The conflict between believers and non-believers wriggles through many twists and turns, but settles down when you step back to take in the wider view.
By James Terminiello
An intriguing Pew Research Center study reports that 22.8 percent of Americans describe themselves as atheist, agnostic or "nothing in particular."
For believers, this bit of data on the rise of non-believers can only be described as God-awful. What I find most puzzling is that so many seem so certain of their "facts." As a natural skeptic, incapable of certainty either way -- particularly in the face of no tangible proof -- I think it is useful to look at how these two contending groups match up.
The apparent rise in atheistic or non-belief can be traced to many causes, but two are prominent in the current climate.
First, science is regularly debunking many mysteries once held as proof of the existence of a higher power. On the mathematical fringe of science, theorists grapple to prove that the universe sprang into existence literally out of nothing via "quantum fluctuations" -- no god or other supernatural agent required. My ape brain has had its own quantum fluctuations trying to grasp this concept, but chunkier minds than mine assure me that the theory has some merit.
The second cause for atheism's ascendancy is the many and varied depravations of those who purport to practice religion -- from the child abuse inflicted by priests, rabbis and other leaders, to the beheadings, bombings and butchery done in the name of Islam throughout the Middle East and beyond. Sheer disgust has compelled many to turn away. Then again, this is the work of humans, not gods.
I would add a third cause. Our planet is befuddled by battalions of conflicting, man-written, religious rules. Believers in specific religious variants often regard those outside their circle with distain. This attitude begs the question: Why would a benevolent supreme being plague us with so many feuding interpretations?
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Atheists delightfully catalogue the many warts of religion and religious organizations. The faithful point out that these are human failings, not the work of a deity. Non-believers point to the ultimate folly of belief in a god in the sky whose existence cannot be proven by scientific method.
It is quite phenomenal that you cannot point to a spot on the globe where some form of religious faith has not taken root. From a far-flung island community of maybe a couple of hundred to the billions of Christians, the need to believe seems to be fundamental to humanity.
Atheists argue that the longing for a father/mother god-figure with the power to make things all better is a vestige of humanity's childhood. Certainly, it is comforting to think that there is a grand final arbiter out there who will administer justice, vanquish the wicked and honor the good. Why should such a force not be a god?
Then, there is the belief in an afterlife. The empty, post-life, nothingness presented by atheism is depressing. Religions offer a wide variety of afterlife alternatives, all of which include a far greater something than the dark void of atheism.
Atheists argue that the no-afterlife message is to live your only life to the fullest and make an impact while you are still wrapped in that mortal coil. Any immortality you achieve will be the result of how well the living remember you.
There is a degree of bravery that you have to respect in the committed atheist. The promise of an afterlife offers a degree of serenity that an atheist would struggle to achieve.
Atheists believe, sometimes with a whiff of smugness, that their position is the conclusion of the well-examined life. In their view, a true thinker cannot fail to deduce that God is an illusion. Religious thinkers would counter that the totality of the human compulsion to seek and experience the divine cannot be the result of a mere childish yearning or basic biochemistry. There must be more to this amazingly complex universe -- and that "more" is God.
The conflict between believers and non-believers wriggles through many twists and turns, but settles down when you step back to take in the wider view. Both sides have their facts. Both sides have their theories. One side sees no proof and deduces absence. The other sees faith as the winning challenger to the need for proof and stands stoutly for the divine.
Placed side by side, neither can claim certainty. As one of the uncertain, I am impressed that so many can embrace their convictions with such fervor. Settle down, folks. For all the books, laws, theories and revelations, we really, really don't know.
Strangely enough, in the absence of certainty, both the atheist and the true believer have taken their own version of the leap of faith.
Ah ha! Convergence, at last.
James Terminiello writes from Glassboro.
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