Monday, May 5, 2008

On Community

I am reflecting on the lack of community Atheism provides. It is one of the only complaints I have with Atheism, the need to reach out I have an connect with like-minded individuals is a strong one, evolved into us over time. This is particularly difficult as it generally bars me from joining a church, as I am placing an emphasis on like minded.
There is a need of course for us to expose ourselves to people who are not like-minded. It happens in the every day world, we read about those individuals in the media and they are sometimes our leaders and politicians, co-workers and bosses. Dealing exclusively with people who think like you can not only inhibit your development socially but can cause you to completely lose the ability to maintain contact with the rest of the human race.
Imagine if everyone who was religious disappeared off the face of the planet- imagine if everyone who thought radically diffrent things(I'm not talking about minor differences of opinion, I'm talking about major philosophic diffrences) was simply removed from your life- how empty it would be, how few people you would encounter from day to day?
This of course imagines a very desolate world indeed, as most of the population differs from you. A better analogy would be if you suddenly and abruptly became allergic to everyone who considered themselves religious. You would become completely unable to function in the outside world. You would not be able to go to the store, most likely not able to to go work, couldn't order things over the telephone or speak to customer service agents, or engage in any activity that might endanger you by having the possibility of casual talk. This of course is an impossible scenerio however it is similar to the one you might face as a dreaded "Angry Atheist", someone who takes any chance they get to berate and belittle someone who they believe is of "inferior" faith.
Of course, I'd love to be right all the time. I'd love it if I could just tell everyone who was a believer "Oh, I'm sorry you wasted all this time, but it seems you are incorrect" and watch the light of reason dawn on their face as they thank me for their enlightenment. This is unfortunately, impossible. Due to the nature of the human mind, variance is so great that not everyone can think like you. Human experience shapes our minds so much that what comes in through our various senses is generally the same, but through all the filters and lenses and additives and omissions we have to sort through, some of us are incapable of reaching the same conclusion others are capable of reaching. This is not to say on either side that certain experiences result in the right answer, but merely that the lens of human experience that we all look through is imperfect, and nearly impossible to discard when judging things such as philosophy and matters of the heart.
I personally, simply cannot come to the conclusion that the bible is anything but a very old book that's been preserved, rewritten, translated into languages that it was never meant to be translated into, edited, added, subtracted, misquoted, taken out of context, and finally made to fit into a place that is far from it's original location, often poorly done. This is because of my experience with science, my particular brand of common sense, my sensibilities and my emotions.
I've read parts of the bible, most of it makes no sense, repeats itself many times for no discernible reason, and means nothing to me or my life. This is what I believe and it's not particularly likely to change any time soon.
My experience however, especially with living in north Texas, is that most Christians seem to think that I have simply not done my research. I have not read that magic amount of the bible, in the right places, that ties it all together to make sense, proves its authenticity and comes into the context of the 21st century. This is difficult however to explain(i.e. the fact that I don't start out with the assumption that the bible is automatically true) and thus I get scripture quoted to me more often than not, generally something to either scare me or entice me with potential rewards.
These things are not the basis for my choosing to believe something.
I do not choose to believe something because I am afraid of something. I do not choose to believe something because I think that if I do it, I will be rewarded somehow, or because I think it will make me happier or make me feel better.
I choose to believe something because it stands on it's own merit. I choose to believe it because there is enough evidence that it stands by itself, only supported by previous established knowledge.
This is the creed of the Atheist, and it is my creed. I pay an unfair price, the sacrifice of community, but I simply cannot pretend to believe something to go with the flow, to become a part of the group or get along with someone better.