We are more religiously polarized than ever. In my secular, urban and urbane world, God is rarely spoken of, except in mocking, derisive tones. It is acceptable to cite the latest academic study on, say, happiness or, even better, whip out a brain scan, but God? He is for suckers, and Republicans.
Agreed that we are more and more polarized and that God is "rarely spoken of except in mocking, derisive tones," especially in your "secular, urban, and urbane world." I, too, live in a secular, urban, and urbane world, but participate in a faith community who speaks of God in completely different tones. I hear about God's faithfulness from a 93 year old African-American woman who was an educated professional in a time of extreme discrimination for her color and her gender. Her stories inspire me to seek faith. I hear young adults speak of God who challenges them to get outside their own skin...to live first for others, to seek justice and practice compassion. I hear folks who seek and grow in faith, excitedly experiencing God's active presence in their lives. I participate in a faith community made up of Republicans, Democrats, Independents, and perhaps a few more...but a community that attempts to put God as the primary focus of their lives and livings, not their political stripes. I can assure you the people in my faith community aren't "suckers," though the secular world focused on themselves and their own welfare often thinks "loving your neighbor at the risk of your own life and happiness" is foolish.
Agreed that we are more and more polarized and that God is "rarely spoken of except in mocking, derisive tones," especially in your "secular, urban, and urbane world." I, too, live in a secular, urban, and urbane world, but participate in a faith community who speaks of God in completely different tones. I hear about God's faithfulness from a 93 year old African-American woman who was an educated professional in a time of extreme discrimination for her color and her gender. Her stories inspire me to seek faith. I hear young adults speak of God who challenges them to get outside their own skin...to live first for others, to seek justice and practice compassion. I hear folks who seek and grow in faith, excitedly experiencing God's active presence in their lives. I participate in a faith community made up of Republicans, Democrats, Independents, and perhaps a few more...but a community that attempts to put God as the primary focus of their lives and livings, not their political stripes. I can assure you the people in my faith community aren't "suckers," though the secular world focused on themselves and their own welfare often thinks "loving your neighbor at the risk of your own life and happiness" is foolish.
I used to be that way, too, until a health scare and the onset of middle age created a crisis of faith, and I ventured to the other side. I quickly discovered that I didn’t fit there, either. I am not a True Believer. I am a rationalist. I believe the Enlightenment was a very good thing, and don’t wish to return to an age of raw superstition.
Nothing about my faith practice is "raw superstition." I read a text of a people and their encounter with God. I participate in faith practices that have, over time, shown their power to bring me as human into an encounter with God. Some days, I wonder if there is a God. Shortly thereafter, God overwhelms me with God's presence and I doubt no more--until I do. Some days I hate organized religion--it is, after all, a human institution. Most days, I am humbled and honored that God chooses to do God's work with and through us. God doesn't benefit from my/our participation, but I/we surely do.
If I want to play sports, I cannot spend time bouncing around different sports finding the best "fit." I will never be successful. Instead, I find the place I want to start and I commit to practice every day, small skill by small skill, until I begin to succeed. Religion is not God. The responsible practice of a religion is a gift from God that helps us open ourselves to a God who is always there waiting for us. (The irresponsible practice no doubt can be harmful...but so can the irresponsible practice of science.)
We Nones may not believe in God, but we hope to one day. We have a dog in this hunt.
We Nones may not believe in God, but we hope to one day. We have a dog in this hunt.
I am glad you hope to. But it usually takes more than hope. Believe me. I've hoped to be tall and skinny for 53 years. I've got the tall part...but only "hoping" doesn't accomplish a hill of beans.
Nones don’t get hung up on whether a religion is “true” or not, and instead subscribe to William James’s maxim that “truth is what works.” If a certain spiritual practice makes us better people — more loving, less angry — then it is necessarily good, and by extension “true.” (We believe that G. K. Chesterton got it right when he said: “It is the test of a good religion whether you can joke about it.”)
So, do we. Many of us believe less in "belief" and more in the "practice" of a way of life. For me, this is Christianity based because that's where my foundations are. It could be Jewish. It could be Muslim. But the practice must be based on others over self, on loving God and loving neighbor. Nones don't get hung up here...neither do most in my faith community.
By that measure, there is very little “good religion” out there. Put bluntly: God is not a lot of fun these days. Many of us don’t view religion so generously. All we see is an angry God. He is constantly judging and smiting, and so are his followers. No wonder so many Americans are enamored of the Dalai Lama. He laughs, often and well.
