| Topic: |
Religions > Atheism |
| User: |
"David Polewka" |
| Date: |
02 Jan 2007 11:48:43 PM |
| Object: |
CAN AN ATHEIST BE RELIGIOUS? -- Sykes, 1966 |
CAN AN ATHEIST BE RELIGIOUS?
by Richard E. Sykes, April, 1966
(Richard E. Sykes is minister at the Unitarian Universalist
Center, Home of Student Religious Liberals, 608 Washington
Avenue S.E., Minneapolis 14, Minnesota.)
"But he's an atheist!"
In America we make this statement as an accusation, not
as a description. Would you want your daughter to marry
an atheist? Would you trust a politician who states that he
does not believe in God? Was not this great nation founded
by devout pilgrims? Besides, Communists are atheists!
Atheist is a loaded word, colored with emotion, full of fears
and hatreds. We must be religious -- and no one cares for
religion! We must believe in God -- and no one cares what
God! One popular evangelist declares that we should require
such belief of our public officials and fellow citizens, for unless
they believe in Hell they can't be trusted. Accordingly, the
State of Maryland recently tried to prevent an avowed atheist
from becoming a notary public. Political aspirants have con-
tinually catered to this popular feeling, decorated their cam-
paign speeches with pious platitudes according to imme-
morial custom, justifying the current expediency in the name
of God. Certainly we must all believe.
But must we? The smug, polite neighborhood Christianity
and Judaism of our nation must make not only the serious
disbeliever but also the serious believer sick at his stomach
and the Grand Inquisitor smile. We are a people raised on
religious pablum on whom the Prophets would look with pity!
It may be that today religious America needs a good physic
of atheism. God has become a shibboleth used by idol
worshippers to stifle discussion and sincere inquiry.
Given an alternative between popular religious beliefs in
a God who judges men and rewards or punishes them in
heavens or hells like some ancient monarch, or a God who
is said to help men to successful selling and active business
careers through "positive thinking," many thoughtful people
have given up the concept of God altogether and call them-
selves atheists or agnostics.
Recently a psychiatrist was speaking on child development.
He pointed out that almost all small children go through a
period of saying "No!" to almost every request. But he em-
phasized that such a stage is both necessary and worthwhile,
for it is by saying "No!" that the child first begins to assert his
independence and selfhood. The child must say "No!" before
he can discover who he is himself.
Not only the little child, but most thoughtful adults must go
through the stage of saying "No!" Even generations have to
go through it, and more people in our generation are saying
"No!" to the simplistic religious ideas that have come down
to us from the childhood of the race. A few have rethought
traditional religious beliefs such as God, Christ and salvation
in terms of modern knowledge and continue to use the old
words but with new meanings. A few more have rejected
traditional belief altogether.
The polite fiction that everybody must believe in God
conceals this common doubt among our people, prevents
honest discussion of the problem, and obstructs the search
for new belief. In the long run religion will only be weakened,
not strengthened, by such a conspiracy of silence.
The important question is not whether or not you give lip
service to a belief in God. The important thing is whether
or not you take your life seriously enough really to think
through your beliefs, and when you have done so, what the
beliefs are to which you commit yourself. The sceptic,
atheist, agnostic has rejected traditional belief, not out of
perversity, but rather out of a higher allegiance -- allegiance
to truth. It is that allegiance which has led him on his painful
search. While he is certainly an atheist when it comes to
belief in the popular gods he may actually be a deep be-
liever when it comes to those gods which are less popular
in our time. He is not what Feuerbach meant by a true
atheist when he wrote that "He alone is the true atheist to
whom the predicates of the Divine Being, for instance,
love, wisdom, justice, are nothing." While the serious
atheist's first job has been to say "No!" and to be negative
because of his positive loyalty to conscience, to honesty
and personal integrity, his search will not stop there. It may
lead him to an entirely naturalistic affirmation of morality,
or to a more deepened theistic belief. Wherever his road
takes him it will be a journey of concern, of seriousness,
an affirmation of man, since what is it that characterizes the
unique spirit of man except his ability to create meaning?
The atheist or agnostic should not be rejected. Often he
is the Good Samaritan of our time. He should be welcomed
by all of those who take the search for truth seriously. In a
sense his questions and doubtings are more truly religious
than the self-satisfied prayers of many who appear in the
sanctuary in a new spring suit once a year to celebrate
the Resurrection. If religion is, in the words of Erich
Fromm, a search for a "frame of orientation and devotion,"
and if the church is the fellowship of those who are
honestly and seriously committed to such a search, then
the atheist should certainly be welcomed there. Those
who have undertaken the search, even those who have
found their answer in a deepened traditional religious
viewpoint, will immediately recognize in him a friend
and comrade.
Those who harp on belief in God or Christ as a cure
for all the world's ills or as the only possible motivation
for goodness and love offer naive solutions to complex
human problems. They should remember the comment
found in the Talmud. "Would that they had forgotten My
name and done that which I commanded them." A faith
in God reached through thought and reflection will help
some men. But others, finding such a faith impossible,
may find their faith in human values and ideals, in love,
understanding, the pursuit of knowledge, friendship,
the creativity of art or the rearing of children. One may
call himself a Christian, the other an atheist. But if they
share a common concern for individual personality, for
social justice and equality, then their alliance and com-
munity will be far closer than the alliance of either with the
forces of reaction and totalitarianism. Jesus and Socrates
have far more in common with each other than they have
with Franco or Stalin.
Religious liberals welcome to their churches and
societies all those who are serious in their search for truth:
atheist or theist, Christian, Jew, Buddhist or freethinker,
who value serious rethinking of religion and who dedicate
themselves to the great ethical and moral ideals which
have always been divine and sacred to sensitive men.
In a time of darkness, when the ethically blind are so
often our leaders, we cannot afford to exclude from our
fellowship fellow seekers who may encourage us as we
may strengthen them, and whose light flashes out "wherever
the just exchange their message." Thus it is, that in the
liberal church, together with other seekers, the atheist is
welcomed as a full participant in the on-going religious quest.
..
..
--
.
|
|
| User: "Alan Truism" |
|
| Title: Re: CAN AN ATHEIST BE RELIGIOUS? -- Sykes, 1966 |
03 Jan 2007 08:56:27 PM |
|
|
(David Polewka) wrote:
CAN AN ATHEIST BE RELIGIOUS?
by Richard E. Sykes, April, 1966
(Richard E. Sykes is minister at the Unitarian Universalist
<<<snip>>>
many established religions do not require the belief in a creator god
or deity
that is old news
.
|
|
|
|
| User: "Richo" |
|
| Title: Re: CAN AN ATHEIST BE RELIGIOUS? -- Sykes, 1966 |
05 Jan 2007 04:51:34 AM |
|
|
(David Polewka) wrote:
CAN AN ATHEIST BE RELIGIOUS?
by Richard E. Sykes, April, 1966
(Richard E. Sykes is minister at the Unitarian Universalist
Center, Home of Student Religious Liberals, 608 Washington
Avenue S.E., Minneapolis 14, Minnesota.)
"But he's an atheist!"
In America we make this statement as an accusation, not
as a description.
<snip>
Excellent article.
Thanks for posting.
Cheers, Mark.
.
|
|
|
| User: "David Polewka" |
|
| Title: Re: CAN AN ATHEIST BE RELIGIOUS? -- Sykes, 1966 |
08 Jan 2007 02:16:05 PM |
|
|
Richo wrote:
imbibe@mindspring.com (David Polewka) wrote:
CAN AN ATHEIST BE RELIGIOUS?
by Richard E. Sykes, April, 1966
<snip>
Excellent article. Thanks for posting.
