Archive for March, 2009
put aside your issues
I went to my first LDS funeral this week. My husband’s stepdad’s grandma passed away and the entire (and in LDS terms “entire” can result in staggering numbers) family came from all over to attend. While Grandma was a religious woman, she never pushed it down your throat. Unfortunately, the same thing cannot be said about one of her sons. Uncle W got up to give the “spiritual” talk, only to launch into a sermon on the mount, and what made it worse was that a lot of what he said was said on behalf of Grandma. Who, incidentally, would have been mortified by his words. He addressed the “many people in the audience, both family and friends, who have either lost or are struggling with their testimonies” and encouraged them to “out aside their issues” and return to the one true church. He proceeded to bear his own testimony and made everyone feel, well, offended and uncomfortable.
It made me so mad that he could be so dismissive of people’s “issues”. By issues did he mean the lack of geographical, DNA, or archeological evidence for the validity of the church, or the historical inconsistencies and contradictions? Maybe he was referring to the revisionist practices of the modern day church, or the obvious fraud and polygamous practices of early church leaders? Yeah – those are definitely “issues” that need to be put aside. Don’t think, just jump.
mommy, what happens when you die?
When other mothers find out that I am an Atheist one of the first questions they ask is always “But what are you going to tell your kids about death and what happens when you die?” For completely unrelated and non-religious reasons it concerns me that we focus as much as we do on death and dying but that is another issue.
It’s funny to me that any religious person can feel confident explaining this question at all. Heaven, or the afterlife, is not really addressed in most religious texts. An afterlife is promised, sure, but it is never described (the Koran excluded – but I do wonder who would want that version of heaven anyway). The religious really don’t have any better idea of what happens after we die than I do.
Having said that, I will not have a problem telling my kids the truth. To me, the natural world and its humbling and amazing level of inter-connectivity lends itself well to an explanation that even a young person can understand. We are made up of atoms and when we die, those atoms stop being a part of us and become a part of the greater world. Parts of who we are today will become parts of grass, trees, sky and even stars. While we do not live on as we are today, our elements continue to live forever. Now isn’t that nice? It isn’t scary, it is comforting and above all, it is far more likely than anything else I’ve ever heard.
Comfort and honesty – now there’s a novel concept.
on motherhood
I was told by my MIL and many others that my approach to the world would shift dramatically when I had my own child. I think my MIL in particular fully expected me to become LDS and lead her wayward son back to the flock. Many mothers cannot imagine having a child and not having religion. I understand that to some degree. I understand how deeply you love that babe in your arms and how desperately you want them to live for all time and be protected while they do it. Unfortunately, wanting something does not make it so.
Having a child did indeed change my perspective, but probably not in the way my MIL would have liked. I remember looking into her newborn eyes and promising her that I would do everything in my power to protect her from religion and all the things it brings with it. I want her to live in a world of reason and truth. Where people’s energies are devoted to one another and to improving our lot in life as opposed to works for some unseen God. I want her to learn that the natural world is amazing and incredible and all that we have. That it must be protected as well as loved and that the answers to the mystery of the universe are ours to discover. When she stumbles I want her to think “What can I do about this?” as opposed to getting down on her knees and handing the job over to someone else.
Religion brings fear, limits, consequences and rigid rules that should not be questioned. For many people that is what parenting is and so having a God to “back you up” makes life easier. They take the “heavenly father” analogy quite literally. We, on the other hand, will treat the whole subject the same as we would treat any other imaginary friend.
facts of life
Statistically, the more educated you are the higher the chances that you are an Atheist. What that might lead someone to believe is that there is a direct correlation between intelligence and belief. While I do think there is a relationship between those two things, it is neither direct nor simple. I have met some smart people who believe some very weird things. How is is that someone can be a scientist, understand the scientific method and how to apply it and then fail to apply the same rigour to their own fundamental beliefs? The cognitive dissonance that arises from such mental gymnastics is in large part, what led my husband and I to become atheists. If you believe in rational thought and evidence-based decision making (which we did and do) then it doesn’t leave you with a lot of other options. You can examine the basic religious claims and find them lacking or you can take a large chunk of your brain out and leave it on a shelf so that you can believe.
Adam and Eve? The great flood…animals going two by two? People being swallowed by whales? Even if you dismiss these old testament stories as merely legend (which in itself gets very tricky – if the first part is “just a story” then what does that say about the rest of it?) there is still plenty of stuff in the new testament to test the limits of ridiculousness. Mormons have it even harder. All of their sacred texts and documents were written in the past couple of centuries – in English. There are no mistranslations to blame and plenty of writings, witnesses, newspaper accounts, court documents and historical facts that create problems for the Mormons. Their approach is to find them, destroy/hide them and teach the church that anything that questions the Mormon faith (even without meaning to do so intentionally like say…DNA EVIDENCE!) is anti-Mormon, not faith-promoting, and not worth their time.
They say ignorance is bliss. Ignorance is also faith I’m afraid.
heads in the clouds
The idea of an after life has got to be the most manipulative and powerful concept ever invented by mankind. It has made poor people complacent about their status in life by promising them eternal rewards. The meek are told that they will one day inherit the earth. It’s untestable promises have kept slaves in bondage in Jerusalem, in Africa, the Asias, in the Americas and across countless generations. The fear of punishment after death has led to the denial of sexual desire, repression of science, intelligence, progress and intellectual debate. It has lauded obedience above reason and mildness over justice. It has given power to those who don’t deserve it and can’t handle it and made sacrifices of the week, impoverished and uneducated. It has made sinners out of babies who weren’t splashed with water soon enough after birth. Behind its trail it has left a wake of complacency, acceptance, fear and abuse. And today it creates an atmosphere where blowing people to smithereens is okay because you will be rewarded with virgins and martyred in the name of God. It has allowed the infestation of incivility to fester and become more than acceptable, it has mutated into righteousness. Christians can rest easy because gays will reside in Hell and perverted old men can have sex with altar boys because they yield the promise of eternal salvation as easily as they do their dicks.
What would this world look like if the concept of eternal life had never been? How would we act if we knew this is all we had…no reward and no punishment, just the direct results of our actions. If personal accountability dictated how we treated others as opposed to their skin colour, religion or status? What if someone asked us to blow up a plane and we knew that if we did that it would be the end. No virgins, no respect, no reward – just death.
How much have we lost by allowing our humanity to reside in the clouds rather than on the earth?
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