Like Luther

 

“Why do you believe in God?”. That’s the question Michael Shermer, America’s Skeptic in Chief, asked of some 10,000 of us.** I think he hoped to show it was because we are not too bright, that we simply “cling to religion” to assuage our fear and anger and insecurity. To his surprise, the survey showed that most of us have much more intellectual and reasoned motivations for believing in God. But to my surprise, at least, it also showed that we tend to think like Shermer as to why other people, our fellow Christians, believe in God!

You see, the answers to “Why do YOU believe in God?” broke out like this:

1.The good design/natural beauty/perfection/complexity of the world or universe (Intelligent Design, essentially)
……….28.6%
2.The experience of God in everyday life
……….20.6%
3.Belief in God is comforting, relieving, consoling, and gives meaning and purpose to life (for emotional more than rational reasons)
……….10.3%
4.The Bible says so
…………9.8%
5.Just because of the need to believe in something
…………8.2%

but when the same people were asked “Why do you think OTHER people believe in God?”, their answers were:

1.Belief in God is comforting, relieving, consoling, and gives meaning and purpose to life
……….26.3%
2.Religious people have been raised to believe
……….22.4%
3.The experience of God in everyday life
……….16.2%
4.Just because of the need to believe in something
……….13.0%
5.Fear death and the unknown
…………9.1%
6.The good design….. etc.(I.D.)
…………6.0%

There’s more than just irony, here. Apparently, even when our own beliefs and faith are on solid ground, when we ourselves have considered the evidence of our own observations and personal experiences and reached a conscious, “intelligent and reasoned” decision to believe in God, we don’t so often feel that others have! We’ve come to share the critics’ attitudes: we, too, suspect that most people do not believe in God for particularly  “good” ( intellectual, reasonable – even personal experience with or of God in our lives) reasons, but do so out of weakness or lack of intelligence (i.e., they are “clinging” to religion, as Obama said in his 2008 campaign, and Karl Marx intimated when he called religion the “opiate of the masses”). We, like them, won’t even believe the testimonies of people who say they’ve actually encountered or experience God in their own lives.

The culture wars have taken their toll, won quite a bit of ground, and left us in a serious state: we don’t respect, or trust, or believe our own Christian family! We have become skeptics of each other, become one with the culture of the other side! We, whom God has given us the ears to hear, the eyes to see, and hearts to believe, we have been encultured, co-opted, all too persuaded to the naturalistic, scientific, and skeptical attitudes of the atheistic world!

That’s what I read into Schermer’s survey. 50% of us think our beliefs are sensible and intelligent, rooted in experience and rational inference from the universe we live in. (Not to to mention, of course, our reading of Scripture and what it tells us about the creation and how God speaks and relates to us.) But we do not so evaluate or respect others’! Is that really right?

Where better might I start than with my own thoughts and attitudes? Looking critically at myself I find validation of my surmise! I have to admit that I am susceptible to doubting testimonies others give about experiences with God. I don’t doubt my own, but… ! And I’m not unique! I hear many others, even pastors, immediately question – with obvious and oft-intimidating skepticism in their voice – anyone, on TV or face to face, who says “I heard God say”, or “God …. (did something)” to us. Sure, we should be wary of false claims and charlatans, anti-christs, as John would say. It’s called discernment. Wisdom. Those are good. Necessary. But that’s not exactly what we’re seeing here. I think we’re seeing something not so constructive or wise. We’re seeing a pervasive skepticism that is weakening our faith. Weakening our fellowship. Undermining our church. A certain hypocrisy that suggests we are becoming swayed by the relentless drumbeat of “the other side”.

Why? They, the atheists, are not that numerous. Sure, they are many and loud, buttressed by degrees and credentials, aided by like-minded media and a Pharisaic government … yet, all in all, they are a rather small minority. Even 30 to 40% of scientists are believers. At least 80% of the world’s peoples are believers, though not necessarily of our own faith or religion. We have no shortage of literate and talented artists and scholars and writers and … even neighbors. So why are we so … skeptical of other believers? I don’t have much in the way of answers. I can hardly presume to know whats in your mind. But I do know that it is important we look at the questions raised, here, and each take stock of our own thinking.

I do have one answer for someone who might wonder why we are so skeptical, and so easily persuaded away from belief in God. During my former atheism, that atheism, and my ability as a scientist and college teacher to undermine the faith of Christians, was largely rooted in my disbelief in Genesis 1 and 2. And after I had become a Christian, I still had a terrible time getting past Genesis. The conflict with what modern science has so ably and thoroughly argued is the history of creation was too much. I, and a lot of other well-educated (especially in the sciences) Christians, always tried to look past it, but ignoring the first two chapters of the Bible, and it’s case for God as the Creator, left us on rather shaky ground.  As it does millions of us. So I was led to re-translate Genesis 1 and 2 into modern language and in light of what we all know now of history and creation, and uncovered the unknown truth of Genesis. And at least hundreds of believers have personally expressed to me that they are relieved, encouraged, and able to enjoy, now, a peaceful co-existence with science. I encourage you to visit:www.theunknowngenesis.com

**In “Why Darwin Matters”, Henry Holt and Company, 2006. I am writing a couple of posts in my blogs in response to that book. “Why Darwin Matters … or Not” is one such.

Tags: belief, faith, genesis 1 2, God, Michael, Shermer

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