I was asked by a friend whether I rejected Christianity, or rejected specific Christians after my post http://tamethemonkeymind.blogspot.com/2008/04/am-i-christian.html.
It was the feeling that Christianity has been hijacked by people who, in my opinion, are less then wise. Their bigoted, homophobic view of the gay community, the rejection of science and all other ways of being other then their own started me thinking. I recognize that there are narrow minded, bigoted zealots in every faith. I recognize that all ways of knowing can be misused. Evolution as an explanation for the origin of species is not diminished because it was misused as Social Darwinism. E=MC^2 is not any less an explanation of the unity of matter and energy simply because it gives us the knowledge to make nuclear weapons.
So the fact that there are small, ignorant or sinful people of any given faith does not, by itself, give one reason to reject all that is good in that faith. It does, however, give one pause.
However, the Bible is diminished as metaphor or allegory –as a religious truth - because it also condones practices that are manifestly sinful. Several Old Testament books contains rules for the buying and selling of slaves (e.g. Exodus 21:1-4, Deuteronomy 15:12-18). Indeed, Leviticus 25:44-46 seems to allow me to buy and sell Canadians, but not, say the French. Saint Paul and Saint Peter both direct slaves to obey their masters, even if they are cruel (1 Peter 2:18, Ephesians 6:5-8).
It is clear that our sense of what is moral, right and just must evolve as our understanding evolves. “Give me that Old Time Religion” can never work as theology. You end up, to quote Joseph Campbell, with:
Give me mighty Aphrodite!
Give me mighty Aphrodite!
She only wore a nighty,
but she’s good enough for me!
We must always think. We must always re-consider established truths. If we accept that God does not suspend the laws of physics, then we know it was impossible for, say, Joshua to stop the rotation of the sun to stop moving – more precisely to stop the rotation of the earth – so he could win a battle.
None of this means that the Bible does not serve as valid metaphor. Most faiths have what those outside those faiths would consider tall tales, used as metaphor for explaining the unexplainable or for making the infinite comprehensible to human minds.
However it is one central teaching of Christianity that I began to question and ultimately rejected – Jesus died and came back to life is an absolute, incontrovertible fact. To apply my own personal experience and the observations of countless others, inanimate matter – as in dead bodies – does not come back to life. So, to be a Christian, I must accept that God suspended the laws of nature. I find this to be impossible.
I also have noted that I increasingly find Christianity too small. A second central teaching of Christianity is that God sent his only son here, to earth, to save humans. If there are other sentient beings in the universe, as there surely are, they are either damned or have no soul. I can not accept this anthropomorphic view. Moreover some, but not all Christians believe that only those who believe in Jesus as Christ or who are born again can be saved. Aside from the logical conclusion that those who lived before Jesus are by definition damned, including Moses, Abraham, Joseph, Amos, Elijah, Joshua, etc…, we are again forced to damn anyone who does not agree with a narrow view of the world. I can not accept this.
So, I am clearly no longer a Christian.
Showing posts with label Theology. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Theology. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
On the attraction to Buddhism
On the attraction to Buddhism
As a history geek, I was not aware of any attempt, ever, to spread Buddhism by force. I am also not aware of any significant attempts to enforce Buddhist “orthodoxy” by force.
Imagine, for example, an “enlightenment crusade”
“Accept the 8 fold path to end the cycle of death and rebirth or die and… be reborn!
Does not make much sense I think.
Imagine a Zen inquisition – saffron robed monks standing over a torture victim stretched on a rack screaming
“WHAT IS THE SOUND OF ONE HAND CLAPPING?”
“It is NOT NOTHING! Get Dick Cheney and we’ll water-board him!”
Somehow, I do not see that.
As a history geek, I was not aware of any attempt, ever, to spread Buddhism by force. I am also not aware of any significant attempts to enforce Buddhist “orthodoxy” by force.
Imagine, for example, an “enlightenment crusade”
“Accept the 8 fold path to end the cycle of death and rebirth or die and… be reborn!
Does not make much sense I think.
Imagine a Zen inquisition – saffron robed monks standing over a torture victim stretched on a rack screaming
“WHAT IS THE SOUND OF ONE HAND CLAPPING?”
“It is NOT NOTHING! Get Dick Cheney and we’ll water-board him!”
Somehow, I do not see that.
Am I a Christian?
Am I a Christian?
In an attempt to review why I am rejecting Christianity and considering a conversion to Buddhism, the need to get my own thoughts in order and a decent respect for the opinion of others who care for me requires that I set forth the reasoning. It would not be well to start my voyage on the great vehicle with an unskillful act.
For background it might be helpful if one is familiar with these books, as these started my thoughts moving in this direction:
Joseph Campbell and Bill Moyers: Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth
Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan: The Varieties of Scientific Experience: A Personal View of the Search for God
Thomas Merton: Zen and the Birds of Appetite
Thomas Merton: New Seeds of Contemplation
His Holiness the Dali Lama: The Art of Happiness: A Handbook for Living
Thich Nhat Hanh: Anger
Thich Nhat Hanh: Living Buddha, Living Christ
Terry Pratchett: Small Gods
Monty Python: The Insignificance Song
I have also listened to a number of talks by Mr. Campbell.
This journey started with a point made by Joseph Campbell. To paraphrase, he pointed to a basic difference between Christianity and Eastern religions. In the Buddhist and Hindu traditions, we all have divinity within us. In that sense, we are all children of God – it would be our Buddha nature. In Christian traditions, there is one and only one child of God, Jesus of Nazareth.
I did not believe in one and only one child of God, but, as Mr. Campbell pointed out, that only made me a heretic, not a non-believer. I began to think of Jesus as a Bodhisattva and therefore human.
