So, after a long time thinking about it, I decided to create a space for myself where I can think out loud and ruminate on my spiritual journey. The title of this blog, Altheia, is the Greek word for reality. Anyone who knows me will clue in to why I've chosen that for the title, given my recent journey into Atheism, but it should become obvious soon enough.
This space is primarily for me to voice my thoughts on what being an Atheist means for me, and how that relates to my Spirituality and my relationship to Religion. For starters, I'm probably going to satisfy no one: the Atheists will likely call me a Theist and the Theists vice versa, but you can't please everyone can you? I identify strongly with Religious Naturalism: that is Naturalism as it relates to religious belief and practice. Most Atheists, especially anti-theists and New Atheists, would find such a connection to be untenable, but I believe firmly and strongly that not only is it possible for an Atheist to have a spirituality and hold spiritual beliefs, it is also possible to be a Religious Atheist, which I identify as.
And now I can hear you saying, "Wait a second Mike, you lost me there, go back!"
How is this possible you ask? Let's take a look at how Religious Naturalists define the term religious according to Wikipedia:
"Religious naturalists use the term “religious” to refer to an attitude - of being appreciative of and interested in concerns that have long been parts of religions.[13] [14] These include:[15]
A spiritual sense (which may include a sense of mystery or wonder or feelings of reverence or awe in response to the scope and power and beauty of the natural world)
A moral sense (with compassion, desire for justice, and attempts to do what is right – with respect to other people, other creatures, and the natural environment)"
I agree with this definition but take it a few steps further: for me, when I am say I am religious, my religion is a purely emotional response based on my emotional wants and needs as a human being. I partake in religious rituals at a Christian Church, but modify the language in my own head to accommodate my spirituality because I want to. I also believe that as a human being I am hard wired for rituals on an evolutionary and biological level, religious or otherwise.
Not only do I experience wonder when encountering nature and the universe, I use language of sacredness and holiness, even divinity in some broader context, to describe how I view them. To me, Reality (Althea) is profound, holy, sacred and just so plain awesome that I choose to worship it. When I say worship it, I mean not only praising it through speech and rituals and even saying a prayer of thanks to the Universe (even though I'm certain that the Universe can't and won't respond back to me), but also the act of worship as cultivation and preservation.
In Ancient Near Eastern religions, when one worshiped a deity, it was thought that you were cultivating the divine presence, preserving the god and keeping it alive if you wish via the ritual, in simple terms. I grew up throughout most of my life as a devout Christian, specifically Roman Catholic. In Catholic theology as it relates to the Eucharist, communion is seen as a ritual in the Near eastern sense: a ritual that cultivates God's presence and keeps him present in the world.
I took this idea and transferred it over to my spirituality: for me, taking care of others, caring for human beings and the planet, is an act of worship precisely because I am helping to keep the universe around, and that for me includes its sacredness. Therefore, the moral sense of Religious Naturalism is central to my core concept of worship.
Some of you may already begin to see lines beginning to blur here: if I worship the Universe, and the Universe and the Sacred are one and the same for me, aren't I a Pantheist then and not an Atheist? The answer is both, since Pantheism includes both Theistic and Atheistic variants. For me Atheist conceptions of Religious Naturalism and Pantheism are the same thing: I'm happy to have either label applied to myself.
I've talked about what it means to be spiritual and religious as an Atheist, but what is my definition of Atheism and Non Belief? What do I squarely not believe in? I would say that I firmly do not believe in the following:
1. The concept of the supernatural: there is no such thing. All levels of reality, whether they are perceivable by human beings or not (and here I refer to the dimension past the first three which we as three dimensional beings cannot experience but know are there thanks to mathematics and Quantum physics), are part of the natural world. There is only the natural world, for the more we learn about it, the bigger it and our understanding of Science becomes.
2. The concept of a personal, intelligent, sentient God: I do not believe in God by any of the traditional definitions. It may be possible in theory for one to exist, but so far I have not seen any credible evidence to suggest that there is one. As far as most people would define God, I would say there is none.
3. The concept of a Creator God: I believe that there is evidence to show that a God is not needed to create this Universe. Recent evidence has suggested that the view of the Big Bang as the start of the Universe may in fact be wrong. Via Quantum equations, the evidence would seem to suggest that the existence of our Universe can be explained at the Quantum level without any need for a deity.
For someone for whom Christianity was a big part of their life for close to thirty years, it would probably make sense that I'm trying to find ways of being an Atheist while still being religious. This blog seeks to discuss many topics, and among some of the things I hope to cover are the following:
1. Religious Naturalism and its relationship to Atheism
2. The New Theism (a variant of Religious Naturalism) and its relationship to both traditional Theism and Atheism
3. Anti-theism and whether it is possible to be respectful of Theism and religious faith while still advocating Atheistic views honestly and openly
4. Worshiping as an Atheist in a Christian Church
5. Neurotheology i.e. the relationship between the brain, science and religious experiences
6. God and use of God language in regards to impersonal concepts and natural forces (i.e. God as creativity or an anti-entropic set of forces within the Universe)
At the end of it all, I hope this can be a place where both non believers and believers, Theists, Atheists, Agnostics, Skeptics and the like can come together and discuss these ideas. I want to cultivate a space not only where we can speak openly and freely about our beliefs, but also doing so in manner that is above all respectful of each other's positions (and as I said above that's a topic in and of itself).
Some of you may agree with my self identification as an Atheist. Some of you may not and may consider me to be a Theist in denial, but that's okay too. At the end of the day I remain myself and continue on this journey. Hopefully some of you will come along for the ride!
May the odds be ever in your favour (or not, depending on what they are),
Mike