My question...where are you looking to see this God? Media depictions? Politicians? One or two churches? TV preachers? Keep looking. We laugh, and laugh hard. We cry with each other when we suffer. We know who God is because we study...and I mean study scripture...wrestling with the passages we hate...loving the ones we love...but listening and not choosing "what kind of God we want." God often laughs. God often cries. God also judges and cleanses and occasionally smites. When God does smite, humans usually deserve it. I'll jump on your bandwagon with both feet on God's followers judging and smiting. Not our job. Ever. But many of us know that and fight against our very human propensity to do so. But I need a God who is more than just "fun."
Precious few of our religious leaders laugh. They shout. God is not an exclamation point, though. He is, at his best, a semicolon, connecting people, and generating what Aldous Huxley called “human grace.” Somewhere along the way, we’ve lost sight of this.
Precious few of our religious leaders laugh. They shout. God is not an exclamation point, though. He is, at his best, a semicolon, connecting people, and generating what Aldous Huxley called “human grace.” Somewhere along the way, we’ve lost sight of this.
Not all of us. Not all of us.
Religion and politics, though often spoken about in the same breath, are, of course, fundamentally different. Politics is, by definition, a public activity. Though religion contains large public components, it is at core a personal affair. It is the relationship we have with ourselves or, as the British philosopher Alfred North Whitehead said, “What the individual does with his solitariness.” There lies the problem: how to talk about the private nature of religion publicly.
Religion and politics, though often spoken about in the same breath, are, of course, fundamentally different. Politics is, by definition, a public activity. Though religion contains large public components, it is at core a personal affair. It is the relationship we have with ourselves or, as the British philosopher Alfred North Whitehead said, “What the individual does with his solitariness.” There lies the problem: how to talk about the private nature of religion publicly.
Religion is always personal...never private. We can't learn to talk about it with each other if we mistakenly assume it is a private matter. We practice talking. Sometimes we get it right...sometimes we don't. But we don't stop talking in faith community because when we talk it out there, we can speak God's love in the world. But you are right that religion and politics are fundamentally different. If we really used our politics to shape the world as God wants it shaped in the bibilcal text, we would live in heaven on earth--and so would every other person.
What is the solution? The answer, I think, lies in the sort of entrepreneurial spirit that has long defined America, including religious America.
We need a Steve Jobs of religion. Someone (or ones) who can invent not a new religion but, rather, a new way of being religious. Like Mr. Jobs’s creations, this new way would be straightforward and unencumbered and absolutely intuitive. Most important, it would be highly interactive. I imagine a religious space that celebrates doubt, encourages experimentation and allows one to utter the word God without embarrassment. A religious operating system for the Nones among us. And for all of us.
What is the solution? The answer, I think, lies in the sort of entrepreneurial spirit that has long defined America, including religious America.
We need a Steve Jobs of religion. Someone (or ones) who can invent not a new religion but, rather, a new way of being religious. Like Mr. Jobs’s creations, this new way would be straightforward and unencumbered and absolutely intuitive. Most important, it would be highly interactive. I imagine a religious space that celebrates doubt, encourages experimentation and allows one to utter the word God without embarrassment. A religious operating system for the Nones among us. And for all of us.
Not all religious communities can live in this straightforward, unencumbered, intuitive, and interactive way. Many do. Our community often celebrates doubt...faith that is absolutely certain is not faith at all. We are always experimenting..."reformed and always reforming." Sometimes we really screw up. Sometimes, when our actions reflect God's purposes, we change the world. So keep looking. Bring your vision and your energy to those communities open to these ideas. But also remember that any religion based solely on our personal needs and desires becomes instantly idolatrous--serving to reinforce a worship of ourselves and our preferences instead of a worship of the Other who keeps us focused on gracious, generous, and compassionate service.
I have a new I-phone...and while it's mostly intuitive, I can't figure everything out. Today, I had a lesson from a friend on how to find a contact. Duh..but I needed the guidance on what I couldn't do for myself. And if you'll remember, Steve Jobs did a whole bunch of judging and some degree of smiting to refine his ideas into products that changed the world.
So, Mr. Weiner, I look forward to reading your book...even though I think you are going to piss me off. And I hope you will think about all those PC users, those "Apple Nones," or even more sad, all those who refuse to ever use a computer at all, who will never experience the joy of the new, the better, the connection, the (fill-in-the-blank). I hope you will think about your frustration with those people who decide before they experience the possibilties, who refuse to participate because they've already decided what it will be like.
And, Mr. Weiner, I invite you to become part of one of those religious communities who are very much exactly as you dream. We are never perfect. We never will be. But your practice, and that of your fellow "nones" just might get us closer. Come up the drive; meet us out serving the world. We promise not to paint you all with the same brush...will you do the same?
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