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A Sense of Belonging. I don’t think there is much doubt that joining a church (or a religion) can give one a great sense of belonging. Maybe it’s belonging in the sense of being part of something beautiful and ancient. Maybe it’s that sense of belonging to a community of like minded individuals. Regardless, there is much to be said for a feeling of being part of something greater than you are and if that something extends into eternity, so much the better. But sometimes this sense of belonging carries a heavy price. There can be enormous pressure in some churches to conform in thought, word, deed and doctrine. A person may also feel pressured to act happy and joyful “in-Christ” no matter what the circumstances. Still for some people, a sense of belonging is well worth the price regardless of the drawbacks.
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Social Interaction. In many instances, especially in smaller and more conservative churches, almost all of a person’s meaningful interactions are with their own church group. Supposedly deep friendships are formed and even entire generations of family members may attend the same place of worship. Connecting with people socially and on deeper emotional and intellectual levels is also a comforting and compelling reason for religion. The thought of breaking these kinds of interactions is a major reason why some people will continue to be associated with a religious group long after they have stopped believing. In some churches and denominations it is pretty much known that if you leave the church or have doubts about your faith, your friendships, as long standing as they may be, will immediately cease. These friendships may appear real, but they are completely dependent on church standing and the potential of losing these friendships can cause a lot of anxiety. Still, for some, the social interaction and friendships trumps everything.
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A Black and White View of the World. There is also comfort in the thought that the world is black and white and not shades of gray. Most religions have specific rules and regulations that are absolutes, so thinking through issues such as gay marriage isn’t necessary. It’s wrong because my bible tells me so. Some people are very uncomfortable with gray, so a no nonsense right or wrong view of any issue resonates with them.
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An Authoritarian Structure. An authoritative structure gives a person a sense of accountability and comfort that someone is watching out for them, be it a god or a pastor, or both. The person (or god) in authority simply needs to be obeyed. There is a strong hierarchy in the Catholic church where doctrine is handed down from on high and the “Priest” is to be respected and believed. In other denominations, the structure may not be as complicated, but don’t underestimate the power of an individual elder/pastor in even an independent Protestant church. Such a figure can wield enormous power and control over the congregation and individuals. For some, this is a comforting thing but for others the flip side of this is “spiritual abuse”. Religious leaders can so rule their congregations that every aspect of a believers life is regulated, from who they can marry, who they can interact with, what jobs they can take, what books they can read, what movies (if any) they can watch all the way to what they must do on certain days of the week. Spiritual abuse is a very real problem in some churches and there is a growing body of research on the subject. (When I did a Google search on the subject I received over 100,000 hits.). Still some people like this type of structure especially if it can be shown that god requires it. (I once talked to a man that loved this type of structure but only if he was a elder/pastor controlling the others. He said that he couldn’t remain in such a congregation as a mere sheep!)
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A Sense of Knowing What is Unknowable. There is no doubt that man is a “spiritual” animal. Religions use this fact to suggest that god is real and these spiritual longings were placed there by him. However, there are good evolutionary reasons why there is this “spiritual” dimension to man. Regardless, there can be an enormous sense of well being that you “KNOW” the “spiritual secrets” of god. That you can know what will happen to you after death. That the mind of god, in a sense, is laid bear before you. For some, knowing through faith is so much better than knowing by facts, because it doesn’t require evidence or support.
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It Gives One Purpose in Life. There are some people that need an overall purpose in life. The thought that there is no ultimate purpose to life would be depressing to these people. While I believe there isn’t an ultimate purpose this doesn’t mean you can’t live a purposeful life, but, for some, this makes life ultimately meaningless. Religion gives them the “assurance” that there is an ultimate purpose for life, the Universe and everything. Even if that purpose is as ridiculous as a Creator making everything so he can have a relationship with his creation and send them to heaven so they can praise him forever. Personally, 42 makes the same amount of sense (Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy), but for some a ridiculous explanation is better than no explanation at all.
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It is the Basis for Morality. There are a surprising number of believers that actually think that there is an objective morality and this morality only comes from god. Without god, they believe, there would be no morality just rape, pillaging, death and destruction everywhere. (Hummm.. sort of like their moral god commands his people to do in various parts of scripture!) Embracing religion gives them the assurance that “moral standards” will be upheld.
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Get out of Hell Free Card. Let’s not overlook the power that the thought of eternal punishment has on religious conversions or keeping someone in a faith system. The thought of spending all eternity in anguish and torment has caused more than one person to embrace faith and keep hold of it regardless of doubts. In fact this fear forms the basis of Pascal’s famous wager – It is better to be safe than sorry.
