Monday, November 15, 2004
Humankind's Work
I do not believe in God. Let me be clear--I'm not an agnostic, which is somebody who doesn't take a position one way or the other. I don't believe there is a God, period. So when I attack the corrosive effects of religion on politics and culture, I do so from a position that presumes we'd be far better off as a planet if people ordered their lives by simple humanist principles. We should do what advances our own happiness and that of our fellow human beings, not in hopes of some eternal reward or because somebody living in a yurt 3,000 years ago said we should, but because it's the right thing to do, now, in this, the only world we know. Is that so different, really, from the principles of liberal Christianity? I don't see a conflict--but believers can get so freaked out by what they consider to be the implications of unbelief that they fail to see how much common ground we all have.
When confronted with an actual living, breathing atheist, people tend to ask the same questions. "Don't you wonder what happens after we die?" Nope. "Aren't you afraid of going to Hell?" Nope. "Doesn't it bother you that you will cease to exist when you die?" Nope. What most of them don't ask--but they think it--is, "Should I be afraid of you? Because if you don't believe in God, then you can have no moral anchor, therefore you must be a monster who will seduce my wife, corrupt my children, and drag everyone you meet down into Hell with you." Nope. First of all, I am not likely to seduce your wife, unless balding fat men get her really hot (then it's Katie-bar-the-door). And second, I'm far from amoral. We humanist types--and I really do prefer "humanist" to "atheist"--sign on to a lot of the same moral principles that all of the major world religions follow, and we can even talk about them in similar language. Although we may disagree about the sources of such principles, we can agree on their worth in advancing a goal we share: doing what's right for ourselves and our fellow human beings sharing the ride on this planet.
All this is by way of introduction to a sermon preached at a congregational church in Minneapolis the Sunday after the election by the Reverend James Gertmenian. It's a lovely thing, really, and after I tried to excerpt the good bits here, I decided it would be better to simply advise you to read it yourself. There's nothing dogmatic about it, no "thou shalt nots," no exhortations to take up the cause of one candidate or issue so as to smite another--it's simply an eloquent reminder of what it means to do what the Reverend Mr. Gertmenian would call "God's work." I'd call it "humankind's work," but either way, the work that will get done by heeding his call is work worth doing indeed.
Recommended Listening: If it turns out that God exists after all and I wind up in Hell, I take comfort in the fact that most of the people I know will be there, too. You're probably going there just for reading this, so it won't be any worse if you click this link. (Windows Media file, fast connections only, not safe for work.)
I do not believe in God. Let me be clear--I'm not an agnostic, which is somebody who doesn't take a position one way or the other. I don't believe there is a God, period. So when I attack the corrosive effects of religion on politics and culture, I do so from a position that presumes we'd be far better off as a planet if people ordered their lives by simple humanist principles. We should do what advances our own happiness and that of our fellow human beings, not in hopes of some eternal reward or because somebody living in a yurt 3,000 years ago said we should, but because it's the right thing to do, now, in this, the only world we know. Is that so different, really, from the principles of liberal Christianity? I don't see a conflict--but believers can get so freaked out by what they consider to be the implications of unbelief that they fail to see how much common ground we all have.
When confronted with an actual living, breathing atheist, people tend to ask the same questions. "Don't you wonder what happens after we die?" Nope. "Aren't you afraid of going to Hell?" Nope. "Doesn't it bother you that you will cease to exist when you die?" Nope. What most of them don't ask--but they think it--is, "Should I be afraid of you? Because if you don't believe in God, then you can have no moral anchor, therefore you must be a monster who will seduce my wife, corrupt my children, and drag everyone you meet down into Hell with you." Nope. First of all, I am not likely to seduce your wife, unless balding fat men get her really hot (then it's Katie-bar-the-door). And second, I'm far from amoral. We humanist types--and I really do prefer "humanist" to "atheist"--sign on to a lot of the same moral principles that all of the major world religions follow, and we can even talk about them in similar language. Although we may disagree about the sources of such principles, we can agree on their worth in advancing a goal we share: doing what's right for ourselves and our fellow human beings sharing the ride on this planet.
All this is by way of introduction to a sermon preached at a congregational church in Minneapolis the Sunday after the election by the Reverend James Gertmenian. It's a lovely thing, really, and after I tried to excerpt the good bits here, I decided it would be better to simply advise you to read it yourself. There's nothing dogmatic about it, no "thou shalt nots," no exhortations to take up the cause of one candidate or issue so as to smite another--it's simply an eloquent reminder of what it means to do what the Reverend Mr. Gertmenian would call "God's work." I'd call it "humankind's work," but either way, the work that will get done by heeding his call is work worth doing indeed.
Recommended Listening: If it turns out that God exists after all and I wind up in Hell, I take comfort in the fact that most of the people I know will be there, too. You're probably going there just for reading this, so it won't be any worse if you click this link. (Windows Media file, fast connections only, not safe for work.)