Cheers, Mark.
Richo Sykes looks like Kento Dolan:
http://tinyurl.com/y25swg
..
..
--
.
|
|
|
|
|
| User: "V" |
|
| Title: Re: CAN AN ATHEIST BE RELIGIOUS? -- Sykes, 1966 |
05 Jan 2007 08:31:51 AM |
|
|
(David Polewka) wrote:
CAN AN ATHEIST BE RELIGIOUS?
by Richard E. Sykes, April, 1966
(Richard E. Sykes is minister at the Unitarian Universalist
Center, Home of Student Religious Liberals, 608 Washington
Avenue S.E., Minneapolis 14, Minnesota.)
"But he's an atheist!"
In America we make this statement as an accusation, not
as a description. Would you want your daughter to marry
an atheist? Would you trust a politician who states that he
does not believe in God? Was not this great nation founded
by devout pilgrims? Besides, Communists are atheists!
Atheist is a loaded word, colored with emotion, full of fears
and hatreds. We must be religious -- and no one cares for
religion! We must believe in God -- and no one cares what
God! One popular evangelist declares that we should require
such belief of our public officials and fellow citizens, for unless
they believe in Hell they can't be trusted. Accordingly, the
State of Maryland recently tried to prevent an avowed atheist
from becoming a notary public. Political aspirants have con-
tinually catered to this popular feeling, decorated their cam-
paign speeches with pious platitudes according to imme-
morial custom, justifying the current expediency in the name
of God. Certainly we must all believe.
But must we? The smug, polite neighborhood Christianity
and Judaism of our nation must make not only the serious
disbeliever but also the serious believer sick at his stomach
and the Grand Inquisitor smile. We are a people raised on
religious pablum on whom the Prophets would look with pity!
It may be that today religious America needs a good physic
of atheism. God has become a shibboleth used by idol
worshippers to stifle discussion and sincere inquiry.
Given an alternative between popular religious beliefs in
a God who judges men and rewards or punishes them in
heavens or hells like some ancient monarch, or a God who
is said to help men to successful selling and active business
careers through "positive thinking," many thoughtful people
have given up the concept of God altogether and call them-
selves atheists or agnostics.
Recently a psychiatrist was speaking on child development.
He pointed out that almost all small children go through a
period of saying "No!" to almost every request. But he em-
phasized that such a stage is both necessary and worthwhile,
for it is by saying "No!" that the child first begins to assert his
independence and selfhood. The child must say "No!" before
he can discover who he is himself.
Not only the little child, but most thoughtful adults must go
through the stage of saying "No!" Even generations have to
go through it, and more people in our generation are saying
"No!" to the simplistic religious ideas that have come down
to us from the childhood of the race. A few have rethought
traditional religious beliefs such as God, Christ and salvation
in terms of modern knowledge and continue to use the old
words but with new meanings. A few more have rejected
traditional belief altogether.
The polite fiction that everybody must believe in God
conceals this common doubt among our people, prevents
honest discussion of the problem, and obstructs the search
for new belief. In the long run religion will only be weakened,
not strengthened, by such a conspiracy of silence.
The important question is not whether or not you give lip
service to a belief in God. The important thing is whether
or not you take your life seriously enough really to think
through your beliefs, and when you have done so, what the
beliefs are to which you commit yourself. The sceptic,
atheist, agnostic has rejected traditional belief, not out of
perversity, but rather out of a higher allegiance -- allegiance
to truth. It is that allegiance which has led him on his painful
search. While he is certainly an atheist when it comes to
belief in the popular gods he may actually be a deep be-
liever when it comes to those gods which are less popular
in our time. He is not what Feuerbach meant by a true
atheist when he wrote that "He alone is the true atheist to
whom the predicates of the Divine Being, for instance,
love, wisdom, justice, are nothing." While the serious
atheist's first job has been to say "No!" and to be negative
because of his positive loyalty to conscience, to honesty
and personal integrity, his search will not stop there. It may
lead him to an entirely naturalistic affirmation of morality,
or to a more deepened theistic belief. Wherever his road
takes him it will be a journey of concern, of seriousness,
an affirmation of man, since what is it that characterizes the
unique spirit of man except his ability to create meaning?
The atheist or agnostic should not be rejected. Often he
is the Good Samaritan of our time. He should be welcomed
by all of those who take the search for truth seriously. In a
sense his questions and doubtings are more truly religious
than the self-satisfied prayers of many who appear in the
sanctuary in a new spring suit once a year to celebrate
the Resurrection. If religion is, in the words of Erich
Fromm, a search for a "frame of orientation and devotion,"
and if the church is the fellowship of those who are
honestly and seriously committed to such a search, then
the atheist should certainly be welcomed there. Those
who have undertaken the search, even those who have
found their answer in a deepened traditional religious
viewpoint, will immediately recognize in him a friend
and comrade.
Those who harp on belief in God or Christ as a cure
for all the world's ills or as the only possible motivation
for goodness and love offer naive solutions to complex
human problems. They should remember the comment
found in the Talmud. "Would that they had forgotten My
name and done that which I commanded them." A faith
in God reached through thought and reflection will help
some men. But others, finding such a faith impossible,
may find their faith in human values and ideals, in love,
understanding, the pursuit of knowledge, friendship,
the creativity of art or the rearing of children. One may
call himself a Christian, the other an atheist. But if they
share a common concern for individual personality, for
social justice and equality, then their alliance and com-
munity will be far closer than the alliance of either with the
forces of reaction and totalitarianism. Jesus and Socrates
have far more in common with each other than they have
with Franco or Stalin.
Religious liberals welcome to their churches and
societies all those who are serious in their search for truth:
atheist or theist, Christian, Jew, Buddhist or freethinker,
who value serious rethinking of religion and who dedicate
themselves to the great ethical and moral ideals which
have always been divine and sacred to sensitive men.
In a time of darkness, when the ethically blind are so
often our leaders, we cannot afford to exclude from our
fellowship fellow seekers who may encourage us as we
may strengthen them, and whose light flashes out "wherever
the just exchange their message." Thus it is, that in the
liberal church, together with other seekers, the atheist is
welcomed as a full participant in the on-going religious quest.
(=2E..) writes:
"CAN AN ATHEIST BE RELIGIOUS?"
*********** REPLY SEPARATOR ***********
V:
The short answer:
"If you must use the term religious, then atheists 'can be religious'
about being spiritual based atheists."
The long answer:
Without spiritual values, the atheist is sunk. The atheist that only
has a foundation of ego and hate will never find peace. If any theist
questioning their faith should wonder onto alt.atheism, they could see
this for themselves with many spiritually sick example members and
their projection of this spiritual sickness and self hate onto others.
What is missing in these atheists lives? '
Spiritual Values' is what they are short on.
Do they need to get religion?
Not necessarily.
As we see many people claiming to be religious that are just as bad off
as atheists or worse. Again 'authentic spiritual values' is what they
are all short on.
"People that practice religion are worried about going to hell - people
that practice spirituality have already been to hell and don't want to
go back."
The formula for success is: Authentic Nature + Right Actions =3D Peace
The formula for failure is: Authentic Nature + Wrong Actions =3D
Destruction
See:
http://jesusneverexisted.org/jne/forum/index.php?topic=3D342.0
Such atheists devoid of spiritual values are 'dogmatic skeptics',
whereas atheists that are open to spiritual values are of the order of
'skeptical skeptics.' The spiritual based atheists have not forgotten
'All Deities reside within the human breast' as Blake wrote. There is a
world of difference between the two types of atheists...night and day
difference. The spiritual based atheists 'deifies humanity and peace'
the defiance based atheist 'deifies their ego' and loses any connection
with humanity and becomes a haggard, shell of a human withering away in
their own delusional and putrid stew they mistake for life.
