the existence of a supreme being or of supernatural powers or influences controlling one’s own humanity’s or all nature’s destiny b: the access of such an awareness or conviction accompanied by or arousing reverence, gratitude, humility, the will to obey and serve: religious experience or insight 7 a: a cause, principle, system of tenets held with ardor, devotion, conscientiousness, and faith: a value held to be supreme importance b: a quality, condition, custom, or thing inspiring zealous devotion, conscientious maintenance, and cherishing. —Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English LanguageAre gods a necessary requirement for religion?
The Labels
According to most definitions, religion can easily exist without deities. Although the majority of the world religions today have some form of supreme beings within their faith, there are a few that do not. One such nontheistic religion is Theravada Buddhism. Its belief structure is based on the teaching of one man, but he is not a god. Due to the Judeo-Christian dominance in western cultures, nontheistic religions remained an Eastern concept until the early nineteenth century. These contemporary nontheistic social and cultural groups do not normally label themselves as religion even though they have an established belief system.
Skepticism
The philosophical attitude of doubting claims of knowledge based on what it substantiates and what is determined to be true. There are varying levels of doubt, from a simple mistrust to extreme epistemological skepticism, where one wonders if anything actually can be known with complete or adequate certainty. When applied to religion, skepticism covers more than just weather or not gods exist. It can also cover the doctrines, dogmas and philosophy. We are all skeptics to some degree whether we have secular or nonsecular beliefs.
- Irrational skepticism - Skepticism is fine but it only takes you so far and you ultimately need to make those unjustifiable leaps of faith in order for truth to be found. Granted, mistakes will be made, but it will be made by those who try. Many great scientific discoveries have been made by taking a leap of faith.
- Naturalistic skepticism - Man makes life meaningful by constructing a “spiritual mode” according to biological and social factors. Whatever his “faith or belief” is, it allows him a sense of certainty and security. The Naturalist skeptic considers this an inherent quality.
Secularism
Secularism is the principle, without religious faith or supreme beings. When this principle is applied to spirituality, it focuses on the reality of the here and now, and acknowledges that this is the *only* life that is lived. Spiritual secularism is often accompanied with Humanistic philosophy, which places the emphasis on mankind and not some transcendent being.
—A problem, I have with secularism ideology is that it is based on the typical definition of religious faith. With my definition, secularism becomes what it tries to deny.
Humanism
A general philosophy that asserts the prime importance of “man” and his and her capacity for self-realization, because of the general nature of this philosophy, it can be applied to many domains.
- Renaissance Humanism was the movement away from feudalism and the singular concern of one’s afterlife. Instead, emphasis shifted to the concern of the man’s earthly life as well as his afterlife. This was accomplished through in the renewal of education, in particular philosophy, science, painting, sculpture, architecture and literature.
- Literary Humanities are the results of the renewed interest literature, philosophy, history and language, which we call the “humanities” or liberal arts.
- Cultural Humanism: A concept that knowledge can be obtained through rational thought and experimentation. It has its roots in ancient Greece and Rome and is now a part of our everyday lives.
- Religious Humanism is a modern movement made up of nontheistic humanists dedicated to achieving the ethical goals of religion without beliefs and rites resting upon supernaturalism. Within many already existing religions, there are members that follow this branch of philosophy, for example groups like the Humanistic Judaism and Unitarian Universalist.
- Christian Humanism advocates the self-fulfillment of the individual in addition to his or her Christian principles.
- Naturalistic Humanism is also known as Modern Humanism or Scientific Humanism. It is the naturalistic philosophy that rejects supernaturalism and regards man as a natural being who relies primarily upon reason and science for his/her own self realization.
- Secular Humanism adheres to the Naturalistic and Cultural humanism philosophies with a strong emphasis that ideologies should be accepted with reason and intellect and NOT on “faith”.
- Rational Humanism promotes that life should be lived in happiness and freedom by reason and science, without dogmas, deities and state.
