Popular Atheism.

 

 Popular Atheism.

Until about a hundred years ago, people didn’t doubt the existence of God. Every human was born into a nation, a race, and the religion of his or her parents, never questioning why, or if, they could change it. A new world was shaping up. It was ordained by the hand of God, said some, while others had other ideas. They learned all the new ideas about science and concluded that humans have outgrown the idea of God. We were adults now and don’t need stories from desert tribes that existed thousands of years ago.

By the time I started university as a mature student, the world changed. Professors in every subject were poking fun at anyone who was primitive enough to believe in a “sky God”, whose existence could not be proven with scientific tests. Just mentioning God on a test could lower my grades. For thousands of years, God was as real as the ground we walk on and now He was not to be mentioned. People always look for reasons to discriminate against others, and now there was another reason. Those who believed in God were considered backward, uneducated crowds.

Using science as a new religion lasted for a while, but it was persistently challenged by an old idea that is embedded in human nature and can not easily be discarded. Yes, we were discovering how the world works, but most people believe in some sort of duality. There are two parts to a human animal. The physical or material animal part that is finite, and a spiritual invisible aspect that we are sure exists but can’t be measured or proven by physical means. It exists in beliefs and has many expressions under many religious names. There are fundamentalists in each religion.

The fundamentalists like to quote scripture, wear religious symbols and give themselves distinguished titles such as “clergy, prophets, elders,” or numerous other names, yet others seek pure spirituality. That is a belief in a reality based on consciousness. According to them, the physical body undergoes recycling, but the soul or individual attributes are eternal. Although I practice the religion I was born into, I believe in spirituality. It is misunderstood, but the idea resonates with me.

My consciousness was somewhere before I was born. A new life started, and I was given the opportunity to gain knowledge. There is a reality that I am unable to perceive in this physical life, but my brain knows it. Upon my death, the “curtain will be torn” and I will know what now I don’t. If I would have been born to another religion, it would be similar but not the same. In my opinion, the human brain, a chunk of fat with memories and computing power, is like a TV at home. It communicates with something invisible to us and forms a reality that physically is not there. The destruction of my TV set does not affect the station that broadcasts the program.

It’s not cool to talk about God, but people can’t stop doing it. As the years went by, much effort and thought went into brain research and there is a renewed interest in spirituality. People realize, or assume they do, that there is a mind in the universe and it is superior to our individual minds. It is so different that human language doesn’t have the words to explain it properly. We have to go by intuition. One thing that modern philosophers agree on is that God is not an all-powerful ruler, but a concerned creator. The crowd of today approaches the study of faith from many new angles.

Some followers are ready to fight for their idea of God. Others pick and choose what they want their God to be. Many believe that God is making them superior to other human beings and giving them benefits. Some Eastern religions believe they are born into a privileged position in life. There are people who charge others to tell them what they wish to believe. In my opinion, the difference between religions is cultural. The need for spirituality is universal.

I studied modern experts’ opinions. They often talk about the feeling of spirituality from the sub-conscience side. Subconscience is smarter than conscience and does more for us. It guides us on a need-to-know basis, as a parent guides a child. It even seems to know the future if you believe in intuition. I do. Others study dreams, which played a big part in the origins of religions. One philosopher said that each day could be a lifetime, and after death, we may wake up for another day as we always do. It reminds me of the song, One Day at the Time, sweet Jesus. A Muslim scholar said that we are all Muslims, which means servants of God. I agree with the ecumenical principle expressed, but think that God views us as a family more than servants, but perhaps after we mature a little more. We should accept science and go beyond it.

The test of maturity seems to be upon us, if we like it or not. Most people believe we may destroy our home world or make it uninhabitable. We may only destroy billions of poor people. Against that belief is a set of stories designed to prolong the danger for a few people’s personal monetary gain.