A lot of atheists I run into make their intellect their God. They do
not know that academic smarts are not the same as peace smarts. Until
they can transcend their ego they will never find the answer (peace)
they seek. It is the same for those that think money is all that is
standing between them and happiness. So it goes for the ego and
intellect based person that is devoid of spiritual values. Always
remember...one thing only goes so far with giving a person a good life.
Seek balance. Forget perfection...look for direction. Spiritual growth
as well as humans are not perfect, but we can all do better at being
humane if we try.
See:
http://jesusneverexisted.org/jne/forum/index.php?topic=3D4.0
There are many flavors of atheists. Beside natural atheists, personal
atheists, explicit atheists, implicit atheists weak atheists and strong
atheists and bad ***** atheists with attitude...atheists can be
'spiritual based atheists' or 'defiance based atheists.' If you must
use the term religious, then atheists 'can be religious' about being a
spiritual based atheists. I have to chuckle sometime when I read the
fantasies of atheists that think atheism will take over the world. It
would take a different brand of atheist to persuade many to change if
they investigate the online atheists of this group to any degree.
In short you must become spiritual based atheists to offer something to
the religious crowd instead of the defiance based atheists that many of
you are.
What is a defiance based atheist?
Neil will make a good example of one.
If we look at Neil's youth he showed defiance from the start. He knew
at a young age God was repulsive without even studying and told his
parents what to do when it came to marching orders.
Neil:
"Dragged to Sunday school 3 times, hated the songs, thought God was
repulsive, refused to go ever again."
Now at adulthood, Neil's carried this defiance with him and refuses to
let others think for themselves and demands all think as he does or
else.
Neil:
"Theists like you (V) should be given electric shocks every time they
use parables. That is my new policy."
So besides natural atheists and personal atheists and implicit atheists
and explicit atheists and weak atheists and strong atheists also pay
special attention to whether you are am spiritual based atheist or a
defiance based atheist.
As Professor Peter Kreeft remarked on the subject:
First level morality could be called survival morality - lets not hit
each other on the head so none of us will die
Second level morality could be justice morality - lets not hit each
other on the head because it is not fair or not right.
Third level morality could be called 'transcend the ego' morality -
lets not hit each other because we love each other.
The third level morality is what is missing with defiance based
atheists such as Neil.
Please note, I have only used Neil as one example. This list is loaded
with others that could be substituted just as easily, but Neil's quotes
just happened to be at hand.
Spiritual values and atheists do not generally mix. One atheists gave
his views on this subject of discussing spiritual tools to live by:
"What is spirit or spirituality? Without knowing what you mean by the
word, one can't know what you mean. Why study something for which you
not only have no evidence, but not even a definition?"
Yes, spiritual concepts are hard to define, just as the source of the
wind is hard to define. Since spiritual matters deal with the unseen
and the unknown, how can we define them perfectly? If we could do that
they would not be spiritual studies. You can't see why one person is
loving and kind and another person is a fiend of perennial shame, hate
and destruction. Nor can you see what made the hate monger change into
a kind and loving human. We can describe spiritual concepts and the
journey that made the change possible, but it is impossible to put our
finger on it all exactly. Spiritual growth is a journey that is a never
ending, imperfect process in this life. But just as we can see the
effects of the wind while being blind to its source, We can most
definitely see the difference in people that live a life devoid of any
spiritual values when compared to those people that incorporate
spiritual values within their lives.
Their are many fields of spiritual studies. Some deal with the
corporeal, others are meta-corporeal. Some of these studies deal with
energy fields, meditative states of consciousness, out of body and near
death accounts, psychic research, etc. Most of my work is in the
corporal realm. I leave the advanced studies to those better qualified
for it than myself. All this information is out there if one is willing
to study it. Some atheists are run by ego and pride and discount
anything as worthless unless it stems from within their own ego. "No
man is so wise that he may not easily err if he takes no other counsel
than his own. He that is taught only by himself has a fool for a
master." Ben Jonson
No one said we have to 'investigate it all,' but we do have to give it
some thought if we wish to be at peace. A Hindu sage once told me "Just
as water floes downhill without effort but requires outside forces and
energy to make it move uphill. So the human consciousness falls to its
lowest levels of the senses without effort and energies to make our
consciousness gravitate to more than our base desires." As such without
effort the defiance based atheists sinks deeper and deeper into
sickness and tragedy as time goes by.
The business of humanism is 'all our business' if we with to live life
at peace. This relationship of interdependent humanistic balance can
best be visualized in the 3 corners of a triangle which represents the
spiritual realm, other persons and ourselves At the top goes Higher
Power / God of inner Peace and God of Nature / Yahweh / Buddha / The
Dharma / Nature / Karma or whatever you choose as the unseen force
behind all. On the bottom right corner of the triangle goes other
people. On the left bottom corner of the triangle goes yourself.
Keeping this relationship in harmonious balance helps develop
compassion for others and humility within ourselves.
We learn to think about others and the spirit as well as our own needs
and we can then see we are all interdependent and not independent with
all. Once you see this balance you will realize that we all share the
same breath and no need to practice hatred or develop ill will towards
others. It is much better to develop compassion for others. For as we
develop compassion for others we develop peace within. This also helps
me with keeping an open mind for peace generators in my life. As such,
I practice from any spiritual tradition without problems or prejudices
and readily look for such gifts irrespective of what label they come
under.
I suggest any atheists wishing to find peace within their life adopt
the creed of the atheists and become secular humanists. This way you
can help others along the path of life by becoming a spiritual based
atheist instead a defiance based atheist that sole purpose is to causes
people pain and suffering as the defiance based atheists can only do.
You cannot give away what you do not have. For just as the cobra spews
poison and dung has it stench, the spiritually sick individual knows
only ill will. I prefer the path that Emerson described when he wrote;
"If the day and the night are such that you greet them with joy, and
emit a fragrance like flowers and sweet-scented herbs, is more elastic,
more starry, more immortal, that is your success."
The 'informal creed' of atheism.
An Atheist loves his fellow man instead of god. An Atheist believes
that heaven is something for which we should work now - here on earth
for all men together to enjoy.
An Atheist believes that he can get no help through prayer but that he
must find in himself the inner conviction, and strength to meet life,
to grapple with it, to subdue it and enjoy it.
An Atheist believes that only in a knowledge of himself and a knowledge
of his fellow man can he find the understanding that will help to a
life of fulfillment. He seeks to know himself and his fellow man rather
than to know a god. An Atheist believes that a hospital should be built
instead of a church.
An Atheist believes that a deed must be done instead of a prayer said.
An Atheist strives for involvement in life and not escape into death.
He wants disease conquered, poverty vanquished, war eliminated. He
wants man to understand and love man.
He wants an ethical way of life. He believes that we cannot rely on a
god or channel action into prayer nor hope for an end of troubles in a
hereafter.
He believes that we are our brother's keepers; and are keepers of our
own lives; that we are responsible persons and the job is here and the
time is now."
http://www.atheists.org/Atheism/
"The Affirmations of Humanism: A Statement of Principles"
=B7 We are committed to the application of reason and science to the
understanding of the universe and to the solving of human problems.
=B7 We deplore efforts to denigrate human intelligence, to seek to
explain the world in supernatural terms, and to look outside nature for
salvation.
