I am sitting in Oregon, adoring the all-too-brief bouts of sunshine interrupting the more extended periods of drizzle. The sky is clouded, as it apparently often is in this part of the world, and for the first time in a while I feel like the least hipster person in the room.
I am here because I was invited to speak for the University of Oregon's Alliance of Happy Atheists (UO AHA). After my speech, they gave me their first annual "Happy Heathen!" Award and to celebrate, I joined a group of students for dinner. At one point during our dinner conversation I admitted to loving the television program Doctor Who. At least half of the group cheered in agreement, and we proceeded to relish in our shared adoration for the time-and-space-traveling science fiction show.
One of my favorite episodes from last year's season of Doctor Who found the doctor and his companion battling an invisible creature that was terrorizing Vincent Van Gogh. It may sound bizarre, but it was actually a beautiful story that explored both the loneliness and possibility of the human condition.
At one particularly poignant moment near the episode's end, the three of them looked up at the night sky and van Gogh exclaimed: "Hold my hand, doctor. Try to see what I see. We're so lucky we're still alive to see this beautiful world. Look at the sky! It's not dark and black and without character. The black is in fact deep blue. And over there! Lighter blue, and through the blueness and the blackness, the wind swirling through the air, and then shining, burning, bursting through the stars. The stars, can you see how they roll their light? Everywhere we look, the complex magic of nature blazes before our eyes."
The Doctor replied: "I've seen many things, my friend. But you're right: Nothing's quite as wonderful as the things you see."
Many visionaries have looked up at the stars and seen different things. Van Gogh perceived swirls of color; others have gazed skyward and seen the possibility of an afterlife. In a recent interview, famed theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking made it clear that he is not in this latter camp.
Like Hawking, I suspect there probably is no life following this one. But I don't really care -- life in the here and now demands too much of my attention to give it much thought.
Once upon a time, however, I cared deeply; as an evangelical Christian, I believed that there was a heaven, and that it was a place too impossibly wonderful to envision. But as a closeted queer person, I also believed it was a place that I would never know, so convinced was I that I was doomed to an eternity of suffering for my same-sex attractions.
In my speech for the UO AHA, I shared the story of my struggles and how they led me to do the work I do now in the interfaith, Humanist and atheist movements to advocate for pluralism and understanding. But I ended the speech on a positive note, with a story that I believe encapsulates my conviction that we must find ways to work and live together in spite of our religious and cultural differences.
Last summer, as I was preparing to leave Chicago to start my work at the Humanist Chaplaincy at Harvard, I went out with a dear friend so that we could say our goodbyes. We went to a gay bar -- I was his first close gay friend and we had found a small, neighborhood bar just a block from his apartment that we enjoyed visiting because it maintained a remarkably diverse patronage.
While we were there, a Christian man approached us. Admitting that he had been eavesdropping on our conversation, he asked why I, as an atheist, would get involved in interfaith work. We ended up discussing a whole range of topics, from the possibility of an afterlife to our favorite beers, and at one point he posited a question: "OK, but tell me this, Mr. Atheist: Where did we come from? How did all of this get here?"
I answered: "Well, I'm not a scientist," a line I often offer with a chuckle when I'm confronted with a question I don't know the answer to, "but to be honest, that question doesn't matter all that much to me. I'm not especially interested in how we got here; what concerns me, given that we are here, is what will we do?"
I tell that story pretty much every time I give a speech now, in part because I like to own my ignorance about a great many things, but also because I believe that there is a greater urgency to answer the question of "what will we do?" than there is to answering questions about what proceeded our existence and what may or may not follow.
Some may say that we must answer those questions before we can answer the first; I believe, however, that we as a species won't be around long enough to answer those questions unless we can come to some kind of consensus on the first.
There are many -- Hawking among them -- who wish to invest their time in exploring the conditions of our existence, and I believe their work importantly contributes to answering the question of what we should do with our lives. The imaginative inquiry propelling the works of Hawking, van Gogh, religious thinkers and even the writers of Doctor Who have given us insight into our own humanity, and inform how we might learn to transcend some of the divisions that contribute to social inequality and unrest. But we mustn't get stuck with our heads in the clouds.