I also gave thought to the Trinity. I have never accepted the idea of a triune God. I thought of the Trinity as a construct, similar to the constructs I used on a regular basis in the study of subjects like quantum mechanics or advanced mathematics. It was a model to allow finite humans to understand the infinite, in the same way that probability electron clouds were a construct for understanding quantum states of electrons.
A series of experiences then intruded to cement my rejection of Christianity.
First, I worked at Compassion International. They are a wonderful group of people doing great work to alleviate child poverty. They are sincere. They practice what they preach for the most part. I now support and will continue to support a child through their programs. However, I heard a number of people who called themselves Christian were simply very small in their thinking. They are biblical literalists, who thought the earth 6,000 years old. They had no concept of the infinite (or close to) nature of the universe, space and time. They rejected all scientific understanding of the world where it conflicted with a literal reading of the Bible. They routinely invoked God’s will or divine intervention in the most random of acts. They believed that only those who think as they do would be saved. In short, they worshipped a small god bound to the earth, not the creator of the universe in all its grandeur. Instead, they truly believed that all truth concerning biology, physics, geology and chemistry were revealed to bronze age sheppards in the near east. I was truly turned off by the displays of staggering ignorance I heard there.
Second, I read Carl Sagan’s book. He put forth a simple question. To paraphrase, it was “In your experience, does God suspend the laws of nature to perform miracles, or do people lie or misinterpret experiences?” In truth, my experience is the later.
Third, I rejected the dual nature inherent in the Abrahamic faiths. I did not accept the duality of person and spirit, God and nature, form and substance, etc. I know that the denomination I belonged to, the United Church of Christ, did not accept some of the more extreme forms (e.g. transubstantiation) but the duality underlies much of these beliefs.
This Easter, with all my doubts and my increasing lack of faith to hear our minister (a man whom I hold in very high esteem and respect) proclaim “The Lord is risen!” To which we were t respond “The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia!” I should add he had us doing this in Greek, but I will not attempt to spell that now.
I could not utter the words. I did not believe them to be true. When Jesus died, that was it; he was dead. With the rejection of this central tenet, I realized I was no longer a Christian.
In an attempt to review why I am rejecting Christianity and considering a conversion to Buddhism, the need to get my own thoughts in order and a decent respect for the opinion of others who care for me requires that I set forth the reasoning. It would not be well to start my voyage on the great vehicle with an unskillful act.
For background it might be helpful if one is familiar with these books, as these started my thoughts moving in this direction:
Joseph Campbell and Bill Moyers: Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth
Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan: The Varieties of Scientific Experience: A Personal View of the Search for God
Thomas Merton: Zen and the Birds of Appetite
Thomas Merton: New Seeds of Contemplation
His Holiness the Dali Lama: The Art of Happiness: A Handbook for Living
Thich Nhat Hanh: Anger
Thich Nhat Hanh: Living Buddha, Living Christ
Terry Pratchett: Small Gods
Monty Python: The Insignificance Song
I have also listened to a number of talks by Mr. Campbell.
This journey started with a point made by Joseph Campbell. To paraphrase, he pointed to a basic difference between Christianity and Eastern religions. In the Buddhist and Hindu traditions, we all have divinity within us. In that sense, we are all children of God – it would be our Buddha nature. In Christian traditions, there is one and only one child of God, Jesus of Nazareth.
I did not believe in one and only one child of God, but, as Mr. Campbell pointed out, that only made me a heretic, not a non-believer. I began to think of Jesus as a Bodhisattva and therefore human.
I also gave thought to the Trinity. I have never accepted the idea of a triune God. I thought of the Trinity as a construct, similar to the constructs I used on a regular basis in the study of subjects like quantum mechanics or advanced mathematics. It was a model to allow finite humans to understand the infinite, in the same way that probability electron clouds were a construct for understanding quantum states of electrons.
A series of experiences then intruded to cement my rejection of Christianity.
First, I worked at Compassion International. They are a wonderful group of people doing great work to alleviate child poverty. They are sincere. They practice what they preach for the most part. I now support and will continue to support a child through their programs. However, I heard a number of people who called themselves Christian were simply very small in their thinking. They are biblical literalists, who thought the earth 6,000 years old. They had no concept of the infinite (or close to) nature of the universe, space and time. They rejected all scientific understanding of the world where it conflicted with a literal reading of the Bible. They routinely invoked God’s will or divine intervention in the most random of acts. They believed that only those who think as they do would be saved. In short, they worshipped a small god bound to the earth, not the creator of the universe in all its grandeur. Instead, they truly believed that all truth concerning biology, physics, geology and chemistry were revealed to bronze age sheppards in the near east. I was truly turned off by the displays of staggering ignorance I heard there.
Second, I read Carl Sagan’s book. He put forth a simple question. To paraphrase, it was “In your experience, does God suspend the laws of nature to perform miracles, or do people lie or misinterpret experiences?” In truth, my experience is the later.
Third, I rejected the dual nature inherent in the Abrahamic faiths. I did not accept the duality of person and spirit, God and nature, form and substance, etc. I know that the denomination I belonged to, the United Church of Christ, did not accept some of the more extreme forms (e.g. transubstantiation) but the duality underlies much of these beliefs.
This Easter, with all my doubts and my increasing lack of faith to hear our minister (a man whom I hold in very high esteem and respect) proclaim “The Lord is risen!” To which we were t respond “The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia!” I should add he had us doing this in Greek, but I will not attempt to spell that now.
I could not utter the words. I did not believe them to be true. When Jesus died, that was it; he was dead. With the rejection of this central tenet, I realized I was no longer a Christian.
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