=B7 We believe that scientific discovery and technology can contribute
to the betterment of human life.
=B7 We believe in an open and pluralistic society and that democracy is
the best guarantee of protecting human rights from authoritarian elites
and repressive majorities.
=B7 We are committed to the principle of the separation of church and
state.
=B7 We cultivate the arts of negotiation and compromise as a means of
resolving differences and achieving mutual understanding.
=B7 We are concerned with securing justice and fairness in society and
with eliminating discrimination and intolerance.
=B7 We believe in supporting the disadvantaged and the handicapped so
that they will be able to help themselves.
=B7 We attempt to transcend divisive parochial loyalties based on race,
religion, gender, nationality, creed, class, sexual orientation, or
ethnicity, and strive to work together for the common good of humanity.
=B7 We want to protect and enhance the earth, to preserve it for future
generations, and to avoid inflicting needless suffering on other
species.
=B7 We believe in enjoying life here and now and in developing our
creative talents to their fullest.
=B7 We believe in the cultivation of moral excellence.
=B7 We respect the right to privacy. Mature adults should be allowed to
fulfill their aspirations, to express their sexual preferences, to
exercise reproductive freedom, to have access to comprehensive and
informed health-care, and to die with dignity.
=B7 We believe in the common moral decencies: altruism, integrity,
honesty, truthfulness, responsibility. Humanist ethics is amenable to
critical, rational guidance. There are normative standards that we
discover together. Moral principles are tested by their consequences.
=B7 We are deeply concerned with the moral education of our children.
We want to nourish reason and compassion.
=B7 We are engaged by the arts no less than by the sciences.
=B7 We are citizens of the universe and are excited by discoveries
still to be made in the cosmos.
=B7 We are skeptical of untested claims to knowledge, and we are open
to novel ideas and seek new departures in our thinking.
=B7 We affirm humanism as a realistic alternative to theologies of
despair and ideologies of violence and as a source of rich personal
significance and genuine satisfaction in the service to others.
=B7 We believe in optimism rather than pessimism, hope rather than
despair, learning in the place of dogma, truth instead of ignorance,
joy rather than guilt or sin, tolerance in the place of fear, love
instead of hatred, compassion over selfishness, beauty instead of
ugliness, and reason rather than blind faith or irrationality.
=B7 We believe in the fullest realization of the best and noblest that
we are capable of as human beings.
Council for Secular Humanism
Take care,
=20
=20
V (Male)
=20
Agnostic Freethinker
Practical Philosopher
AA#2
.
|
|
|
|
| User: "Chris Johnson" |
|
| Title: Re: CAN AN ATHEIST BE RELIGIOUS? -- Sykes, 1966 |
03 Jan 2007 01:01:45 AM |
|
|
(David Polewka) wrote:
CAN AN ATHEIST BE RELIGIOUS?
by Richard E. Sykes, April, 1966
<snip>
How delightfully condescending. Sad that we're unlikely to see anything
as respectful (let alone more) forty years later.
.
|
|
|
| User: "Pastor Kutchie, ordained atheist minister" |
|
| Title: Re: CAN AN ATHEIST BE RELIGIOUS? -- Sykes, 1966 |
03 Jan 2007 02:57:00 AM |
|
|
Chris Johnson wrote:
imbibe@mindspring.com (David Polewka) wrote:
CAN AN ATHEIST BE RELIGIOUS?
by Richard E. Sykes, April, 1966
<snip>
How delightfully condescending. Sad that we're unlikely to see anything
as respectful (let alone more) forty years later.
It is as nothing to the contempt with which devout Christians
(Godbotherers) are generally treated here in the UK, but then, what the
*****? They deserve it. 'Reap what thou hast sown' etc.
.
|
|
|
|
|
| User: "foolsrushin." |
|
| Title: Re: CAN AN ATHEIST BE RELIGIOUS? -- Sykes, 1966 |
05 Jan 2007 12:39:09 AM |
|
|
Atheists are are reactive and provocative, and obsessed with religion.
Without churches, they would be lost! They are an asymmetric output of
churches, and, apart from hoping they will not waste any more time,
there is nothing more to be said about them!
--
'foolsrushin.'
imbibe@mindspring.com (David Polewka) wrote:
CAN AN ATHEIST BE RELIGIOUS?
by Richard E. Sykes, April, 1966
(Richard E. Sykes is minister at the Unitarian Universalist
Center, Home of Student Religious Liberals, 608 Washington
Avenue S.E., Minneapolis 14, Minnesota.)
"But he's an atheist!"
In America we make this statement as an accusation, not
as a description. Would you want your daughter to marry
an atheist? Would you trust a politician who states that he
does not believe in God? Was not this great nation founded
by devout pilgrims? Besides, Communists are atheists!
Atheist is a loaded word, colored with emotion, full of fears
and hatreds. We must be religious -- and no one cares for
religion! We must believe in God -- and no one cares what
God! One popular evangelist declares that we should require
such belief of our public officials and fellow citizens, for unless
they believe in Hell they can't be trusted. Accordingly, the
State of Maryland recently tried to prevent an avowed atheist
from becoming a notary public. Political aspirants have con-
tinually catered to this popular feeling, decorated their cam-
paign speeches with pious platitudes according to imme-
morial custom, justifying the current expediency in the name
of God. Certainly we must all believe.
But must we? The smug, polite neighborhood Christianity
and Judaism of our nation must make not only the serious
disbeliever but also the serious believer sick at his stomach
and the Grand Inquisitor smile. We are a people raised on
religious pablum on whom the Prophets would look with pity!
It may be that today religious America needs a good physic
of atheism. God has become a shibboleth used by idol
worshippers to stifle discussion and sincere inquiry.
Given an alternative between popular religious beliefs in
a God who judges men and rewards or punishes them in
heavens or hells like some ancient monarch, or a God who
is said to help men to successful selling and active business
careers through "positive thinking," many thoughtful people
have given up the concept of God altogether and call them-
selves atheists or agnostics.
Recently a psychiatrist was speaking on child development.
He pointed out that almost all small children go through a
period of saying "No!" to almost every request. But he em-
phasized that such a stage is both necessary and worthwhile,
for it is by saying "No!" that the child first begins to assert his
independence and selfhood. The child must say "No!" before
he can discover who he is himself.
Not only the little child, but most thoughtful adults must go
through the stage of saying "No!" Even generations have to
go through it, and more people in our generation are saying
"No!" to the simplistic religious ideas that have come down
to us from the childhood of the race. A few have rethought
traditional religious beliefs such as God, Christ and salvation
in terms of modern knowledge and continue to use the old
words but with new meanings. A few more have rejected
traditional belief altogether.
The polite fiction that everybody must believe in God
conceals this common doubt among our people, prevents
honest discussion of the problem, and obstructs the search
for new belief. In the long run religion will only be weakened,
not strengthened, by such a conspiracy of silence.
The important question is not whether or not you give lip
service to a belief in God. The important thing is whether
or not you take your life seriously enough really to think
through your beliefs, and when you have done so, what the
beliefs are to which you commit yourself. The sceptic,
atheist, agnostic has rejected traditional belief, not out of
perversity, but rather out of a higher allegiance -- allegiance
to truth. It is that allegiance which has led him on his painful
search. While he is certainly an atheist when it comes to
belief in the popular gods he may actually be a deep be-
liever when it comes to those gods which are less popular
in our time. He is not what Feuerbach meant by a true
atheist when he wrote that "He alone is the true atheist to
whom the predicates of the Divine Being, for instance,
love, wisdom, justice, are nothing." While the serious
atheist's first job has been to say "No!" and to be negative
because of his positive loyalty to conscience, to honesty
and personal integrity, his search will not stop there. It may
lead him to an entirely naturalistic affirmation of morality,
or to a more deepened theistic belief. Wherever his road
takes him it will be a journey of concern, of seriousness,
an affirmation of man, since what is it that characterizes the
unique spirit of man except his ability to create meaning?
