The following continues the serialization of Chapter 5 on Religion from SIMPLE SOLUTIONS for Humanity:
Neo Atheists
There is a softer, more humanistic, middle-ground within atheism. On one extreme is anti-theist Christopher Hitchens, who wants to banish God. At the other is Harvard Humanist Chaplin, Greg Epstein, who has zero belief in god or atheism, but nevertheless seeks the best in religion. He advocates being good and living well without god. While there is a lot to applaud in the clarity of atheist fundamentalist Hitchens, I feel more in tune with the humanistic atheism concept.
Yet, damned if you’re vitriolic and damned if you’re nice, for filmmaker Brian Flemming, in his movie, The God Who Wasn’t There—which included interviews with Dawkins and Harris, and is said to be the religion equivalent to fast foods and Supersize Me— in his weblog published a comment by R. Joseph Hoffman (Harvard graduate mentioned earlier with the Center for Inquiry in New York) that Epstein was just a secular rabbi who has never published a book nor held a faculty position anywhere, who is shamelessly playing the prejudice card. Hoffman further stated that the Harvard Divinity School would be scandalized at the “cynical misappropriation of the University’s national reputation as a way of bottling humanism.” He could have further added former lead singer of the rock band called Sugar Pill and the person who in 2007 presided over the “coming out” ceremony of Representative Pete Stark (D-California), the first member of Congress who acknowledged that he did not believe in God. THE FIRST ONE TO DO THIS! But, then, Congressman Stark is 75 and has no plans to run for the Presidency. Atheists can attain high office in Europe, but cannot get elected in America.
A movie based on noted religious skeptic Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials is The Golden Compass (TGC), starring Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig, which resulted in a boycott crusade by the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, claiming the film was selling atheism to children. TGC provides the other side of the story from C.S. Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia, which now has a sequel, Prince Caspian, as soon, too, will TGC. Chances are, any child, and most adults, will, in their vicarious way, enjoy both series, and come away in much the same way as after seeing any Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings or Star Wars movie. But, now that I’ve told you that the Magisterium in TGC is the Catholic Church, that might change your viewpoint.
You can take oppositional stands, but this philosophical interface of Humanistic Muslims, Humanistic Christians, etc., call them Neo Atheists, who, while they don’t believe in god, might well be the core to someday unite religion, for theirs is an embracing philosophy. Let me, thus, backtrack a step and now become a neo atheist. Our group might even partner with agnostics, who are skeptics and freethinkers, thus, open to sound logic. In combination, then, also with those who have lost faith and religious leaders who are willing to compromise and cooperate for long-term common good, there is something represented by these new atheists that can contribute to the Golden Evolution.
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Jessica Watson arrived at the Sydney Opera House yesterday. On her 210-day adventure at sea she ate 32 cans of Spam. Her blog gets 400,000 hits/day.
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When reference is made to "God" (with a capital "G"), it is generally understood to mean a personal god that has a personality and/or physical form whom one can pray to, be in fear of, and/or feel protected or comforted by. Primarily, this is a Christian construct, and therefore refers to the God of Moses, and also to the God incarnated as Jesus. These Christian concepts are rather limited avatars for what sentient people yearn to express when they refer to a "Supreme Being", "Great Spirit", "The Universe" or "The Force". Personally, I prefer the Mongol concept of the "Everlasting Blue Sky" as coming closest to what a person can experience on a daily physical level as reverence for what is truly "God".
I started serializing my Chapter 5 on Religion late last year. Clearly, the nature of god varies among religions and cultures. While my books embrace the entire planet and global society, much of my feelings remain American. While even in our country the definition of god can run the gamut, there is is an overwhelming sense of this grandfatherly guy up there watching over us. I thus had to make an analogy between God and Santa Claus, as depicted in my 4January10 blog http://planetearthandhumanity.blogspot.com/2010/01/golden-evolution-part-6.html). There is something about religion, though, that prevents or eludes the normal analytical process of maturation. I haven't quite figured out what that is, although almost 90% of Americans would tell me to have faith and just believe.
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