Atheist or believer, it’s still a matter of faith

I always watch with fascination when a panel or interviewer brings together an atheist and a believer.

Usually, they’re very well educated, and it always ends up being a competition rather than a sharing of different beliefs.

Of course, I’m always hoping the chosen representative of my team, The Believers, will say the things I’m thinking and win a point for our side.

But what usually follows is a steady and consistent thrashing as The Atheists pull their punches and win the day.

Their arguments often include, ‘God is for the weak minded who don’t like to face reality’, and ‘where’s the proof?’

I’m not sure if it’s my bias or a truly honest observation, but it seems to me that The Atheist becomes increasingly aggressive whilst The Believer, often a cleric, withdraws.

What’s so wrong with believing in something that embodies all the most wonderful things in life?

To the believer, we are all children of God — brothers and sisters. To the atheist, it’s survival of the fittest.

Competition, rather than harmony and unity, is how atheists choose to view the world.

Given the choice between a supernatural force which is powerful, loving and good, or nothing, the atheist chooses nothing.

But as the atheist like to assert, we have no proof of God’s existence. So, if we aren’t completely certain whether God exists, then it all comes down to a personal choice whether to believe in God or not.

In my view, an atheist must be a pessimist to choose not to believe. To close off an entire avenue of enquiry because they have no proof.

Isn’t that the point of enquiry or exploration: the search for proof?

Having no proof in no way discounts the existence of God. It simply means that for atheists the existence of God can’t be dis-proven.

And as God cannot be proven, only experienced, it seems that atheists — by there own choice — are missing out.

Not wanting to believe Something or Someone loves them unconditionally, would seem to suggest a closed heart as well as a closed mind.

The agnostic, on the other hand, remains open to the idea that something more may exist. They may not want to name it, they may not have proof, but they don’t simply close their minds completely to the possibility of the existence of something more.

For the believer that something is a Force of Goodness that wants everything for them that they want for themselves, except those things which would harm them, in body, mind or spirit.

How many of us truly experience that in this world?

My experiences of it have all involved loving, kind and giving people. Aren’t these people simply expressing the qualities the word ‘God’ embodies?

Maybe people are afraid that faith and God automatically equal religion

Religion — particularly Christianity, and more recently Islam — has accrued a fierce opposition from those who don’t want an organisation controlling what they think or threatening their way of life.

It’s as if there never was or ever will be any truth in what religion represents.

Whether to the detriment of religion itself, its followers, or what it’s supposed to uphold, the word ‘religion’ has become taboo.

The truth, for me at least, is that when I hear atheists argue their point of view, it feels full of judgement and self importance. It feels to me that they’re immediately on the defensive, needing to prove why their way of thinking is right.

The defenders, for faith in science alone, seem to become increasingly more aggressive as the ‘discussion’ progresses, and display a particularly emotional and condescending reaction to any rebuttal.

Given that they say their choice is for a rational approach to life, it’s interesting that they become so overly emotional when their belief is challenged.

Maybe that’s why the believers go quiet. It’s either defend what to them is self-evident, or have the grace to withdraw.

The experience of God

Either way, I’m always left thinking that there’s evidence to support the existence of God.

It all comes down to a choice in the language we use and, of course, how we define ‘God’.

And that is a whole discussion of its own.

But there is consistency, which can be found throughout history, contained within all religions: a belief in a higher power or powers, as well as the same underlying universal truths.

The fact that belief in God — or Gods — has endured since the beginning of time, is evidence enough to suggest the presence of truth.

And then there are the ascetics, mystics and sages over recorded history, who share and talk about common experiences. Their language is about subtle experiences, something only those with a subtle mind are able to perceive and understand.

They don’t attain it through defending what they believe but through a graceful surrender to it. They accept what grace offers them and use it to serve God and their fellow man.

Often they themselves have been disillusioned with their own religion and have chosen asceticism as an alternative. We read that they were often tested, sometimes with very difficult challenges.

But the one, common jewel they each continued to possess was their faith in God.

They may have had different experiences of how their faith manifested as grace in their lives: visions, messages from the divine, healing gifts, or enlightenment — the awakening to the awareness of truth.

Science: replacing religion with … religion

On the other hand, science, the world’s new universal religion, is always proving itself wrong. What we believed 10 years ago, science has now found invalid because of its newest discovery…

Medicine is always changing. Yet the body it’s trying to understand remains the same.

Medicine will, sadly, never have all the answers because of one simple fact: human beings do not understand how the human body was designed.

All other mechanics in this world have the ultimate advantage over our most revered: they hold a copy of the design for the machine they’re required to understand and repair.

For all the advances the scientific communities have achieved, I wonder if they can ever acknowledge that they’re missing the one essential foundation to become masters of the universe.

The blueprint.

That’s not to say I don’t appreciate all the wonderful things science contributes to my experience of life. I do.

I admire the skill, the dedication and commitment to their calling, each of these wonderfully unique human beings apply to their scientific pursuits. I respect their minds and their discipline.

But isn’t it just their faith in science to provide the truth they seek, that keeps them searching for it there?

Atheist or believer, we’re all seeking truth

The belief in God is simply the belief in truth.

We, the faithful, are just looking toward what we believe to be truth’s source for all our answers.

God.

Instead of trying to prove why what we each believe is right, maybe we could all just share what we believe and appreciate the diversity each other offers.

So, no matter where it is you are looking, if you are in search of the truth may I now offer you this blessing:

With all my love
Karen x

Image credit: Gopal Venkatesan