Jan 29 2009
Thieving Thursday: Religion and Responsiblity
So it’s time to steal from myself. I’d like to break the rather somber mood that’s all but inevitable this week and, fortunately, Roy Hilbinger prompted me to make a mini-rant on my own darn blog so I’m actually stealing double duty, y’know, from me. Besides, as a break from tragedy, I thought I’d stir a bit of controversy. Please note that everything stated here is my opinion which I do not equate with fact. Please assume “in my opinion” or “I think” on every assertion.
Roy, a brilliant individual who has an appreciable photographic talent, was questioning or perhaps challenging the notion that religion leads to responsibility and “doing the right thing.” Now, before those of you that are fiercely religious come trouncing on me, let me say up front I’m perfectly cool with religion. If the comfort you derive from your faith, the guidance you get, makes you happy and inspires you to be a better person, I think that’s fabulous. Whatever works best for you. There are things I believe with no real rationale other than they make me happy; I certainly don’t begrudge you your happiness.
In fact, I’ll even go so far as to say, for some, religion does encourage responsibility if only in the examples provided such as Jesus Christ or Buddha or Hecate for that matter. Instead, I’d like to focus on two questions:
(1) Can one be responsible and selfless without religion? [And, by religion, I mean faith in a or multiple higher powers as opposed to affiliated with a particular religion or organized religion (though, of course, one can be affiliated with one). By that definition, all of the monotheistic and polytheistic folks out there, from pagan to Catholic to Muslim to Hindi to Shinto apply. It would not apply to agnostics or atheists. For those of you that believe in some sort of collective consciousness, you can decide for yourselves if it applies.]
(2) Can religion [same definition] become an excuse to forgo responsibility? And, if so, how does one determine that it isn’t the inherent responsibility/goodness in people that gravitate toward the best parts of religion rather than religion being essential to their responsibility/goodness?
You’ll be stunned to hear I have opinions on this topic. On (1), duh! I see it all the time. People who are strongly and rationally atheist or agnostic who are also responsible and dedicated to the betterment of people as a whole and, generally, the planet as well. You are welcome to rebut my position, but I will be unlikely to give your opinion much weight if it is predicated on what someone thinks an atheist must be. We’re talking about people here, not hypothetical constructs. You can argue what a representative self-proclaimed atheists does, but, as we asking if it’s possible, anecdotal evidence on a particular selfish agnostic will not compel me.
As for (2), I not only think it can be, I think that kind of thinking is very common, depending on the type of faith. There are certain types of faith where that kind of thinking is completely foreign, like Quakers or most pagan or other nature-loving religions. In these and others, doing good is part and parcel of the religion, and hatred, waste and violence are eschewed. In these religions, “eternal reward” is less a factor and fulfillment comes from doing the right thing, protecting the environment, and/or serving one’s fellow man. However, for many others, religion can provide (a) an excuse to forgo making one’s own decisions or doing one’s own thinking in favor of someone else’s guidance, (b) a rationale to look down or judge others, (c) an excuse to refuse to take responsibility for one’s own actions [e.g. such as a belief in an all powerful God might make one blasé about addressing man’s contribution to global warming - after all, won’t God fix it?], and (d) even a perceived “carte blanche” to do whatever they want since either we’re all sinners already or because repenting or performing a great sacrifice in some deity’s name will undo all that came before (i.e. belief trumps my behavior). Some of you are probably laughing at (d), but I’ve seen that thinking in action.
So, how do you know if your beliefs are sending you down the wrong path? Well, if you’ve read this far and aren’t already consigning me to hell, that’s probably a good sign. Actually, if you ask that question, I think that’s a good sign. Other behaviors to look out for (in my opinion):
- If hatred or contempt for any other group of people is part of your religion or what is preached at your church, I think you’re doing it wrong.
- If your religion encourages you to let God take charge of things like your child’s illness or your poverty or the environment instead of your own efforts (nothing wrong with asking for his/her/their help in addition to your own, mind you), you might want to rethink that. God’s grace can be a wonderful thing, but it shouldn’t preclude giving your child insulin or encourage you wait around in front of the TV for someone to knock on the door and offer you a job.
- If your religious leaders require you to prove your faith by doing what they tell you, you might want to rethink it. For example: missionary providing medical care to people in third world countries: good. People with obvious toupees and loud suits and voices exhorting you to show your love of Jesus by sending them a check: bad.
- If you think your acceptance of any deity means you’re not responsible for your actions, I don’t think you’re getting the big picture.
Doing the right thing comes part and parcel with responsibility. I may not be able to solve the world’s ills, but I can do everything in my power not to be part of the problem. If I do my best, live honestly, treat people with consideration and respect, look out for the well-being of others, I don’t have to manufacture sins for others so I feel better about myself. I already do. I don’t have to wait to die to get my reward; doing good is rewarding. If I don’t have to lie or hide my activities, I don’t have to cover up the past (or cover my own butt) if I’m doing the right thing. Now, that may sound like a thankless rewardless task, but self-respect is something that money can’t buy. You can buy something that looks like that, you can point to all the people who worry about you or get excited by you (Paris Hilton, anyone?), but it’s ephemeral and doesn’t help you look in the mirror every day. I leave answering the second part of (2) as an exercise for the student.