The atheist or agnostic should not be rejected. Often he
is the Good Samaritan of our time. He should be welcomed
by all of those who take the search for truth seriously. In a
sense his questions and doubtings are more truly religious
than the self-satisfied prayers of many who appear in the
sanctuary in a new spring suit once a year to celebrate
the Resurrection. If religion is, in the words of Erich
Fromm, a search for a "frame of orientation and devotion,"
and if the church is the fellowship of those who are
honestly and seriously committed to such a search, then
the atheist should certainly be welcomed there. Those
who have undertaken the search, even those who have
found their answer in a deepened traditional religious
viewpoint, will immediately recognize in him a friend
and comrade.
Those who harp on belief in God or Christ as a cure
for all the world's ills or as the only possible motivation
for goodness and love offer naive solutions to complex
human problems. They should remember the comment
found in the Talmud. "Would that they had forgotten My
name and done that which I commanded them." A faith
in God reached through thought and reflection will help
some men. But others, finding such a faith impossible,
may find their faith in human values and ideals, in love,
understanding, the pursuit of knowledge, friendship,
the creativity of art or the rearing of children. One may
call himself a Christian, the other an atheist. But if they
share a common concern for individual personality, for
social justice and equality, then their alliance and com-
munity will be far closer than the alliance of either with the
forces of reaction and totalitarianism. Jesus and Socrates
have far more in common with each other than they have
with Franco or Stalin.
Religious liberals welcome to their churches and
societies all those who are serious in their search for truth:
atheist or theist, Christian, Jew, Buddhist or freethinker,
who value serious rethinking of religion and who dedicate
themselves to the great ethical and moral ideals which
have always been divine and sacred to sensitive men.
In a time of darkness, when the ethically blind are so
often our leaders, we cannot afford to exclude from our
fellowship fellow seekers who may encourage us as we
may strengthen them, and whose light flashes out "wherever
the just exchange their message." Thus it is, that in the
liberal church, together with other seekers, the atheist is
welcomed as a full participant in the on-going religious quest.
.
.
--
.
|
|
|
| User: "Robibnikoff" |
|
| Title: Re: CAN AN ATHEIST BE RELIGIOUS? -- Sykes, 1966 |
05 Jan 2007 08:04:11 AM |
|
|
"'foolsrushin.'" <dolomite8@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1167979149.225370.52710@s34g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
Atheists are are reactive and provocative, and obsessed with religion.
In your obviously misguided opinion.
--
Robyn
Resident Witchypoo
BAAWA Knight!
#1557
.
|
|
|
|
| User: "Michelle Malkin" |
|
| Title: Re: CAN AN ATHEIST BE RELIGIOUS? -- Sykes, 1966 |
07 Jan 2007 01:39:50 AM |
|
|
"'foolsrushin.'" <dolomite8@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1167979149.225370.52710@s34g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
Atheists are are reactive and provocative, and obsessed with religion.
Without churches, they would be lost! They are an asymmetric output of
churches, and, apart from hoping they will not waste any more time,
there is nothing more to be said about them!
--
'foolsrushin.'
Without theism, we wouldn't have to be atheists.
Without religion, we could all just be people.
--
^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^
Michelle Malkin (Mickey) aa list#1
BAAWA Knight & Bible Thumper Thumper
^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^
imbibe@mindspring.com (David Polewka) wrote:
CAN AN ATHEIST BE RELIGIOUS?
by Richard E. Sykes, April, 1966
(Richard E. Sykes is minister at the Unitarian Universalist
Center, Home of Student Religious Liberals, 608 Washington
Avenue S.E., Minneapolis 14, Minnesota.)
"But he's an atheist!"
In America we make this statement as an accusation, not
as a description. Would you want your daughter to marry
an atheist? Would you trust a politician who states that he
does not believe in God? Was not this great nation founded
by devout pilgrims? Besides, Communists are atheists!
Atheist is a loaded word, colored with emotion, full of fears
and hatreds. We must be religious -- and no one cares for
religion! We must believe in God -- and no one cares what
God! One popular evangelist declares that we should require
such belief of our public officials and fellow citizens, for unless
they believe in Hell they can't be trusted. Accordingly, the
State of Maryland recently tried to prevent an avowed atheist
from becoming a notary public. Political aspirants have con-
tinually catered to this popular feeling, decorated their cam-
paign speeches with pious platitudes according to imme-
morial custom, justifying the current expediency in the name
of God. Certainly we must all believe.
But must we? The smug, polite neighborhood Christianity
and Judaism of our nation must make not only the serious
disbeliever but also the serious believer sick at his stomach
and the Grand Inquisitor smile. We are a people raised on
religious pablum on whom the Prophets would look with pity!
It may be that today religious America needs a good physic
of atheism. God has become a shibboleth used by idol
worshippers to stifle discussion and sincere inquiry.
Given an alternative between popular religious beliefs in
a God who judges men and rewards or punishes them in
heavens or hells like some ancient monarch, or a God who
is said to help men to successful selling and active business
careers through "positive thinking," many thoughtful people
have given up the concept of God altogether and call them-
selves atheists or agnostics.
Recently a psychiatrist was speaking on child development.
He pointed out that almost all small children go through a
period of saying "No!" to almost every request. But he em-
phasized that such a stage is both necessary and worthwhile,
for it is by saying "No!" that the child first begins to assert his
independence and selfhood. The child must say "No!" before
he can discover who he is himself.
Not only the little child, but most thoughtful adults must go
through the stage of saying "No!" Even generations have to
go through it, and more people in our generation are saying
"No!" to the simplistic religious ideas that have come down
to us from the childhood of the race. A few have rethought
traditional religious beliefs such as God, Christ and salvation
in terms of modern knowledge and continue to use the old
words but with new meanings. A few more have rejected
traditional belief altogether.
The polite fiction that everybody must believe in God
conceals this common doubt among our people, prevents
honest discussion of the problem, and obstructs the search
for new belief. In the long run religion will only be weakened,
not strengthened, by such a conspiracy of silence.
The important question is not whether or not you give lip
service to a belief in God. The important thing is whether
or not you take your life seriously enough really to think
through your beliefs, and when you have done so, what the
beliefs are to which you commit yourself. The sceptic,
atheist, agnostic has rejected traditional belief, not out of
perversity, but rather out of a higher allegiance -- allegiance
to truth. It is that allegiance which has led him on his painful
search. While he is certainly an atheist when it comes to
belief in the popular gods he may actually be a deep be-
liever when it comes to those gods which are less popular
in our time. He is not what Feuerbach meant by a true
atheist when he wrote that "He alone is the true atheist to
whom the predicates of the Divine Being, for instance,
love, wisdom, justice, are nothing." While the serious
atheist's first job has been to say "No!" and to be negative
because of his positive loyalty to conscience, to honesty
and personal integrity, his search will not stop there. It may
lead him to an entirely naturalistic affirmation of morality,
or to a more deepened theistic belief. Wherever his road
takes him it will be a journey of concern, of seriousness,
an affirmation of man, since what is it that characterizes the
unique spirit of man except his ability to create meaning?