We look at the stars and can easily become overwhelmed by our seeming insignificance. We squint our eyes and try to assemble meaning out of their grandeur, looking for order somewhere in their grandiosity. We create constellations in an attempt to structure some cosmic meaning. Some have found it in the religious imagination; others in science fiction; still others in scientific study. Each has contributed to our growing understanding of the world, and of one another.
Some look up at the night sky and see swirls of color. Some see the possibility of another life beyond this. Others see a brilliant collection of stars that contain the potentiality to tell us more about our existence through studying them.
But as a Secular Humanist, I most readily find meaning in what is directly around me. I find significance in the absence of meaning; in my conviction that the human task is to assemble meaning through relationship, to come to see the other as more alike than different, and to advocate for inclusion and compassion.
Much will be made of Hawking's secular declaration. But in my mind, the most pivotal moment of Hawking's interview is also the easiest to overlook. In a blink-and-you'll-miss-it sentence, Hawking offered an imperative call to action:
So here we are. What should we do?We should seek the greatest value of our action.
Given that we are here, what will we do? What is the greatest value of our action? I'm not a scientist, but I believe the answer is as simple as seeking to understand the diverse people who are here with us, and working together to advance equality and justice for all.
The sky in Oregon may be overcast today, but I'm glad for the excuse to keep my eyes fixed on the world around me: on the people of all different faiths and beliefs, who might be my collaborators in the valuable endeavor of creating the kind of meaning and understanding that leads to inter-group action.
Or, as The Doctor might say: "Allons-y!" ("Let's go!")
This post originally appeared on the Washington Post On Faith.
Follow Chris Stedman on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ChrisDStedman
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Whether Believer`s or Atheists, we are made of the same atoms and molecules and may have interchanged places had our interactions been different.
I am in full agreement with the author and appreciate his point of view.
We are all aware that our human civilization is on the road towards imminent collapse and may not last more than a few more centuries, we must do something and play a constructive role in creating probabilities to prevent such a collapse. If there `ll be no one left alive, what shall we do with the statistics that 57.5 % were believers, 37.5% were atheists and 5% were never even asked the question?
I will stick with my bible... God shows his wisdom and truth each and every day.
I am just saying...
:-)
Alydon, in "The Daleks"
When everything is new, can anything be a surprise?
Cho-je, in "Planet of the Spiders"
Well, "YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND" and "YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF" (Matthew 22:37-39) may be a good start.
Your quote basically says that you should forsake everything in life except worshiping a god to the exclusion of everything else, and holding everyone else equal to yourself and even before yourself.
Both are philosophies that cause an injustice to the practitioner. To forsake all that life has to offer in the blind faith and hope that there is a god out there will leave your life bereft of anything truly meaningful. To treat others as if they are equal or better than yourself puts you at the mercy of those around you. It is a different tactic of throwing your life away in service of others.
"It is your life to live, rise up and live it." -Terry Goodkind
A much better value of our action would be to strive to be the best that you can be in all of your endeavors, and to be the best possible person you can be towards those you meet without surrendering yourself.
Following these two precepts, though not easy, will lead to a more fulfilling life since these principles focus a person outward and faithfully guide them to a proper and realistic perspective.
Thank you for offering your thoughts.
We organize for the same reason religious people do. From a religious point of view we can be seen as organizing for something that we don't believe exists, but from the atheist perspective religion organizes for something that doesn't exist as well. I hope that makes sense.
Atheists are not looked upon very highly by mainstream religion. I'd say we have to deal with more judgment and discrimination than a Christian does. So maybe, and this is just a guess, atheists feel they have to organize and unite in order to quell the discrimination they feel from organized religion. There's also a movement to spread a method of thinking which involves skeptical inquiry, reason, logic .These things don't fit in with the Judeo-Christian dogma. In order to spread knowledge about the world, it's necessary to organize.
Thanks... I needed a good joke this morning...
I am just saying...
