Category: science

But Without Faith, It is Impossible to Have Religion

~ David Mercer ~ 5 Comments

“I don’t have enough faith to be an atheist.”

I hear this from time to time, and it makes me sigh as I try to answer as respectfully as possible. Here’s my best effort: 

“As an atheist,” I say, “I have no faith at all. Instead, I look for truth through direct examination and critical thought.” 

It took a few years to get comfortable with the term “atheist.” I was raised to equate atheism with evil, and I had to summon my courage to come out and say I was one.

I finally got past the discomfort. However, I’m still not particularly satisfied with the term because I don’t like defining myself by what I don’t think. 

My values define me better. 

I often call myself a humanist because I value people and have spent my life helping them when possible. I value qualities that aid in the betterment of humanity, such as compassion, bravery, and generosity. I also love humor, beauty, passion, creativity, and human connection. 

I value gentleness, truth, and love, and I think those qualities can’t exist unless they are connected with each other. I hate lying and greed, which are also often associated with each other. I’m outraged by poverty, cruelty, unfairness, and violence. 

I value the scientific process, although I leaned more toward the humanities in school. I support education that teaches critical thinking, which can lead people to confront fallacies, correct mistakes, and motivate them to grow. I ask questions and engage in critical thought, and I appreciate clarity but leave room for discovery and possibility. 

Proponents of religions claim to promote virtue and wisdom, which, if true, would lead them to value many of the same things I do. But instead, they are often threatened if confronted by facts that challenge their assumptions based on their faith, and their fear can lead to denial, anger, and even violence.  

Some say my atheism is a form of religion. I don’t think so, but for the sake of discussion, if I were to establish a religion, here’s what it would include: 

First, no evangelism. By all means, let’s discuss, persuade each other, and even argue. But combining the promise of love with the threat of condemnation is manipulation, and even brainwashing.

Second, I enjoy watching events unfold, so I don’t need to guess the future and call it prophecy.   

Next, I welcome empirical study but not groundless faith.

Most religions establish rules for moral conduct. I realize that society must have various forms of legislation, and I am content to let the established entities continue to hammer those out, sometimes with my participation. But my religion does not have elaborate doctrinal laws to inflict on others. As a minister, I expended a ton of energy telling people what to think and do, but my new religion requires respecting people’s right to have their own thoughts and make their own decisions. 

Grammerly has just informed me that I’ve used the word “religion” too many times in this text, and I agree. This is why I left it behind for a life where I help others, observe what’s happening, and watch for what happens next.  

So a religion with no faith is no religion, and that suits me fine.

What I Said Then; What I Say Now

~ David Mercer ~ 2 Comments

I was at a retirement home, giving my thoughts on a passage of scripture.  They knew I had once been a minister and that I now no longer believed. 

A woman asked me, “What would you say if your child asked you, “Did Jesus really walk on water? Did he really feed five thousand people? Would you tell them that it really happened just as it exactly as it says in the Bible? 

I took a moment to gather my thoughts.

“When my children were little,” I said,  “I did tell them that I thought it happened just as it said in the bible because back then I did believe. However, I would answer differently today.  I’d say something like… ‘Many good people believe these things really happened. However, it doesn’t seem likely that these things could occur. So, no, I don’t believe they did.’”

She nodded… accepting my answer, which was good because it was the only one I had.

A year or so before I left Christianity and was still wrestling with my beliefs, I taught a confirmation class for the young teens in my church. I reviewed church teachings with them and I talked about heaven, forgiveness, and the salvation through Jesus Christ.

I can still say what I said then:

“Your parents baptized you when you were little and raised you to hear the teachings of the church. But confirmation is your chance to take ownership of your thoughts and beliefs.  Nobody can make you. Not your parents. Not me. Even God won’t.” 

They all chose to go ahead with the ceremony because, in truth, they were still too young to decide for themselves. Evaluation of family beliefs usually happens during the college years when they are being trained to think critically for themselves. That’s when they start deciding for themselves what they believe.

I have always shied away from telling people what they HAVE to believe.  I still do.

On the other hand, I’m more than happy to say what I think is true, and I will argue strenuously with grownups who know (or should know) how to think for themselves. 