The atheist or agnostic should not be rejected. Often he
is the Good Samaritan of our time. He should be welcomed
by all of those who take the search for truth seriously. In a
sense his questions and doubtings are more truly religious
than the self-satisfied prayers of many who appear in the
sanctuary in a new spring suit once a year to celebrate
the Resurrection. If religion is, in the words of Erich
Fromm, a search for a "frame of orientation and devotion,"
and if the church is the fellowship of those who are
honestly and seriously committed to such a search, then
the atheist should certainly be welcomed there. Those
who have undertaken the search, even those who have
found their answer in a deepened traditional religious
viewpoint, will immediately recognize in him a friend
and comrade.
Those who harp on belief in God or Christ as a cure
for all the world's ills or as the only possible motivation
for goodness and love offer naive solutions to complex
human problems. They should remember the comment
found in the Talmud. "Would that they had forgotten My
name and done that which I commanded them." A faith
in God reached through thought and reflection will help
some men. But others, finding such a faith impossible,
may find their faith in human values and ideals, in love,
understanding, the pursuit of knowledge, friendship,
the creativity of art or the rearing of children. One may
call himself a Christian, the other an atheist. But if they
share a common concern for individual personality, for
social justice and equality, then their alliance and com-
munity will be far closer than the alliance of either with the
forces of reaction and totalitarianism. Jesus and Socrates
have far more in common with each other than they have
with Franco or Stalin.
Religious liberals welcome to their churches and
societies all those who are serious in their search for truth:
atheist or theist, Christian, Jew, Buddhist or freethinker,
who value serious rethinking of religion and who dedicate
themselves to the great ethical and moral ideals which
have always been divine and sacred to sensitive men.
In a time of darkness, when the ethically blind are so
often our leaders, we cannot afford to exclude from our
fellowship fellow seekers who may encourage us as we
may strengthen them, and whose light flashes out "wherever
the just exchange their message." Thus it is, that in the
liberal church, together with other seekers, the atheist is
welcomed as a full participant in the on-going religious quest.
.
.
--
.
|
|
|
|
| User: "Kent Paul Dolan" |
|
| Title: Re: CAN AN ATHEIST BE RELIGIOUS? -- Sykes, 1966 |
05 Jan 2007 04:37:48 AM |
|
|
'foolsrushin.' wrote:
Atheists are are reactive and provocative, and
obsessed with religion.
Are we?
The last two times I was in a church, was to vote.
The last time I was in a church for a church
service, was while I was still living with my theist
former wife, five years and more ago.
Religion, per se, is a null part of my life
Defending my right to have no religion, from theists
who insist otherwise, attempting by their sheer
force of numbers to wedge religion into places
currently defended against it by US law,
unfortunately occupies far too much of my time.
The theist fundamentalist muddleheads currently
running the US, who have dragged human rights back
to the era of England's Charles II, are a daily
threat to my peaceful existence, but it is their
misbehaviors, not my obsession with religion, that
finds me confronting them so often.
Without churches, they would be lost!
Probably true, steeples make fine navigation
landmarks.
They are an asymmetric output of churches,
Bafflegab.
and, apart from hoping they will not waste any
more time, there is nothing more to be said about
them!
You've already said 100% more than you know, that's
probably as good a place to quit as any.
HTH
xanthian.
.
|
|
|
| User: "Bill M" |
|
| Title: Re: CAN AN ATHEIST BE RELIGIOUS? -- Sykes, 1966 |
05 Jan 2007 09:39:18 AM |
|
|
Atheists just do not base their lives on myths and fables!
Its that simple!
"Kent Paul Dolan" <xanthian@well.com> wrote in message
news:1167993468.261480.53910@51g2000cwl.googlegroups.com...
'foolsrushin.' wrote:
Atheists are are reactive and provocative, and
obsessed with religion.
Are we?
The last two times I was in a church, was to vote.
The last time I was in a church for a church
service, was while I was still living with my theist
former wife, five years and more ago.
Religion, per se, is a null part of my life
Defending my right to have no religion, from theists
who insist otherwise, attempting by their sheer
force of numbers to wedge religion into places
currently defended against it by US law,
unfortunately occupies far too much of my time.
The theist fundamentalist muddleheads currently
running the US, who have dragged human rights back
to the era of England's Charles II, are a daily
threat to my peaceful existence, but it is their
misbehaviors, not my obsession with religion, that
finds me confronting them so often.
Without churches, they would be lost!
Probably true, steeples make fine navigation
landmarks.
They are an asymmetric output of churches,
Bafflegab.
and, apart from hoping they will not waste any
more time, there is nothing more to be said about
them!
You've already said 100% more than you know, that's
probably as good a place to quit as any.
HTH
xanthian.
.
|
|
|
| User: "Kent Paul Dolan" |
|
| Title: Re: CAN AN ATHEIST BE RELIGIOUS? -- Sykes, 1966 |
05 Jan 2007 12:51:19 PM |
|
|
Bill M wrote:
Atheists just do not base their lives on myths and fables!
Its that simple!
"Kent Paul Dolan" <xanthian@well.com> wrote in message
news:1167993468.261480.53910@51g2000cwl.googlegroups.com...
'foolsrushin.' wrote:
Atheists are are reactive and provocative, and
obsessed with religion.
Are we?
The last two times I was in a church, was to vote.
The last time I was in a church for a church
service, was while I was still living with my theist
former wife, five years and more ago.
Religion, per se, is a null part of my life
Defending my right to have no religion, from theists
who insist otherwise, attempting by their sheer
force of numbers to wedge religion into places
currently defended against it by US law,
unfortunately occupies far too much of my time.
The theist fundamentalist muddleheads currently
running the US, who have dragged human rights back
to the era of England's Charles II, are a daily
threat to my peaceful existence, but it is their
misbehaviors, not my obsession with religion, that
finds me confronting them so often.
Without churches, they would be lost!
Probably true, steeples make fine navigation
landmarks.
They are an asymmetric output of churches,
Bafflegab.
and, apart from hoping they will not waste any
more time, there is nothing more to be said about
them!
You've already said 100% more than you know, that's
probably as good a place to quit as any.
HTH
xanthian.
.
|
|
|
|
| User: "Kent Paul Dolan" |
|
| Title: Re: CAN AN ATHEIST BE RELIGIOUS? -- Sykes, 1966 |
05 Jan 2007 12:57:08 PM |
|
|
Bill M wrote:
Atheists just do not base their lives on myths and fables!
Its that simple!
If it were "that simple", atheism would long ago have
conquered meme-space.
Instead, convincing people to live the one life they
have well, and be content with that, is a task that
cannot be managed for most of the world's
population, who instead choose one superstition
or another that promises some "better" result.
xanthian.
.
|
|
|
|
|
|
| User: "V" |
|
| Title: Re: CAN AN ATHEIST BE RELIGIOUS? -- Sykes, 1966 |
05 Jan 2007 08:46:39 AM |
|
|
'foolsrushin.' wrote:
Atheists are are reactive and provocative, and obsessed with religion.
Without churches, they would be lost! They are an asymmetric output of
churches, and, apart from hoping they will not waste any more time,
there is nothing more to be said about them!
--
'foolsrushin.'
imbibe@mindspring.com (David Polewka) wrote:
CAN AN ATHEIST BE RELIGIOUS?
by Richard E. Sykes, April, 1966
(Richard E. Sykes is minister at the Unitarian Universalist
Center, Home of Student Religious Liberals, 608 Washington
Avenue S.E., Minneapolis 14, Minnesota.)
"But he's an atheist!"
In America we make this statement as an accusation, not
as a description. Would you want your daughter to marry
an atheist? Would you trust a politician who states that he
does not believe in God? Was not this great nation founded
by devout pilgrims? Besides, Communists are atheists!
