The Atheism Tapes

I watched "An Education" last night with Jon on Netflix. It was ok. It didn't blow me away- it was a cringe-fest, as we say, for the first half and the second half was pretty predictable but the story was well told and the acting was good. It's not quite believable... but nonetheless, a good story.

Then I started watching "The Atheism Tapes" which are interviews with theologians, philosophers, scientists on why they are atheists and what that means in today's culture. I think it's fascinating (there are 6 episodes available on Instant on Netflix) and I'm excited to keep watching them.

Growing up as a minister's daughter I struggled with my own belief system. I used to believe in God and then realized (really realized and accepted) the fact that I don't believe in God at age 23 or so. It was a huge shift in how I saw the world and myself in it... I actually prefer how I see it now, probably because it feels true to me, although I am still nostalgic for the days of church, music, common understanding and community. I still listen to hymns at Christmas and Easter at home, I am constantly trying to find nourishment for my mind and soul (if you want to call it that, I'm not going to be a stickler). I just don't at all believe there's a deity in charge. Not even a little.

Things happen that I don't understand that are strange and wondrous and mysterious and I enjoy it and think someday we will be able to begin to understand them with science. I'm not in a rush - I like some mystery in life. I think people need to believe in God to feel less alone, less lost and to not be as afraid to die as they would be if we were "on our own" as a species.

I personally find the "benign indifference" of the world quite calming. There's no one pulling strings, judging me, trying to justify genocide and suffering - these things just are and we can work to abolish them, make the human race better (as we should!), and they will long outlive me. I love to look up at the stars and think of how small I am in reference to the Universe; how little I matter! Of course, to me, I matter a great deal and will live my life as if it's my one and only, because guess what?

But it's nice to hear educated people discuss what it means to be an atheist, the frustrations that come along with that in our culture today and linguistically what it is to have this view.

http://www.amazon.com/Atheism-Tapes-Richard-Dawkins/dp/B00175GAIS

A threat

I listened to a call-in show today on NPR about the resistance to building a mosque near Ground Zero here in New York. There are some people who believe it's dishonoring the memory of those killed on Sept. 11, 2001 to establish a religious center celebrating the same religion of those who executed the attacks on that crystal clear morning.

First of all, I have no idea what the loved ones of those who were killed have gone through. I can only imagine it to be a long, arduous road through grief, anger and loss. My heart goes out to all of the people who were murdered that day and their friends and families who I know still grieve their absence.

However, I have never quite understood the argument that some people non-violently celebrating their religion or lifestyle is dishonoring anyone. I know there are many deep feelings surrounding what happened on 9/11, but it seems to me that the terrorists win a bit if we aren't able to differentiate between people who practice non-violent Islam and Muslim extremists who wish destruction and chaos on the USA.

I personally hope we are able to welcome Muslims to worship near Ground Zero, to grieve those loved ones they may have lost on that day, and embrace the mutual sadness that would unite us. After all, the terrorists hope is to divide us with fear and hate, bringing us to a place where we are afraid to reach out to other people. That is what they are banking on - that violence and terror will begin to run our lives instead of our human desire to connect with other people.

I think I can say with total assurance that the bravest acts in my life have included moving beyond the hate, anger, sadness and hurt to a place where I still FEEL those emotions, but recognize that that is not the place to set up camp. Bad things happen in life - America is a young country and we are not familiar with having war brought to our soil. There is no guarantee of safety, no matter how few mosques we have, how many clothes we take off at the airport when passing through security, how much racial profiling we may do... there will always be people who want to hurt us for who we are, how we live our lives and express ourselves. Sound familiar?

I feel that the moment we give in to hate and fear mongering and stop the difficult process of sorting out who is our friend and our foe (even within our own country, our own selves), regardless of race, nationality or religion, we become the terrorists. We become the people who are intolerant, hateful and exclusionary.

I'm not a particularly religious person, but I know what most world religions have in common: the advice to treat thy brother/neighbor/sister/friend/family as you would want to be treated. To work towards a peaceful coexistence, not a conflict-filled one. Only extremists preach violence and intolerance. In times of crisis we find friends in unusual places and people.

I hope New York City can pave the way with this new mosque for tolerance, acceptance, and friendship in a new world, no matter how scary that may be. Because I can tell you how scary a world without (religious) freedom is - and I don't want it.