- Marxist Humanism A state of society in which the notion of class, status, and hierarchy is completely removed and redundant
Agnosticism
Although the word “agnosticism” was first used in 1869 by T.H. Huxley to label his own spirituality, the concept behind the word is ancient. The ambiguity over the existence of supreme beings most likely has been around since their earliest known existence. The ancient Greek philosopher, Protagoras once wrote: “concerning the gods, I cannot know either that they exist or that they do not exist, nor what they are like in form.” Today, philosophers call this Strict Agnosticism. There are many degrees to agnosticism:
- Agnostic theists are those who believe that deities probably exist but knowledge of their nature is impossible due to the limitations of the human mind.
- Agnostic atheists are those who believe that it is improbable that deities exist. (A definitive atheist would go on to say there is no evidence and there could be none.)
- Undecided agnostics are those who believe there is no evidence to support either case. The existence of deities remains unsure. ”
- Nonreligious or Inconclusive agnosticism can be applied to any situation or topic and does not necessarily pertain to “religion”. It accepts the limits of one’s knowledge of the situation and suspends judgment until further evidence or information is produced. In Thomas Huxley’s own words “it is wrong for a man to say that he is certain of the objective truth of any proposition unless he can produce evidence which logically justifies that certainty. This is what Agnosticism asserts; and, in my opinion, it is all that is essential to Agnosticism.”
Religious Agnosticism
Agnosticism cannot be a religion because by its very nature it denies the plausibility of religious belief. So, how can it be a religion? “For religious agnosticism not to be contradictory, it has to be taken to refer to an acceptance of the agnostic principle. This is combined either with a conviction that has at least some minimum of affirmative doctrine that can be established on adequate grounds; or else with the sort of religion or religiousness that makes no substantial or disputatious doctrinal demands.” [3] One such principle is the fact that agnosticism does not actually close the door on the possibility of the divine as does secularism and atheism. For more information about agnosticism as a faith check out Church of Apathetic Agnosticism.
Atheism
Atheism is not the same as agnosticism. Period. Some older dictionaries will list atheism and agnosticism as synonyms of each other, however this is erroneous. While both allege they have no sound evidence for belief in gods; the agnostic, unlike the atheist, does not feel justified in making a decision and suspends judgment. In Atheism there is the certainty of the nonexistence of gods because there is no proof for the fact that they do.
- Aprioristic atheist - Burden of proof lies with the theist believers to give evidence to the existence of supreme beings. Since supreme beings are defined as belonging to a transcendent reality, it’s this reality that ultimately needs to be proven.
- Fallibilistic atheist - This person does not believe in the existence god(s) because at the moment the current evidence supports this premise. Yet, if there was sufficient evidence to the contrary then there is a possibility of a reassessment of belief.
- Intuitive atheist - The inner knowledge that there are no supreme beings, despite whatever any evidence shows.
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Conceptualization GNOSTIC
Atheism and Theism Believing is seeing I already know Total certainty Judgment Faith AGNOSTIC
Agnosticism Seeing is believing I want to know more Areas of uncertainty Suspended judgment Reason |
Final Thoughts on the subject…
I have always said “No one knows everything, and everything is not known”. Does this make me agnostic? I really don’t know. Do I believe in god as a sentient being ? —No. Do I believe in a universal force? -Yes.
As for labels…
After reading up on my philosophy, I began to wonder just how many times does the wheel has to be reinvented before it is finished? I also began to question, if some of these modern philosophers weren’t just sticking new labels on old ideas…. “A rose by any other name is still a rose.” -isn’t it?
Guess my skepticism is showing.
Notes
[1]The Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy – Douglas Adams . This is not an exact quote. I have inserted ‘the earth and universe’ to replace the Babel fish. Whose existence lies mainly within the pages of the Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy and to one well known web-browser who uses it for roughly the same purpose.
[2]Webster’s Third New International Dictionary of the English Language
[3]The New Encyclopedia Britannica, 15th edition volume 26.
A Brief Guide to Beliefs, Ideas, Theologies, Mysteries, and Movements –Linda Edwards.
Personal Conclusion… The dictionary definition appears to list all the attributes of religion but not what it is. To me, religion is any paradigm by which mankind answers the basic fundamental questions of life, universe and our existence within it. Why am I here? What is my purpose in life? -and- How did it ALL come into being?
I am no different from anyone else— I wanted these questions answered as well. For myself, I found most of my answers in science, philosophy, and psychology. So— yes I do have a religion.