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Religion has the Keys to Living a Great Life. There is an entire branch of Christianity that says one can live a “victorious” Christian life – the best possible life – in Christ. This is a life full of zeal for god, the ability to go through trials without struggle (or to eliminate struggle and trials all together) and to enjoy the happy blessing of god, whatever that may be. This could be a worry free life, a life full of your completed desires or even heath and wealth, depending on the flavor presented. It’s sort of like looking at the high rung Amway distributors telling you how commitment to their product line has given them everything in life. It is no doubt very attractive to some since everyone around them seems so “together” (pretty much an act), but they – not so much. They want to obtain this victorious life, but they are constantly missing devotions or not praying enough or not reading their bible enough or not “on-fire” for the lord enough. And then tragedy strikes: an illness, a death, a loss of job, a divorce, etc. Then comes the wondering – Is it because of some sin in my life? Is god trying to tell me something? Was I not faithful enough? Such questions can wrack a believer with guilt. The fact that there are hundreds of Christian books telling believers how to live the christian life, how to love god more, how to get through the “dry” times, attest to the fact that this is a huge problem in many believers lives and these people desperately want this “victorious” life and the keys to it.. After all if one has to struggle in this life with the help of god, what chance is there without god?
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Cultural Influences. For some people religion isn’t a choice it’s a given. If you are born in a particular country, society or family your chances of having a particular religion is pretty much a given. In the U.S you are probably going to be a Christian, in Iran a Muslim and certain parts of India a Hindu, etc. Furthermore, in many cases a particular religion is a part of an ethnic group. For example, I am Italian and the identity of many Italians is wrapped up in Catholicism. You many not believe a word the Catholic church tells you but you are Catholic as much as you are Italian and breaking away from the church is as much as renouncing your ethnicity. To such people, religion is just part of their identity and has little to do with doctrine or belief.
- I have a Relationship with God. I have saved this for last since it is an appealing part of evangelical Christianity. Many Christians claim that they can have a PERSONAL relationship with god (a fairly recent concept in Christianity). Now if god was real, who wouldn’t want a friend in god? The all powerful ruler of the universe is a friend of mine. Not only that, but he wants and desires to have me as his friend! Can there be anything better than this? Unfortunately, this is an illusion and if most believers are honest, it’s an empty, one-sided relationship. It is hard enough to have an intimate relationship with a person, so a relationship with an invisible, non-communicating, imaginary god is extremely difficult. It means praising him for all the good things he does and then praising him for all the bad things and downright “evil” things he does. If he kills your child – praise god. If he heals him – praise god. It means putting your brain on hold, while you try to justify his seemly capricious actions. It means trying to convince yourself that you hear his small, still voice in your head or in a scripture passage. It means talking (praying) without the benefit of a two-way conversation. It means convincing yourself that your invisible friend is real. The huge Christian book market, once again, tends to indicate that many believers find this relationship unsatisfying. Still, some people appear to be good at this game and others would love for it to be true.
Archives for October 2009
Why I am and Atheist – Wrap-Up
Over the last few months I discussed 8 reasons that led me away from Christianity and toward Atheism: the conduct of “gods” people, the lack of perspicuity in scripture, “god” being “above” his law, the problem of evil in the world, Biblical genocide, errors in scripture, evolution and the silliness of worship. None of these alone are enough to formulate the opinion that god doesn’t exist, but taken as a whole they provide strong evidence against the personal, Christian god. This god is defined as a god who cares about his people and is intimately involved in their lives and wants them to be emotionally involved with him.
For instance a loving, caring, compassionate, sovereign and merciful god cannot easily be reconciled with evil in the world and the biblical record of genocide commanded by god. Errors in scripture dealing with subjects that can be checked makes it unlikely that there aren’t errors in the spiritual claims that we have to take on faith. Even those “faith-based” passages are unclear enough to create thousands of faith groups and beliefs within Christianity. In addition, the fact of evolution creates all sorts of problems with the classical understanding of the Christian god as a redeemer for a world plunged into sin and darkness through the action of a fictional couple. This is not to say that people don’t feel that such a god exists, but if the evidence is looked at objectively, it is highly unlikely that there is such a deity.
Since I started on this journey a few years back because of the conduct of “gods” people, it is fitting to end this series with a consideration of this topic and it isn’t pretty. Study after study, even those conducted by Christian organizations, have shown the lack of any real difference in the lives of those who claim the Christian label and those who don’t. For example:
- The abortion rate is the same or higher among the religious (e.g. Religious devotion does not impact abortion decisions of young unwed women, Religion = higher abortion rate?)
- Addiction to pornography is similar (e.g. Poll: Christians addicted to pornography, Porn again, Addicted to Pornography)
- Divorce rates may be actually higher than those evil, immoral atheists (e.g. U.S. divorce rates: for various faith groups, age groups and geographical areas, Born Again Christians Just As Likely to Divorce As Are Non-Christians)
- Faith seems to have little actual effect on believers lives (e.g. Faith Has a Limited Effect On Most People’s Behavior, Spiritual Progress Hard to Find in 2003, Practical Outcomes Replace Biblical Principles As the Moral Standard)
Gregory S. Paul has shown that societies with high religiosity actually have more societal dysfunction than those that don’t (Journal of Religion and Society Vol 7, Vol 8). This was also shown in a recent book by Phil Zuckerman (Society without God: What the Least Religious Nations Can Tell Us About Contentment). In fact, the lack of a any real difference in lifestyle between believers and unbelievers is a potent argument against the Christian god, especially given the claims the bible makes about the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in a believers life. This dichotomy has lead more than one person down the road to atheism. William Lobdell in his book Losing My Religion describes his loss of faith:
“If the Gospels were true, then shouldn’t I be able to find plenty of data that showed Christians acted differently—superior in their morals and ethics—from the rest of society? I wanted to see that people were changed in fundamental ways by their belief in Christ. This was a new tack for me. For years, my assumption was that Christianity was true, and my studies and readings focused on shoring up that belief. I used the historical record, the Bible, anecdotal evidence and arguments by theologians and apologists to back up my position. Now, I wanted to take a step back and test my assumption about the truth of Christianity itself by examining how Christians behaved, looking at their actions, not their words.” (Kindle Edition, loc 2677)
I can relate to those words because that was also the start of my journey away from Christianity. I too needed to test my assumptions about the “truth of Christianity” and like Lobdell, I found it wanting.
