I went to a Christening today. I've only been to church twice before in my life. Once was for a cousin's wedding and the other time was when, as a very conscientious Brownie, I insisted that Grandma take me so I could see what it was like. I only remember three things from that experience: not being able to find the hymns in the hymn book, a woman at the front dancing to the hymns while waving one of those streamers gymnasts use, and Grandma saying in a big loud voice "once these people start bloody praying, they don't know when to stop!"
The Christening today was all a bit daunting really. I kept expecting someone to say "the devil is amongst us!" and for everyone to stand up and point at me. I was very polite though. I mouthed the words to the hymns (none of which I knew, by the way. It wasn't The Lord is my Shepherd or Our Father by Whose Servants - they were those happy clappy ones you sometimes get on Songs of Praise. There was a woman with a guitar and a bloke on drums.) I bowed my head whenever he said "let us pray". And I tried to mirror the smug looks around me when he talked having Jesus in your life.
All in all, I have to say I find religion quite appealing. Obviously not anti-abortion, gay-hating, gun-wielding Bible Belters. Or anyone who thinks that Salman Rushdie deserves a fatwa against him for writing a book that makes me giggle on the tube. But your average, run of the mill, religious types really do seem quite pleasant.
I like the way that most major religions are based around caring for other people and not judging them (okay, Christianity and Islam, but I'm sure lots of the others probably agree!). I like the welcoming atmosphere, the family meals, and the markers throughout your life (Christening, Bat Mitzvah, going on Hajj, etc).
The trouble is that you can't just chose to be religious. I would love to wake up tomorrow believing that there's this big guy in the sky who's looking out for me and I'm going to get a really cool life when I die. I just can't make myself believe. Nothing's certain in this life so you have to go with your gut reactions on these things. And my gut is definitely telling me that God, Father Christmas and the Easter Bunny don't exist. Which is quite a shame really.
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18 comments:
A very interesting blog. Liked it a lot. Being a bellringer, (but not a churchgoer) I've seen enough of the C of E to be able to tell you, Meg, that religious people are human. So like any community, they squabble and have personality clashes, and issues. However - they are generally well meaning. Have you thought about Buddhism? They dont bother about God.
The trouble with Buddhism is they believe in re-incarnation 'n' stuff. I don't really believe in any of that.
Admit it, Meg. You're damned to hell and there's nothing you can do about it. Your comments have angered God. So now unless you attend church every week you'll burn for eternity. Enjoy.
Bugger.
Oh Lordy, wait till Katrina sees this blog....
Catholicism = the faith, doctrine, system, and practice of a Catholic church, especially the Roman Catholic Church.
Or...
The finer art of turd burglary and the arse invasion of small boys carried out by blokes in dresses, headed up by the head honcho of all poo prodding peddo-types, the Pope (or just 'Pop' to his favourite underlings).
So Meg, you find religion quite appealing do you? But you just can't make yourself believe? Well, no you can't, but that's no reason to give up thinking about it. Now here's not the place for lengthy theological discussions, and should you want one you know where to find me, but I do just want to draw attention to the following sentence;
"Nothing's certain in this life so you have to go with your gut reactions on these things."
You see you've made your mind up already. You're hardly going to end up believing in God if you already take for granted that 'Nothing is certain in this life'. That statement is false by the way without even bringing religion into it, e.g Death is very certain indeed and I can think of many more examples.
And for the next part of the sentence about gut feelings? Do you always go by your gut feelings when you're not certain about things Megan or do you not often try to think issues through, read up on things to be better informed and talk through things with others? If you do this with regard to cultural issues then why treat the religious any differently?
Oh and on a more trivial note, yes shame about the hymns!! After all those years of being forced to sing The Lord's my Shepherd and Our Father by Whose Servants at school it's kind of ironic that we begin to miss them? Be Still in the Presence of The Lord is one of my personal favourites - that and Amazing Grace obviously!!
In answer to your first post, I think I'm someone who does go on gut reactions. When I'm making a difficult decision I always try to write down a list of pros and cons but deep down I know I've made up my mind already.
I do see religious texts as fiction and no matter how beautiful or profound they might be, I can't imagine any of them making me suddenly believe they're true.
It's very interesting though. I've been watching Spirituality Shopper on telly which is about whether you can take certain religious practices out of context (yoga, meditation, Shabbat meal, Sufi dancing, giving stuff up for Lent, etc) and use them to fulfill your life. I'm not sure if any of those things would make me believe in god, although I'm sure they're very good for your emotional wellbeing. But that's not really the point if you're religious, is it!!
Also, I do believe that nothing is 100% certain if I wanted to be facetious about it, ie maybe death doesn't exist and people are just pretending. Maybe I'm part of a giant Truman Show style experiment. Maybe I'm dreaming all this and am actually a totally different person. In that context, I believe that the existence of god is possible. But it's such a remote chance that I feel confident enough to discount it.
Hmm interesting... I never had you down as a gut reaction kind of person - I'm not convinced!!!! Why bother with your lists of pros and cons then?
And Iknow you were being facetious but I don't believe that you really believe that nothing is 100% certain either!! If nothing is certain how can you be certain that that is the case?!! Ah ha!!! Ah ha!!(I typed this in my best pirate voice) This all reminds me of a quotation Mr B had up in the A-level RS room;
"It is not certain that everything is uncertain."
That quote from Mr B has caused my brain to entirely wrap around itself and start to leak out of my ears. I can't cope with any more philosophical / theological discussion...
And as for the list of pros and cons, I do it because I feel I ought to but you're right - it is a completely wasted exercise each time!!
Great blogsite!
You know, Religious Types must be awfully lonely; why else would they be constantly trying to recruit others?
I prefer my atheism; it makes life much simpler.
No more philosophical/theological discussion? But we'd barely got started!!! As for the quotation that's nothing - imagine what it was like talking philosophy with Mr B for 2 years of A-level, me being the only member of the class!!!! Oh well, as I said you know where to find me should you wish to subject your brain to anymore gymnastics!!! (I'm trying to picture your brain wrapping around itself but it's difficult to visualise.)
As for Xax's comment - surely 'Religious Types' are less likely to be lonely since they have a relationship with God whereas atheists clearly don't. And it is the I joy I experienced in moving from agnosticism to a belief that God really does exist that makes me want to 'recruit others' as you put it, but in my case it would simply be encouraging others to think about whether God exists or not rather than a particular theology as I'm not a member of a particular religion as yet.
Lonely? Not at all! But if I didn't have Mister Slappy sat on my shoulder all day I'd go mad.
i'll give you father christmas, but what can you possibly mean about the easter bunny?
Hang on, hang on, hang on... David has his Mr Slappy on his SHOULDER??? That must be inconvinient in the bedroom.
PS I was talking about this blog with my Dad and he pointed out that my focus was all wrong. It doesn't make any sense for an atheist to cherry-pick ideas such as strong communities and kindess to strangers from religious people, because obviously atheists were doing these things before most religions were developed.
We were here first!
So... anyone who would like to learn from my vast knowlege of being a nice person can join the queue...
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