Is there a God? If there is, does it matter which God it is? Does it even matter if we believe in God at all?
I know, each one of those questions above has been the subject of whole books, of entire categories of books even, and here I am putting all three of them at the top of one of my blog entries. Who does this guy think he is, right? I don't plan on writing a book here on this blog, but I do want to talk about these questions for several reasons:
1) I know that many Christians come to a serious questioning point in their faith over one of these questions, or a similar question about who God is and how He (She? It?) relates to us.
2) I know people that would answer these questions exactly opposite to the way that I would.
3) I know lots of people that have no idea how to answer these questions, or don't think that there is an answer, or never even thought about these questions.
And...
4) A blog is a nice detached place to have a discussion about this without any one person feeling like I am attacking them personally. I honestly wanted to ask multiple people about this sort of thing in the Peace Corps but wasn't good at figuring out a way to do it without seeming to be rude. Dave was one of the few exceptions to that rule and I had a lot of good (plus a lot of strange) conversations with him. So here's an attempt to start a bit of a conversation online.
So I'm gonna start with the last question first and deal with these things one at a time: Does it even matter if we believe in God? Or, as I put it in the title: What's the point?
I think it's extremely important to figure out whether or not you believe in God, and why you believe it (surprised? I didn't think so). Why? Because everybody has assumptions in their life about how the world came to be, where it came from, and what our purpose is. Now some people have the assumption that God created the world, everything came from Him, and our purpose is to serve Him. But they've never really thought about it. They don't know why they assume that this is the case other than the fact that everybody around them says and assumes the same thing, so obviously it's true, right?
Some people have the assumption that nobody created the world, the world just came into being, everything including us developed over time from other things that existed before, and our purpose (if we even have one) is our own survival or happiness. But they've never really thought about it. They don't know why they assume that this is the case other than the fact that everybody around them says and assumes the same thing, so obviously it's true, right?
So who's more right? Maybe you'll say it doesn't matter which one is more right. But what ever you say has repercussions for how you live, doesn't it? If you believe in luck, you probably avoid walking under ladders or breaking mirrors. If you don't believe in luck, you won't avoid those things because those things won't have any significance to you.
Whether you say that the first example is right, the second example is right, or you say that it doesn't matter which example is right, you are presenting a value judgment. You are stating with authority that you believe something. Even if all you are stating is that you believe in not believing in anything...
I think that the point of figuring out whether or not you believe in God is so that you aren't ignorant of the assumptions (or belief systems) that are ultimately affecting a large part of your decisions and the way that you live your life.
Let me leave you with a quote that Melissa reminded me of from one of my favorite authors, Orson Scott Card:
'...I don't believe in any doctrines.'
'That,' said Carlotta with exaggerated smugness, 'is proof positive of my assertion. You are so convinced that you believe only what you believe that you believe, that you remain utterly blind to what you really believe without believing you believe it.'"
--Shadow of the Hegemon, pg 80-81
So what do you think?
- Do you think that it's fair of me to say that we all have and live off of at least some assumptions?
- Do you agree with my assessment that we should know and be able to articulate what our assumptions are?
- What do you think about the fact that a rational extension of what I am saying is that we all have a "god" of some kind, whether it is the God of the Bible, the "god" of Nature, or some other type of "god" that we assume?
I watched the Christopher Hitchens / Douglas Wilson debate recorded at Westminster Theological Seminary. Hitchens maintained that the idea of having Reason as the foundation of his belief system did not apply to him. He said that his way of thinking was completely different from Wilson's.
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting proposal. The question is not even whether God exists. The question is whether or not belief is appropriate. Does what we believe have an effect on reality? Is the idea that we must "believe" misguided?
I really like Orson Scott Card's Ender series. I also found it to be an interesting exercise in extrapolating his Mormon beliefs from the concepts he grapples with in his novels. I'm glad that he wrote Carlotta as a grounded, intuitive and affective believer with qualities worth emulating.
Asking us to think about how and why we believe what we believe? I love it, Joel. It is a good start to a conversation about belief in a god. I am looking forward to your next set of thoughts.
ReplyDeleteI am (of course) especially interested in where dialogue starts when two people can identify the assumptions, experiences, and thought processes that leads them to two different gods.
Thanks Nate. It's the only fair place to start in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteI guess one of the reasons I started writing this is because of how many conversations I've had lately with people that are negative. Meaning that they are conversations dominated by what they don't believe and how they don't go for all that God stuff that I believe in, or how they aren't sure that what they used to believe in stands up in the light of their experiences and understanding of the world anymore.
And that's valid. That is important, I'm not trying to say that it isn't important. But I want to hear what people do believe. And I think that all people believe something whether they know it or acknowledge it or not. So since that is an assumption of mine, I had to start there and see what people's responses were.
Great questions Joel, and I'm looking forward to your response on the other two questions.
ReplyDeleteHere is a quick thought on the first one, I think it does matter, but it also matters how that belief in God affects our lives.
I think many who don't believe in God would argue that it does matter and that, in fact, belief in God has caused much terrible evil and atrocities in our world.
Here's an interesting snippet on the topic from Regligulous:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxRwQoNv4qA
You noted that there are both religious and non-religious people who came to their beliefs through social conditioning. But when considering the question, I think it's worth noting that there are also those who have come to their belief in religion or belief in science through reflection and thought, and have left behind their faith backgrounds, whether that has meant moving between different religions or a lack of religion.
ReplyDeleteAnd I enjoyed our talks, too.