This is not to say that their aren’t exemplary examples of believers who take their beliefs seriously and live them out to help the poor and downtrodden, devote themselves to prayer and fasting, and seek to make themselves and the world a better place. William Lobdell details such remarkable people, yet these people cross all faith lines and are found in people of no-faith as well. While religion may motivate some of these people, their sacrifices aren’t limited to a particular religion or set of beliefs. So, while real for the individual, a particular belief isn’t a prerequisite for their action (although they may think it). Men and women of deep conviction come from all and no particular religious group.
The fact that people have thrilling emotional stories about what god has done for them and the fact that some believers live astounding lives, is not objective evidence since such stories and lives are also found in other faith groups (and no faith groups) that are diametrically opposed to Christianity. In other words, people have deep religious type experiences regardless of the god or gods they worship. These experiences are very real to the individual and, while confirming for them, actually point against a belief in god since they are experienced regardless of the god(s) worshiped.
Now if only one group of people in one belief system had these experiences, had radically answered prayer in a testable way, had people who led compelling lives that differed greatly from all other faith groups, and demonstrated various well-documented miraculous events, then maybe these experiences would suggest that their god was the only valid one. Much like the Old Testament story of Elijah where he taunted the prophets of Baal to call upon their god to answer by fire and consume the animal sacrifice that was laid out for him. (1 Kings 18: 20-40). Baal was impotent but the god of Israel was not. Why are there no miracles like this in today’s age? Because they are just stories for the faithful and not much else to the “unfaithful”. No religion believes the miraculous claims of a rival religion, but theirs are always “true”.
The fact is, the average Christian doesn’t lead a compellingly different life and, sadly, the actions of some are amazingly immoral, at least by human standards. In fact, the actions of many people acting immorally in the name of god was a driving force that caused William Lobdell to lose his faith. There is good in religion but there is also evil. Now you might think that one shouldn’t reject god because of the actions of his people, but this, in actuality is a shallow argument I once believed. Here is Mr. Lobdell again talking about his article in the Los Angeles Times describing his deconversion:
“My piece did receive criticism, the most consistent being that I had witnessed the sinfulness of man and mistakenly mixed that up with a perfect God. I understand the argument but I don’t buy it. If the Lord is real, it would make sense for the people of God, on average, to be superior morally and ethically to the rest of society. Statistically, they aren’t. I also believe that God’s institutions, on average, should function on a higher moral plain than governments or corporations. I don’t see any evidence of this. It’s hard to believe in God when it’s impossible to tell the difference between His people and atheists.” (Kindle Edition, Loc 3682)
Again, this alone isn’t evidence enough to reject a the Christian god (or any personal deity that is involved with mankind). However when combined with what I have presented over the last few months, I believe that the evidence for the personal Christian god, as most people worship him, is almost nil. That said, there are at least a couple of scenarios that the evidence doesn’t rule out:
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It is possible that there is a god who just doesn’t give a “damn” about truth. He doesn’t care what religion you are or what you believe about him, just that you believe. This certainly would explain the large number of Christian denominations and non-Christian religions. It would also explain similar religious experiences regardless of the god or gods worshiped. This deity would spread his “miracles” and “answered” prayer around making it look random and of no consequence. Of course, if such a god existed, he would be capricious in the extreme. To allow people to die for beliefs and doctrines that are of no consequence would be the height of immorality. Also, such a god, is rarely one that is worshiped. Even those religions that think there are various paths to god and that god can be called by many names, usually think their way is the better way. However, the evidence can’t rule out this type of deity, but if such a deity exists he is not worthy of worship. In a sense, such a god would be as mischievous as Loki, the Norse god of Mischief, Deceit and Lies.
- It is also possible that there is a deity that many Deists have in mind. A deity that created the universe, set everything in motion and then sits back and watches. Such a Deity rarely, if ever, gets involved with his creation. Such a deity would act exactly as if there were no god and thus fit the evidence, but it is hard to imagine that such a Deity particularly cares about what you believe or whether you worship him, her or it.
Neither of these choices is the comforting father figure most believers worship.
As an atheist and skeptic my unbelief rests on evidence and not faith. If that evidence changes, I am more than willing to change with it.