Search in all things, the Tao
Greetings from Quebec! After two weeks without English, I'm not sure I've improved my French very much, but I`m quite sure my English has gotten worse. Anyways, I'll save the trip update till I get back, but the beauty of the Internet is that one can wade into debates from half a world away (or a province away). Here goes:
-I used the Tao analogy before in talking about politics, but it is applicable in many situations. While the `middle way' of the Tao may sometimes seem like sitting on the fence, it is also a powerful tool of bringing divergent viewpoints together... The idea being that it is a balance of two views that brings about harmony, if not truth. The Tao is neither Yin nor Yang darkness nor light, liberal or conservative, Christian nor atheist, but a balance of two opposites. I feel in this case the Tao is a small, but important dose of agnosticism. Finding that balance is not necessarily ultimate truth, but is crucial in understanding each other.
1) Agnosticism is NOT Atheism
Agnosticism implies that there are certain truths that are beyond the realm of human understanding. One of these truths is the presence or absence of God. Rather than jumping to a conclusion that there is a God (religion) or jumping to the conclusion that there is NO God (atheism), agnosticism implies a suspension of judgment. The truth or falsity of God's existence cannot be fathomed beyond a reasonable doubt, and an agnostic is content to live with this mystery rather than jumping on one boat or another. I am not an agnostic, but I believe that absoute certainty on the part of both sides (Christian or atheist) breeds intolerance.
2) Why I don't understand atheism
As theologian Paul Tillich has written, God is the matter of one's ultimate concern -- the absolute ideal that one lives by and aspires to attain. This is the best definition of God that I know. For a Christian, one's ultimate concern is obvious, but what is the source of ultimate concern for someone who is not religious? Some have made an absolute concern (a god) out of money, others out of their families, others the human race. While these are all important concerns, they are all temporal and, as the title of a novel says, Things Fall Apart. But that's not my point right now...
In my opinion, almost everyone necessarily must have a god -- some sort of ideal they live and strive towards, a raison d'etre en francais, whether eternal or temporal. I guess a religious person has an eternal ideal, and a non-religious person has a temporal ideal, while an atheist holds nothing absolute, and hence follows no god.
This definition of God is important because in reality, He (for lack of a better word) is something beyond our comprehension. Although I can`t say for sure, I`m pretty sure he isn't some old white male sitting on a golden throne hurling thunderbolts at non-believers and playing with human lives like chess pieces on a board. But questions like that don't trouble me. In Christianity, there is a saying that "God is Love" -- which condenses in a nutshell what I think religion is all about. This means that Christians make love their ultimate concern above all else. Regardless of what God actually looks like or does, as long as one keeps in mind that God is Love and conducts his life according to that statement -- holding love as one's absolute ideal -- that is what I would call a Christian life. Thus, the essence of Christianity as I have come to know it is making a God out of love.
-Agnosticism in Christian Faith
This is the way I have come to understand my faith. Everything else is secondary behind love-- the source of a Christian's ultimate concern. While this is what I try to live by, there are certain aspects of my faith which I would consider partially agnostic. I spend very little time thinking about what happens to me after I die. Pursuing a Christian life is not a means to avoid the punishments of hell, nor is it a way to buy myself into Heaven. I have no idea what words like heaven or hell actually mean, but I'm sure that whatever heaven or hell does exist will be so beyond my comprehension that I don't think about them all that much. But I'm quite sure that if I held to the absolute ideal of love with all my effort and heart and soul, things will work out in the end. And if they don't, hopefully those actions will have left the world a slightly better place
I think that as sinners and imperfect beings, we need to hold a few mysteries sacred. We're not supposed to know everything, and all of us are imperfect. Can any one of us look in the mirror and really be happy with the person staring back? Can any of us really say we've attained godlike stature? And thus: How can an imperfect being really understand God's will and God's means? I would think that scripture provides a clue, but to me, the most powerful verses are the ones that tell us to be careful with judging the actions of others: "Judge Not, and you will not be Judged", as well as "Let he that has not sinned be the first to cast a stone". We are accountable only for our own actions, but have no place speaking on the sins of others.
For example, a lot of people jumped off Kobe Bryant's boat after he admitted to adultery. Assuming that's all he's guilty of, who can really judge that situation? If you were an NBA star and had beautiful women throwing themselves at you, can you say with perfect honesty and self-righteousness that you could control yourself every time? To me, the situation just proves that he's a human being like all of us -- fallable and imperfect. While a lot of other people don't commit adultery, all of us commit sins. And if one of my friends committed adultery, I would stand by him or her just the same.
As Christians, we are meant to love above all. If nothing else, that's one thing we're capable of doing. Everything else -- making judgments of what is right or wrong is secondary in importance, and in my opinion, best left to God -- the only being who's really qualified to do it. So while I don't consider myself an agnostic, I feel there are sacred mysteries that simply can't be known no matter how much time is spent on it. And sometimes I feel that if only everyone -- religious or not -- simply lived by what they believed in and concentrated on their own actions and their own relationship with the divine rather than what others think or do, the world would be a better place.
