OCTOTALK      

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​Politics & Religion
 

While watching the January 6th 2022 Committee hearings, I was struck by the statements of two witnesses, Vice President Mike Pence’s former Chief of Staff Marc Short and retired federal judge J. Michael Luttig. Marc Short described several occasions during early January 2021, when he and others prayed before meetings. I was especially interested when Short was asked about what he did or how he coped with the threat of and close encounter with mob violence. He said he turned to (his familiarity with) the bible, specifically the Old Testament Book of Daniel, Chapter 6. This apocryphal tale of deliverance from death through faith in the Lord apparently provided him with the strength and courage he felt he needed in that extraordinarily dangerous and stressful moment.

 

The questions that entered my mind were – What if Marc Short had been an atheist? How would he have coped? From whence would he have summoned the guidance he needed? Is faith in a God or gods essential to meeting the challenges of confronting danger? Or for that matter, any challenges?

 

Marc Short said Vice President Pence began their January 5th meeting with prayer, turning to the (now widely acknowledged non-Pauline) New Testament Book of Timothy for … guidance? Can politicians act responsibly simply because it’s the right thing to do? Or do they have to ask for help from a deity?

 

What about Short’s unquestioning support of Vice President Pence, who, despite his loudly professed belief in Christian values, quietly stood by Trump, who he knew to be unprincipled, misogynistic, dishonest, and faithless. Where would Marc find biblical support for the Vice President’s complicity?

 

Then Judge Luttig said he and his wife prayed that morning before the hearing. How did those prayers influence his testimony? Would his candor have been lessened if he hadn’t prayed? Does it take prayerful guidance just to be honest and forthcoming? To simply tell the truth?

 

Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers said it was his belief that the (United States) Constitution was “divinely inspired” and that helped him to honor his oath to that foundational document. What if he was called upon to tell the truth or act legally in non-Constitutional circumstances? What would have happened if he had been an atheist?

Our entire government is apparently unable to function effectively without the concurrence, if not the approval, of a god of some religious belief system. And it’s not just the conservatives although they’re the most vocal in professing their (mostly) Christian credentials. By the way, the entity in whose name they pray, Jesus, condemned the Pharisees for praying aloud to appear pious. Liberals it seems, also must profess biblical beliefs just to be elected.

 

I understand how believing in a higher power can be comforting. I was comforted on those occasions when I believed that my prayers of intercession (especially when one of my children was sick) would be answered. The child’s recovery (whether the result of natural processes or medical intervention) often is taken to be divinely inspired ... prayers answered. And God doesn’t have to worry if the worst happens. That’s always the responsibility of the Devil.

 

I’ve learned in my life that not believing can be just as mystically uplifting as believing. It only requires independent judgement when choosing right from wrong, no assistance required. When you’ve made the right call and you know you’ve made the right call, turning only to your instinctive sense of truth, honesty, morality, fairness and justice, the experience can be euphoric, bordering on (borrowing a word hijacked by Revelations) rapturous.

 

In other words, do you have to have faith in God or gods to act responsibly in demanding circumstances? I hope not. Otherwise, it will be only theists we can count on to do the right thing. I, for one, won’t feel at ease trusting our leaders if they must appeal to supernatural phenomenon before choosing the correct path.

 

When confronted with life’s inevitable challenges, seeking the wisdom of those further along the path to enlightenment (wise elders for example) makes sense. But to choose from only the narrow way of Christian (or any religious) folklore portends limited success or, tragically, none.

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COMING OUT – IS THE CLOSET UBIQUITOUS?

 

My son, Michael, was born in 1960. Statistically, that makes him a Baby Boomer. (1946-1964) According to a 2021 Gallup poll, LGBTQ Boomers made up less than 3% of the U.S. population (5.73 million in 1964). Today, more than 1 in 5, or 21%, of Generation “Z” (1995-2009) adults identify as LGBTQ. (65.8 million) It seems perfectly reasonable to assume the 18% difference back in the early sixties, can be attributed to the “closet” affect and that the percentage of LBGTQ Boomers was significantly greater than 3 % and more than likely near 20%. Michael was a gay Boomer who would have been in the 18%.

 

The question I have is how many atheists are there today, that are in their own version of the “closet,” unwilling to publicly acknowledge their unbelief for the same reasons many Boomers stayed closeted … ostracization.

 

Atheism isn’t subject to the same visceral denunciation that plagued LGBTQ people in the 1960s (and today). But the history of bias against same-gender attraction extends as far back as 1624 when Richard Comish of the Virginia Colony was tried and hanged for allegedly engaging in sodomy. History is replete with examples of why coming out could have been (and still is) dangerous.

Criticism of atheism can be found as far back as biblical times. An example is Psalm 14:1 “The fool has said in his heart, there is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there are none that does good.” 

A 2017 Pew Research poll found that 42% of U.S. respondents say belief in God is necessary to have good values. A 2019 Pew poll asked Americans to rate groups on a “feeling thermometer” from 0% (cold and negative) to 100% (warm and positive). U.S. adults gave atheists an average rating of forty-nine, identical to the rating they gave Muslims (49) and colder than the average given to Jews (63), Catholics (60), and evangelical Christians (56).

 

Except for close family members, whose attitudes toward my professed unbelief range from understanding and acceptance to sadness and concern for my soul, I remain largely in the closet. I choose to stay in the closet, not because I fear the likely consequences of coming out for myself (I might be thought to be evil, morally depraved, wicked, sinful), but because I don’t want Willie, or any others,  to have to endure the loss of warmth and respect from our circle of friends and acquaintances that we currently enjoy, which I believe would ensue.  I imagine it’s not unlike the reasons LBGQT people don’t come out.

 

REIGION VS. SCIENCE

 

Those who claim life without a creator isn’t possible, ask those of us who are a-theist, what we (some of us) believe is the origin of human life. Personally, I believe in the science of evolution. When I use the word science, I unconditionally acknowledge that science is nothing more than temporal speculation using available evidence and is subject to continual change as new information becomes available. In fact, it’s this willingness of science to admit error and search for a better answer that attracts me. From Newton to Einstein to Quantum Mechanics, science has demonstrated its willingness to go where the emergent evidence leads.

Religion, on the other hand, claims infallibility, relying on the writings of anonymous ancients whose experiences with the natural world were conditioned by misunderstanding and fear. Appeasement of God or gods through obeisance was believed necessary to both avoid misfortune and secure wellbeing. The fact that multiple gods have been conjured in different places and at different times. should be ample evidence that the Christian God and all gods are mythical.

Scientists disagree with one another. All the time. Climate change is a prime example. Activists can trot out climate change believers or non-believers any time they wish to bolster their respective positions. Debate can become heated, and passions can overtake decorum. But science has never gone to war over disagreements. Conversely, religious history is replete with examples of wars being fought over whose god is the” true” God.

The number of wars fought over religion may not be as great as some atheists claim. According to the Encyclopedia of Wars, of the 1763 known/recorded historical conflicts, 121 (6.87%) had religion as their primary cause. Regardless, the score is still Religion 121 – Science 0.

 

A small percentage of atheists (about 1%) may express some spiritual beliefs; a recognition that there is something greater than themselves, something more to being human than just their sensory experiences. I fit into that small percentage. I have adopted the belief that all of humankind seeks enlightenment through reason and individualism. That this search for enlightenment is best characterized by the metaphor of the path. We are all on the same path leading to enlightenment. Some are further along the path than others. Some lag far behind. Few if any have reached the mythical end of the path, nirvana, an idyllic place, a state of complete happiness.

But the search for meaning is never ending. My search continues.