Atheist is a loaded word, colored with emotion, full of fears
and hatreds. We must be religious -- and no one cares for
religion! We must believe in God -- and no one cares what
God! One popular evangelist declares that we should require
such belief of our public officials and fellow citizens, for unless
they believe in Hell they can't be trusted. Accordingly, the
State of Maryland recently tried to prevent an avowed atheist
from becoming a notary public. Political aspirants have con-
tinually catered to this popular feeling, decorated their cam-
paign speeches with pious platitudes according to imme-
morial custom, justifying the current expediency in the name
of God. Certainly we must all believe.
But must we? The smug, polite neighborhood Christianity
and Judaism of our nation must make not only the serious
disbeliever but also the serious believer sick at his stomach
and the Grand Inquisitor smile. We are a people raised on
religious pablum on whom the Prophets would look with pity!
It may be that today religious America needs a good physic
of atheism. God has become a shibboleth used by idol
worshippers to stifle discussion and sincere inquiry.
Given an alternative between popular religious beliefs in
a God who judges men and rewards or punishes them in
heavens or hells like some ancient monarch, or a God who
is said to help men to successful selling and active business
careers through "positive thinking," many thoughtful people
have given up the concept of God altogether and call them-
selves atheists or agnostics.
Recently a psychiatrist was speaking on child development.
He pointed out that almost all small children go through a
period of saying "No!" to almost every request. But he em-
phasized that such a stage is both necessary and worthwhile,
for it is by saying "No!" that the child first begins to assert his
independence and selfhood. The child must say "No!" before
he can discover who he is himself.
Not only the little child, but most thoughtful adults must go
through the stage of saying "No!" Even generations have to
go through it, and more people in our generation are saying
"No!" to the simplistic religious ideas that have come down
to us from the childhood of the race. A few have rethought
traditional religious beliefs such as God, Christ and salvation
in terms of modern knowledge and continue to use the old
words but with new meanings. A few more have rejected
traditional belief altogether.
The polite fiction that everybody must believe in God
conceals this common doubt among our people, prevents
honest discussion of the problem, and obstructs the search
for new belief. In the long run religion will only be weakened,
not strengthened, by such a conspiracy of silence.
The important question is not whether or not you give lip
service to a belief in God. The important thing is whether
or not you take your life seriously enough really to think
through your beliefs, and when you have done so, what the
beliefs are to which you commit yourself. The sceptic,
atheist, agnostic has rejected traditional belief, not out of
perversity, but rather out of a higher allegiance -- allegiance
to truth. It is that allegiance which has led him on his painful
search. While he is certainly an atheist when it comes to
belief in the popular gods he may actually be a deep be-
liever when it comes to those gods which are less popular
in our time. He is not what Feuerbach meant by a true
atheist when he wrote that "He alone is the true atheist to
whom the predicates of the Divine Being, for instance,
love, wisdom, justice, are nothing." While the serious
atheist's first job has been to say "No!" and to be negative
because of his positive loyalty to conscience, to honesty
and personal integrity, his search will not stop there. It may
lead him to an entirely naturalistic affirmation of morality,
or to a more deepened theistic belief. Wherever his road
takes him it will be a journey of concern, of seriousness,
an affirmation of man, since what is it that characterizes the
unique spirit of man except his ability to create meaning?
The atheist or agnostic should not be rejected. Often he
is the Good Samaritan of our time. He should be welcomed
by all of those who take the search for truth seriously. In a
sense his questions and doubtings are more truly religious
than the self-satisfied prayers of many who appear in the
sanctuary in a new spring suit once a year to celebrate
the Resurrection. If religion is, in the words of Erich
Fromm, a search for a "frame of orientation and devotion,"
and if the church is the fellowship of those who are
honestly and seriously committed to such a search, then
the atheist should certainly be welcomed there. Those
who have undertaken the search, even those who have
found their answer in a deepened traditional religious
viewpoint, will immediately recognize in him a friend
and comrade.
Those who harp on belief in God or Christ as a cure
for all the world's ills or as the only possible motivation
for goodness and love offer naive solutions to complex
human problems. They should remember the comment
found in the Talmud. "Would that they had forgotten My
name and done that which I commanded them." A faith
in God reached through thought and reflection will help
some men. But others, finding such a faith impossible,
may find their faith in human values and ideals, in love,
understanding, the pursuit of knowledge, friendship,
the creativity of art or the rearing of children. One may
call himself a Christian, the other an atheist. But if they
share a common concern for individual personality, for
social justice and equality, then their alliance and com-
munity will be far closer than the alliance of either with the
forces of reaction and totalitarianism. Jesus and Socrates
have far more in common with each other than they have
with Franco or Stalin.
Religious liberals welcome to their churches and
societies all those who are serious in their search for truth:
atheist or theist, Christian, Jew, Buddhist or freethinker,
who value serious rethinking of religion and who dedicate
themselves to the great ethical and moral ideals which
have always been divine and sacred to sensitive men.
In a time of darkness, when the ethically blind are so
often our leaders, we cannot afford to exclude from our
fellowship fellow seekers who may encourage us as we
may strengthen them, and whose light flashes out "wherever
the just exchange their message." Thus it is, that in the
liberal church, together with other seekers, the atheist is
welcomed as a full participant in the on-going religious quest.
(...) writes:
"Atheists are are reactive and provocative, and obsessed with religion.
Without churches, they would be lost!"
*********** REPLY SEPARATOR ***********
V:
Hi and thank you for your post.
Sure, some atheists fixate hate on theism to distract their minds from
the ugly lives they have created for themselves. We all practice
escapism to some degree, so no use just pointing fingers at them.
This predisposition for escaping life that the atheist must live by can
be seen below..'for without this dream world, life for them would not
be tolerable."
"The dream world of a compulsive gambler." Excerpt From: GA pamphlet.
A lot of time is spent creating images of great and wonderful things
they are going to do as soon as they make "the big win." They often see
themselves as quite philanthropic and charming people. They may dream
of providing families and friends with new cars, mink coats and other
luxuries. Compulsive gamblers picture themselves leading a pleasant,
gracious life, made possible by the huge sums of money they will accrue
from their "system". Servants, penthouses, nice clothes, charming
friends, yachts and world tours are a few of the wonderful things that
are just around the corner after a big win is finally made.
Pathetically, however, there never seems to be a big enough winning to
make even the smallest dream come true. When compulsive gamblers
succeed, they gamble to dream still greater dreams. When failing, they
gamble in reckless desperation and the depths of their misery are
fathomless as their dream world comes crashing down. Sadly, they will
struggle back, dream more dreams and of course suffer more misery. No
one can convince them that their great schemes will not come true. They
believe they will, for without this dream world, life for them would
not be tolerable.
Alan Watts use to say we define ourselves by our enemies. We define
ourselves by what we are not. He used the example of 'Beatniks and
Squares' which were the in fad opposites back in his day. So of course
it is natural for atheists and theists to view themselves as polar
opposites.
I used my addictions as distraction from living life and dealing with
problems and as artificial ways to relieve pain. I've abused these pain
relievers so that now they are pain generators in my life. Isn't it
much easier to fantasize about something else than stay in the hear and
now? I try and catch myself when I practice this escapism and work to
bring my thoughts back to the present. Whenever the fantasy starts I
check to see what I am escaping from? Why do I fixate on something else
instead of where I'm at? Practicing mindfulness of the present moment
as part of a Buddhist practice has helped and working 12 step programs
to repair the damage and balance my life has also helped. Writing to
support groups and doing personal inventory is another useful recovery
tool. If you are stressed, apply simple living to your household to cut
back on your demands. If you can't keep up, scale back until your can.