Greetings from Quebec! After two weeks without English, I'm not sure I've improved my French very much, but I`m quite sure my English has gotten worse. Anyways, I'll save the trip update till I get back, but the beauty of the Internet is that one can wade into debates from half a world away (or a province away). Here goes:
-I used the Tao analogy before in talking about politics, but it is applicable in many situations. While the `middle way' of the Tao may sometimes seem like sitting on the fence, it is also a powerful tool of bringing divergent viewpoints together... The idea being that it is a balance of two views that brings about harmony, if not truth. The Tao is neither Yin nor Yang darkness nor light, liberal or conservative, Christian nor atheist, but a balance of two opposites. I feel in this case the Tao is a small, but important dose of agnosticism. Finding that balance is not necessarily ultimate truth, but is crucial in understanding each other.
1) Agnosticism is NOT Atheism
Agnosticism implies that there are certain truths that are beyond the realm of human understanding. One of these truths is the presence or absence of God. Rather than jumping to a conclusion that there is a God (religion) or jumping to the conclusion that there is NO God (atheism), agnosticism implies a suspension of judgment. The truth or falsity of God's existence cannot be fathomed beyond a reasonable doubt, and an agnostic is content to live with this mystery rather than jumping on one boat or another. I am not an agnostic, but I believe that absoute certainty on the part of both sides (Christian or atheist) breeds intolerance.
2) Why I don't understand atheism
As theologian Paul Tillich has written, God is the matter of one's ultimate concern -- the absolute ideal that one lives by and aspires to attain. This is the best definition of God that I know. For a Christian, one's ultimate concern is obvious, but what is the source of ultimate concern for someone who is not religious? Some have made an absolute concern (a god) out of money, others out of their families, others the human race. While these are all important concerns, they are all temporal and, as the title of a novel says, Things Fall Apart. But that's not my point right now...
In my opinion, almost everyone necessarily must have a god -- some sort of ideal they live and strive towards, a raison d'etre en francais, whether eternal or temporal. I guess a religious person has an eternal ideal, and a non-religious person has a temporal ideal, while an atheist holds nothing absolute, and hence follows no god.
This definition of God is important because in reality, He (for lack of a better word) is something beyond our comprehension. Although I can`t say for sure, I`m pretty sure he isn't some old white male sitting on a golden throne hurling thunderbolts at non-believers and playing with human lives like chess pieces on a board. But questions like that don't trouble me. In Christianity, there is a saying that "God is Love" -- which condenses in a nutshell what I think religion is all about. This means that Christians make love their ultimate concern above all else. Regardless of what God actually looks like or does, as long as one keeps in mind that God is Love and conducts his life according to that statement -- holding love as one's absolute ideal -- that is what I would call a Christian life. Thus, the essence of Christianity as I have come to know it is making a God out of love.
-Agnosticism in Christian Faith
This is the way I have come to understand my faith. Everything else is secondary behind love-- the source of a Christian's ultimate concern. While this is what I try to live by, there are certain aspects of my faith which I would consider partially agnostic. I spend very little time thinking about what happens to me after I die. Pursuing a Christian life is not a means to avoid the punishments of hell, nor is it a way to buy myself into Heaven. I have no idea what words like heaven or hell actually mean, but I'm sure that whatever heaven or hell does exist will be so beyond my comprehension that I don't think about them all that much. But I'm quite sure that if I held to the absolute ideal of love with all my effort and heart and soul, things will work out in the end. And if they don't, hopefully those actions will have left the world a slightly better place
I think that as sinners and imperfect beings, we need to hold a few mysteries sacred. We're not supposed to know everything, and all of us are imperfect. Can any one of us look in the mirror and really be happy with the person staring back? Can any of us really say we've attained godlike stature? And thus: How can an imperfect being really understand God's will and God's means? I would think that scripture provides a clue, but to me, the most powerful verses are the ones that tell us to be careful with judging the actions of others: "Judge Not, and you will not be Judged", as well as "Let he that has not sinned be the first to cast a stone". We are accountable only for our own actions, but have no place speaking on the sins of others.
For example, a lot of people jumped off Kobe Bryant's boat after he admitted to adultery. Assuming that's all he's guilty of, who can really judge that situation? If you were an NBA star and had beautiful women throwing themselves at you, can you say with perfect honesty and self-righteousness that you could control yourself every time? To me, the situation just proves that he's a human being like all of us -- fallable and imperfect. While a lot of other people don't commit adultery, all of us commit sins. And if one of my friends committed adultery, I would stand by him or her just the same.
As Christians, we are meant to love above all. If nothing else, that's one thing we're capable of doing. Everything else -- making judgments of what is right or wrong is secondary in importance, and in my opinion, best left to God -- the only being who's really qualified to do it. So while I don't consider myself an agnostic, I feel there are sacred mysteries that simply can't be known no matter how much time is spent on it. And sometimes I feel that if only everyone -- religious or not -- simply lived by what they believed in and concentrated on their own actions and their own relationship with the divine rather than what others think or do, the world would be a better place.
posted by Anonymous at 5:04 PM
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