What Will Happen When I Die?

~ David Mercer ~ 3 Comments

What happens to us after this life? I’m dying to know….

My consciousness… that presence behind the eyes that processes my thoughts and experiences–does it drift away and go somewhere else?   Does it turn off with a small blip like the screen of a computer? Is it like sleep where the consciousness relaxes and simply lets go so it can live in its dreams? Does it ever awaken again?

As I get older and the physical brain atrophies will there actually be less identity or will it still be there fully formed, gradually imprisoned a small increment at a time, subject to slower blood flow and fragile brain cells ? When the body comes to a full stop, will the mind be released to return to its complete version, or will it simply fire one last synapse before it’s gone?

What happens when a body comes to a sudden violent stop? Does the consciousness disappear instantly, or does it wander about like someone who lost everything when a tornado destroys her home in an instant?

When I see the body of a loved one at a funeral, I find myself watching for the chest to rise and fall, allowing myself a small hope that maybe it has all been a mistake and the person is still alive.  It’s nearly impossible to accept that a life simply ceases.  But there doesn’t seem to be proof one way or the other about an afterlife unless we accept the accounts of people who were technically unalive and then brought back.  Is there really a bright light for us to go toward where people wait to welcome us? What about those of us who are sure we’ve seen loved ones after their deaths? About half of those surveyed say they have experienced this. Do we discount those reports simply because we don’t understand how it could be true?

Is there another state of existence? Those interested in quantum physics have been discussing the idea of different dimensions existing within each other, but it’s becoming passé these days.   Others say that our individuality fades into a collective consciousness.  Perhaps that’s what Jesus was trying to say when he prayed, “May we all be one, Father… I in thee, and thee in me, and they in us.”

Or is it all just a physical and chemical thing, where the life impulse dies when the body succumbs to the law of entropy and becomes integrated with the rest of the earth, and the only reincarnation is when the atoms come together again in a reformation of life? I have to admit that’s kind of amazing.

All I know is that this life is passing quickly which sometimes fills me with an urgency to make everything count while I still exist. Other times, I remember to be less urgent and simply enjoy each moment. Often, I am filled with relief to know that one day I’ll be finished. I will have done my best but now I get to stop. And if it is a matter of simply blinking out of existence, that’s okay with me.

Why Aren’t We the Innovators?

~ David Mercer ~ Leave a comment

Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”

“How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”

“You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things?”

–John 3:3-4, 10 (NIV).

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We followed mirages,

And fought over their reality.

I tried to help carry others

But now I don’t.

I stumble forward by myself…

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We brought in an enthusiastic speaker to get us revved up. He spoke our old beliefs as if they were brand new. He was funny, positive, and spoke in a rhythmic cadence that invited us to shout our hallelujahs and amens.

“Turn to your neighbor and say, ‘Jesus is ALIVE!’” And everyone did but me.

Later, a friend asked me “What did you think of it?”

“I think everything we said tonight was exactly the same as what we said in the 1970s, only we’re all grayer and slower.”

“Maybe we need to be reminded to go back to our old ways,” my friend suggested.

Maybe our old ways led to our decline,” I countered.

Jesus once said that we must be born again. He didn’t mean that we needed to return to infantile ways or to go back to do it all again the same way. I think he was saying to let go of the old ways and become something that we have never been before. We need to reach higher planes of awareness by thinking new thoughts and dreaming new dreams.

But we’re not doing that. We never have. The church has always expended most of its energy in staying exactly the same, keeping the same beliefs intact, and repeating the same activities. In fact, people will fight hard against newness and they hurt those who challenge the church effectively.

Why?

Why isn’t the church a champion for creativity, experimentation, and innovation? Why didn’t we celebrate Copernicus and Galileo? Why aren’t we more curious about scientific discovery? Why aren’t we leading the way in social change?

I don’t know. And to tell the truth, I’m losing interest in analyzing why we’ve failed. I’m only interested in moving forward, even if it’s by myself.

The apostle Paul once said that we were baptized to walk in newness of life. But we are scared to do it. It’s much easier to march toward death while insisting we are right.