If you’ve ever watched the Flintstones, you know all about Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm. Not only cute kids but they wrote a smash hit single that went: Let the sunshine in. Let the sunshine in. Open up your heart and let the sunshine in.
This represents the way many feel about their God. They connect by opening up their hearts, and it goes with something a friend once told me. I asked why religious people never smoke dope. He said, “Because they’re stoned all the time.”
Not everyone gets high using this method. Some get downright incensed at the sound of religion. Few of America’s founding fathers had time for faith and Jefferson once cut up a Bible, threw away all the bad parts, and glued it back together in accordance with his own views. Anger against the church is nothing new but atheists take it to a new level. Not only do they disrespect religion, they don’t believe in God.
Protractor
Before getting to non-believers, we need a definition since all sorts of people believe all sorts of things. Let’s use a protractor.
There are six types of people. Fundamentalists are strict believers who take their faith literally; progressives are big on religion while open to discussion; lights are into faith, but not that heavy; deists believe in God but not religion; agnostics neither believe nor disbelieve; and atheists say both God and religion are a crock. So there you have it. From big God to no God, we have a wide variety of personalities. And most atheists aren’t atheists at all—they’re actually deists.
Christianity
Like most religions, Christianity is comprised of four parts. And not all followers buy in.
- Philosophy – along with Paul’s letters to the Romans, much of Catholic doctrine was inspired by Plato and written by a man named Saint Augustine. And though it’s changed over the years, this philosophy has always addressed the issue of ethics and the mysteries of life.
- Rules – initially based on Roman law (which came from strict Jewish tradition), the rules also changed over time but today, they’re certainly not for everyone.
- Story – if you think of Christianity as a business, the story is its marketing department. They added miracles to impress past-day people into buying into this system. Could it all be true? Possibly, but it goes without saying that not everyone agrees.
- Implementation – not only was religion rolled out once devised, leaders also had to worry about market share (wars and crusades) and day-to-day operations. It’s from these last two that the many “man made” scars have been inflicted. But let’s be honest, this system also brought much good into the world. Good performed by those who found beauty in this faith.
That’s religion in a nutshell. Some revel in the whole package (fundamentalists who get stoned) while others take a lighter approach (most Canadian Catholics). And it’s the position of “lights” that atheists may find intriguing. You see, atheists come in three pasts: they’ve either had a lousy life (original definition), were raised with faith and broke away, or weren’t raised with religion at all and could never buy in.
Comedian Jimmy Carr calls it an epiphany when you break free from faith, which of course is ironic since an epiphany is supposed to be a religious experience. What he doesn’t say is it’s only the first one. There are at least two more. One, that recognizes the church was very much a necessity and damn fine idea. And two, that the world still needs religion. It needed it back then and needs it today. Maybe we’ll evolve to where culture no longer requires it, but I believe this change is happening way too fast and people aren’t ready for what they’re creating.
Reason and imagination
If you don’t like faith, we have two more choices. Reason is brought to us by Plato and Pythagoras — the master of math. Plus Carl Jung, who is the second most influential psychologist next to Freud. They can all prove it.
Everyone knows Aristotle studied under Plato, but Plato studied under Pythagoras for ten years. Pythagoras was the world’s first genius at mathematics. He believed through mathematics and knowing the stars you could definitely prove the existence of God. As a matter of fact, one of only two perfect IQ scores said the same thing. About 30 years ago, he gave up all material interest and went about concentrating on such proof.
Pythagoras felt it was through incrementations found in music and measurements in the sky. He said this universe is far too precise to have been created without order. It’s the manifestation of order. And Plato insisted that any serious study of philosophy include the area of astronomy. He said they go together. “As above, so below.” Pretty serious players say it’s all real and we’ll leave it at that.
But if math isn’t your ticket, let’s talk imagination. Imagination is what occurs when you realize human fragility. That not only can your bones be crushed in an instant so can your hope. And that having a god is the best psychological medicine one can take. The finest thing the Protestant Reformation gave us was the ability to hold a personal god. It’s great. You can make yours whomever you wish. So if nothing else fits, make one up. The question isn’t who is God and what does She want from me, the question is what should it be? This is My God.
Summary
You don’t need a creator when things are going well and you’re on top of a mountain. You need God for the valleys when things are going rough. To stop you from jumping into the lake ‘cause life really sucks. That’s why my favourite story from the Bible is when God takes a walk with us along the sand. The person he is telling asks, “But Lord, sometimes there is only one set of footprints. Is that when thou hast forsaken me?” And God says, “No, you idiot. That’s when I carried you.”
There are three paths to the father: faith, reason, or imagination—and they all start the same. Open up your heart and let the sunshine in.