Perhaps Hell isn’t a place where you burn and are punished indefinitely. Perhaps its a room of mirrors where you can’t escape seeing yourself as you really are. And, Heaven is the same place. The only difference is who you see.
See, now you got me all philosophical. Here are other examples:
Apparently I’m Waxing Philosophical
My Thoughts on the Afterlife
The Face of God
Joining in the Worm Toss
Two completely unrelated footnotes: I got hugged by an ex-astronaut today who happens to be a great person, too. That was kind of nice.
And my daughter, the baby, has proven she IS a native-born Texan. She ate a whole tamale.
Well, I certainly agree with you on point 1. Also point 2, but back in my comment from earlier this week which got you waxing philosophical, there was another point I was trying to make: that some forms of religion/spirituality actually promote self-centeredness, which in turn fosters that cavalier attitude about the consequences of one’s actions and decisions.
Certainly the “self help” phenomenon that grew up in certain communities in the New Age movement fostered such an attitude. Navel gazing and focusing inward on the “inner god” usually doesn’t tell you much about what’s going on in the rest of the world, good and bad. I remember having dealings with people who were into Werner Erhard’s EST (Erhard Seminars Training), which was essentially a self-help program for young corporate types - expensive and personally abusive enough (you had to spend a whole weekend in one room with a bunch of other people, got yelled at and jeered and sneered at by the “trainer”, and spent upwards of $200 - in 1970s dollars - for the experience). The intent of EST was to tell yuppies that they were okay because they were being true to themselves; that their cutthroat path to the top of the pyramid was perfectly moral, because the only true morals are what advances the self. It was a yuppie’s spiritual ideal - they could have “spirituality” and still be as materialistic and me-centered as they wanted. It put the stamp of “spirituality” on the very behavior that made everybody else despise them.
The other phenomenon in the religion world that promotes self-centered attitudes and behavior is evangelical Christianity. For that group, the be all end all of “spirituality” is personal salvation. And how do you attain salvation? Not by helping the poor or anything so altruistic. No, you’re saved merely by “believing on the name of Jesus.” That’s it. And your goal in life becomes converting others to your belief. Have you ever noticed that evangelical churches have very few services like soup kitchens, or health clinics, or therapy programs? Their more liberal Christian counterparts have lots of that, but for the evangelical Christian the central purpose of Christianity is personal salvation; everything else pales in comparison.
Now granted, I have a certain bias against organized spirituality (my definition of “religion”). I spent 50 years of my life attached to organized religions of one sort or another (the Lutheran church in my childhood and youth and the Baha’i Faith for the rest of the time) before I finally figured out it was a shell game meant to keep me under somebody’s control. One day I finally understood the first two sentences of the Tao te Ching:
and bingo! I finally figured it out. If you put a label on it, it loses its sacredness. And from then on i went my own way. Sure, I celebrate the turning of the Wheel of the Year in the old ways same as the neo-Pagans. And I read the Tao Te Ching and the poetry of the Sufi poet Rumí. And I’m a fan of the Creation spirituality of Matthew Fox. But I don’t join an organization to do it, and I don’t give it a name. And in that I’m a free man, much more free than anybody sitting in a pew of a Sunday morning (while I’m out wandering in the woods and the salt marshes saying good morning to the birds).
Heh, heh! and I do believe I got carried away there. And i also believe you just witnessed the beginnings of my next (or at least coming soon) blog post.
Thank you for writing this post. It was great.
Though I do not have a personal Lord and Savior, I am an extremely happy individual who has a positive outlook on life and tries to do the right thing.
Every day I see a ton of miserable people out there who are complaining and doing nothing to better their own situations besides pray about it. I can’t say that I have much sympathy for them.
My son has to put up with a lot of BS from his dad. His dad is a Baptist minister and though our son is extremely intelligent, stays out of trouble, is an excellent musician and artist and has an amazing report card each and every time, my son has to hear how bad he is and how he’s going to hell because he doesn’t go to church, has his ears pierced and has orange hair.
One of my greatest joys in life is that my son is not a sheep and takes responsibility for his own happiness.
After giving you semi-deep answers to prior philosophical discussions, I’m afraid I’m going to disappoint you today, Stephanie. I answer “Yes” to both questions. I have nothing disagreeable or profound to add. I accept a lot of possibilities when it comes to religion. Although my church leaders and members don’t necessarily agree with my position on things, I learned a long time ago that debating with people on religious issues (that require “faith”, meaning we don’t have proof–I’m remembering our discussion from the other day…) was just futile.
I’m glad you got the hug. And, “holy smokes” (pun intended)–your child ate a tamale!
Davida