Find some pastimes that are pleasurable for you, healthy and do not
revolve around addiction. Sport or movement related activities fill a
large part of my life now to replace the old addictions.
There is a method to our madness when it comes to addictions. We derive
the following benefits from participating in our various addictions.
"7 Benefits We Derive From Our Addictions"
1) Pain Reliever
Addictions help distract us from our pain. Most of this pain is
generated from an endless cycle of wrong living that produces more pain
and requires more drugging through the application of our various
addictions to try and diminish the pain. Other times we use this pain
relief our addictions provide us to dull physical pain we might be
suffering from health problems just as a doctor gives us a pill to take
to dull the pain. You can do an experiment in this pain relief area.
If you have pain in your hand for instance, start stoking you arm
lightly. It diminishes the pain in one area and pout new concentration
in a sensation elsewhere. Addicts take natural pain relievers and turn
them into pain generators. Handicapped addicts suffering great pain
have a much harder time with finding peace - for there is never a
complete escaping of their pain even if they restructure their life.
Such addicts should get support from "like kind" and seek out recovery
groups along this specialized area of handicapped addicts as well as
using traditional recovery groups.
2 Pressure Relief
We use addictions to help blow off stream from stressed and unbalanced
life we live though overextending ourselves to the point of breaking by
living a lifestyle of "jugglers syndrome" and by having too many irons
in the fire. In a lecture I once heard, Thich Nhat Hanh describes the
Buddha as sitting on a lotus blossom which was regarded as a sign of
peace and serenity in earlier times. Hanh goes on to say that nowadays,
many people sit on burning coals instead of sitting on a lotus blossom,
so no wonder they cannot find any peace. We make no time for inner
peace, we are too busy for such useless things a meditation and
relaxation. It feels good to get drunk and drugged up or spend money
and acquire things or eat junk foods or have sex or even blow up in
rage once in a while. One person mentioned how "profanity" provides a
release denied even by prayer, so for some of us having a rage attack
can provides a pressure relief. I had to learn to channel my pressure
through other healthy release valves as well as not participating in a
life that built up excess pressure within me. Adrenal steroids
(cortisol) secreted when a person is under stress reach the brain and
over time can affect the structure of the brain. We also produce
cortisol from any other stressors the body perceives, whether it is
physical stress, such as a sickness, injury, surgery, or temperature
extremes as well as psychological stress that we and the world put on
us. Each of us has produces a different amount of these chemicals and
has a different sensitivity to them and this might be the missing link
as to a part of the question as to why some of us are more addictive
than others with how we each produce and react to these stress
chemicals differently.
3) Time Filler
The devil finds work for idle hands - Thoreau. Many time I have heard
an addict say they went to their addiction out of boredom cause they
had nothing else to do to pass time. Developing a list of positive time
fillers that are healthy and sustainable was a big breakthrough for me
with my recovery work. (My earlier post entitled "Positive Time
Fillers" goes into more detail on this subject, if you missed it and
want a copy write me.)
4) Escape Vehicle
Addictions make great escape vehicles to distract us from our problems
- most of what we have created for ourselves by living unbalanced
lives. We get enough problems in life for free - no use adding fuel to
the fire. This is what Voluntary Simplicity does for me in a nutshell.
It helps reduce the problems I generate on my end and makes life more
bearable so less escaping of the present is needed. I try and catch
myself when I practice this escapism and work to bring my thoughts back
to the present. Whenever the fantasy starts I check to see what I am
escaping from? Why do I fixate on something else instead of where I'm
at? Are the problems and reasons I am trying to escape from due to
irregularities, falsehoods or lies I perpetuate? Can I change these
problems or do I have to work on accepting them as the serenity prayer
says? Being dishonest was the foundation of most of my earlier
troubles. Once I started with the 12 steps in correcting these
irregularities, things got slowly better and this gave me hope to keep
working in the right direction. Inventory work identifies all these
problems and gets them off your back when you give them away. No one is
perfect, even so-called normal people go too far once in a while, so we
should not beat ourselves trying to hold ourselves to a standard above
the normal, non addicted person. As addicts we become super sensitized
to our various addictions and can really beat ourselves with anything
associated with them. But, we have to continue to take inventory work
as long as we live and correct any mistakes as soon as we realize them
if we want continued peace. Practicing mindfulness of the present
moment as part of a Buddhist practice has helped with staying in the
present as well as working the 12 steps to restructure my life into one
that is pleasant to live and not one I need to hide from.
5) Pleasure Vehicle
As sensation addicts we like the sensation we get when we participate
in our addiction. It feels good to receive the brain chemicals or high
I get when I participate in my drug of choice. In short, if it feels
good I over do it and keep doing it until it turns into pain - then and
only then I know I need to stop.
The normal person does not have to go this far to know when to stop,
and if they do go too far, they quickly turn things around as they see
the activity not a healthy way to live. Not so with addicts, as they
will refuse to stop even under penalty of jail or death. This is what's
separates the addicts from the normal person - stopping ability. I had
to accept that some things are just too exciting for my sensations and
stimulate my brain chemicals too much to play with, irrespective of
fixing the hole in my soul or not. I learned to use new positive ways
to feel good that were sustainable and not destructive. But, addiction
recovery is never a perfect path. Some addictions require participation
in such as eating, spending or sex and an addict must have mechanical
tools of clarity as well as spiritual tools for inner recovery to
develop a balanced recovery program with these addictions. But, once we
experience a change in our path of living and we see we can derive
pleasure from other areas that are healthy and sustainable, we can see
there is a choice in how we live and decide on which path to take.
Balanced living is also of prime concern - or following the middle path
of moderation the Buddha laid out in his teachings. A path of
moderation which rejects both sensory indulgence and the extremes of
self mortification and denial. When we find more pleasure in staying
abstinent, sober solvent and are living a balanced life within our
comfortable means we have turned the corner and are home.
In the book "How to Want What You Have" it details the addicts plight.
"People who dedicate their lives to the pursuit of sensual pleasure
find that the more pleasure they get, the more they want. Small,
ordinary pleasures soon lose their power to please and must be replaced
with more intense or exotic ones. Heedless sensualists usually meet a
bad end. They learn the hard way that their desires are relentless and
insatiable."
6) Mystical or Religious Experience
Yes, our addiction is our religion. All our addictions have pleasure
aspects within them and we get rewards for participating in them in the
form of euphoric experiences. Euphoric experience can be related to the
spiritual as well. The definition of a religious mystic is one that
partakes in an altered state of conciseness with God / god or the
spiritual realm. Our addictions also give us this altered state of
consciousness and feeling of euphoria. So, we can say that our drugs
are our gods and our addiction is our religion. There is a reason to
our madness - it is not just pure madness as most addicts think.
7) Death Sentence
Finally, if all else fails - addictions are great killers and
destroyers of life. What benefit do we get from destruction? I guess it
can best be explained from something told to me from an old sponsor in
DA. He one said, "If we are spiritually sick we will find a way to get
rid of the money no matter what." Well, the addict that is spiritually
sick will do the same with their life - they will get rid of it. Don't
confuse spirituality with religion here. Spirituality deals with the
unseen and our inner self, but has little to do with being pious. One
writer describes religion as "dealing with social cohesion and
spirituality as dealing with inner transformation."
Take care,
V (Male)
Agnostic Freethinker
Practical Philosopher
AA#2
.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Related Articles |
|
|
