More dreaming…delivery from the ‘god delusion’
Jobs – Qld
January 4, 20073 Vic Shires collaborate on business mentoring
January 7, 2007“Given humanity’s seemingly limited capacity to act rationally….hope tends to peak at the start of every new year when we briefly believe that the personal and societal mistakes of the past year needn’t be repeated.” Playwright David Williamson writing in The Australian 3 January 07.
In this article Williamson puts into words what I believe most of us at the grassroots feel, what the Skyhooks sang about in Horror Movie…it’s all there on your TV and what ‘the war channel’ SBS shows night after night. We abhor the dark side of human nature “the human capacity for violence, depravity, irrationality, hatred, indifference, arrogance, intolerance and greed”.
A wonderful fantasy for 2007 is that religious extremists of the Christian, Muslim and Jewish faiths in particular will sit down, read Richard Dawkins book The God Delusion, and be swayed by a voice arguing logically “that belief in a god of any kind is a delusion that has wreaked untold damage on the world since the dawn of recorded time.”
Humanity IS capable of behaving warmly, decently, honestly, compassionately, thoughtfully and tactfully though what we see time after time in the media is the very worst of human behaviour simply because it attracts attention.
Dawkins says it’s not hard to see why the god delusion is so widespread:
- evolution has built into our psyche a strong tendency to obey authority;
- at the start of our lives we obey our parents for survival;
- this transfers later in life to authority figures;
- the ultimate authority figure is ‘god’ or whatever your religion calls its “head honcho”;
- a fear of death and even worse a fear of insignificance makes it comforting to think a partisan god cares deeply and promises a wonderful afterlife denied to all followers of “false” gods;
- having your own special god tends to make you feel superior to and angry about people who have chosen the “wrong” god!!!!!!!!!
- a prescriptive set of ideas from on high does NOT give moral authority to wreak harm on those outside your group;
- there are undoubted psychological benefits of religious belief in terms of increased self-esteem and group solidarity, but what a cost they come at!
To make his point about the world not being able to afford the luxury of this sort of ‘tribal affiliation’ Williamson gives a footy parallel…..being the supporter of the Collingwood football team does not mean you are a more acceptable human being than a Carlton supporter.
Williamson’s conclusion and hope for the 2007 is one we can all relate to. …”that the world will draw just a fraction closer to realising we are all part of one big tribe on a very fragile planet, and that the people who parrot the prejudices of their particular creed will start to realise how toxic their particular belief system is to any hope that the innate decency of humanity will ultimately triumph.”
Did you notice the pre Christmas report by 16 different faiths in Australia on climate change?
In what’s believed to be a world first, 16 of Australia’s leading faith communities released a document on global warming yesterday. Entitled ‘Common Belief’, it’s a collection of theological and spiritual statements on the climate change debate.
It seems the Climate Institute took the initiative to engage with the faith communities. They have been in a dialogue throughout this year, and we’ve been very encouraged with the response, with 16 faith communities calling for action on climate change. And it puts the issue in the moral dimension without question.
Can we have faith in the faiths or will ugly politics and short term thinking continue to get in the way?
1 Comment
As unfashionable as it may seem, I actually believe in God. I do so consciously and purposefully as I believe it is more to my benefit and to the benefit of us all to do so.
My conception of God is akin to a connectivity that associates all things with all things, and I can observe the effects of this force.
This concept of God encourages me to live a spiritual life, one that acknowledges that my actions, thoughts, feelings and presence has an effect on others, and on the world around me. I choose to believe this because I see merit in doing so.
I cannot prove God exists, any more than I can prove the existence of gravity, except that I might observe its effect and derive some insight into the nature of this force.
Just because I cannot explain or describe it does not mean it does not exist any more than one can deny the existence of the colour blue because one is unable to describe it to someone who is blind.
That someone else’s view of God may be different to mine is OK with me. What is unacceptable however is for someone else to hold a view that they believe to be superior.
Judas did NOT betray Christ because he hated him, or the devil came into his heart, but because he loved Him and could not understand how He could share His love equally with the other disciples, and in a fit of jealousy, he betrayed Him, and out of remnorse took his own life. It is a parable: no one disciple had the right to claim sole command of Jesus love, any more than no one church has the right to claim the sole authority of Jesus, any more than any one religion, be it Christianity, Buddhism, Islam or Bahai to claim that they alone are the exclusive representative of God.
People have no concern for others, including our planet, not because they hate them, but because they love what they have to the exclusion of anyone else.
Religion is the daily discipline by which we might acquire those spiritual virtues of love, respect, joy and compassion that make us distinctively human. Of course everything in life can serve this purpose, but religion provides specific tools to achieve this, equipping us with a view of ther world and encouraging us to adopt a spiritual life.
It is unfortunate that a history of self-interest, political power and social authority have so debased the name of religion and the concept of God that it is all too easy to dismiss these ideas because one is then absolved of any commitment to spiritual responsibility except to the extent that one chooses.
If you want to play the violin, you have to accept the daily discipline of practice involved, and trust that the process will lead to musical excellence. There may be many different ways to learn, but the goal is the same, and you cannot expect the pupil to simply select the bits they wish in the hope that they will become a capable musician.
In the lead-up to this election, I have sought to meet my local prospective and incumbent politicians to determine whether their religious views as might their party political allegiances, will determine how they will serve, or whether they will be guided by their spiritual consciences, and will decide by merit or demerit the better course of public policy.
Irrespective of personal political opinion let us all remember the challenges of political service in the lead up, during and after the election this weekend and offer prayers, encouragement, happy thoughts and best wishes to all our politicians and participants.
CHARLES BOYLE
Perth