Normally, you know, my thing is to not engage. It’s not that I am not up for a fight, or that I don’t know what I think, its just that most of the time — especially on the internets — there is not a lot of actual discussion. I’m as bad about this as anyone, and the result is usually unsatisfying and alienating. So I don’t go down that road most of the time. But….
For whatever reason, I’m seeing a lot atheism posts on the facespace. Some of these are posted by people I like and respect. One link in particular, to an essay by Penn Jillette, recently caught my eye. At the outset, I like where he is going. Penn (as in Penn & Teller) makes the distinction between not believing in God and believing that there is no God. Rather than just claiming he can find no proof of God, so he fails to believe, Penn states emphatically that he believes God does not exist. I appreciate his acknowledgement of the leap of faith that non-believers must take as much as I, a believer, must take.
Then, two roads diverge. First, Mr. Jillette decries a faith so greedy that it seeks heavenly reward instead of the abundance of this life. The thing is, I’m not sure about heaven either, although I have hope. If we are going to get specifically Christian about it, I’m not seeking salvation so much from the fires of hell — as much as they would suck if they exist. I need saving from myself, from selfishness, self-pity, and a sort of dishonesty which blinds me to the previous two. Oh, and from Swiss Cake Rolls. If heaven exists, bonus, but I need some saving now in order to experience this abundant life with which Mr. Jillette and I are both blessed.
Second, Mr. Jillette claims his belief in the absence of God allows him to be more open minded, forgiving, and humble. His assertion is that a statement of deep rooted faith implies on the part of the person making the statement that he is not willing to consider another’s point of view. The fact of my experience is, however, that in searching the roots of my faith, its mysterious origins and purposes become both a place to go for strength and a place from which to venture out. I don’t expect another person’s experience of God — or of life — to be like mine, but the more I experience God and life, the more I want to know about another’s experience of God and life. Learning about other’s experience enhances my own, including when I learn how wrong I have been.
Finally, Penn talks about suffering and what kind of loving God would allow the suffering that happens in this world to take place. That’s a good question, and one I have asked more than once. I’ll ask it again, I am sure. The whole answer probably requires a wider perspective than I am given in this lifetime, but I think part of it lies in the fact that we are all in this thing together. The solutions to the trials we share lie in our cooperative effort. Far from being the obstacle to this labor, I believe God makes this possible.
To get all geeky about it, Penn seems to be saying that, in this operating system we call life, belief in God is a virus. Or at least spam. But I think God is the operating system, and God is open source. Things break, people mess with the bios, all sorts of things happen. But the great thing is that we can continue to hack away on it and become better at utilizing the capacity of this thing. We just need to remember that we are all end users, not the lead engineer.