:-)
Firstly, as an atheist I don't believe there is a God. I don't slam on fictional characters, which is all God is to me. I slam on the beliefs that "God exists".
The belief that "God exists" is problematic. Firstly because it is irrational and wrong. Wouldn't you slam beliefs that "the lunar landing was a hoax" or "evolution is not true" or "Elvis lives"? Moreover, it is obvious that such irrational and stubbornly held beliefs are bad for our society and for atheists. At the extreme we have people who recently sold all their possessions, didn't plan for college, etc all due to The Rapture. Slightly less extreme we have bans on same-sex marriage and attempted bans on abortion. We have 40% of Americans who wouldn't vote for an atheist. Or the other end, we have tolerant people who try to avoid such silliness and yet still insist that no one ever criticize religious beliefs and have rationalizations of their own beliefs. I'm sorry, this is absolutely ridiculous.
I care what's true. What people believe matters, as intellectual honesty matters and it effects how they treat others. "God exists" is not rationally demonstrated as true.
"atheists are allowed their belief system aren't they?"
What beliefs specifically? You think because you believe in something I must too? You don't get it, I'm not even religious.
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I agree with this portion of your post, though I don't feel that one needs to have a "god" in residence to enjoy the fullness, the beauty and the awe of nature.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGm9G8qXjn0
Chris Stedman, secular humanists don't need chaplains.
And if you were at all worried about how we treat each other, then you would recognize that it does matter how we got here, as some people claim to know how we got here due to some supernatural god and make decisions how to treat each other based on that. And separate from that, I happen to think how we got here is an interesting intellectual question and it therefore does matter what the answer is.
Donate to causes you fell strongly about, or don't. Get out in your community and feed the hungry or don't. But that's all on you. Nobody can make you. And no atheist wants to make a religion out of atheism.
It isn't the noble goals Stedman has in mind, it is the sort of irrational thinking he is pursuing to promote those goals. I value intellectual honesty too much to tolerate that.
I like the sentiment of your last paragraph. Of donating to what causes you feel interested in. That is part of the beauty of atheism and of humanism, we can go find out what is worth valuing and pursue what we personally value, we don't need religion to tell us our values. Similarly we don't need atheist chaplains speaking publicly what we are for and encouraging civic engagement, that is our duty as atheists/humanists to determine what we individually are for and if and how to engage. We don't need chaplains.
Then why the heck are Stedman and Epstein pursuing this Humanist chaplain business and trying to encourage civic activism based on Secular Humanist values? Why are they speaking to President Obama on our behalf regarding interfaith projects when they don't remotely represent all of us. That IS making Secular Humanism into a religion for atheists and that's just ridiculous. Sorry, the sort of thing they want to do and the sort of thing I aim to do are very very different things and are all secular humanist and atheistic.
It doesn't matter if Hawking has cures any of humanity's problems. His physics is still brilliant, he argument about heaven is correct, therefore Hawking is right.
"they beleiev in God because EVIDENCE presented to them, steers them to a logical conclusion about God"
Oh really. What evidence? I believe I asked before and what you listed wasn't valid evidence.
the lder I get I do believe that I am becoming wiser. I am giving Hawkings his props about black holes and physics- big deal. What does a black holes have to do with mankind's problems here on earth? I suppose that if I were confined to a wheel chair with a genius mind, I wouldn't have anything else better to do but find purpose for myself with another form of escapism. In the grand schme of things, hw is Hawkings contributions more important thatn a mother than raises her children to love and respect God along with being good citizens? That , to me is brillance!
You asked before and I have given you EVIDENCE OF hIS EXISTENCE. Now just becuse you can't see it or touch it in some test tube or petrie dish-for you to validateit- well that your problem. If one the phone someone told me that she has itching, redness and a swlling after eating something, I would conclude from the EVDIENCE that she provided that she probably has an allergic reaction going on. Even though I didn't see the person, I concluded, logically, rationally and with reason that he or she must be having -not a heart attack, or stroke but an allergic reaction to what she has eaten. I beleive that is called deductive reasoning.
hre is the crux of the matter: Hawkings can't even save himself...this is where Jesus comes in!
The soul is at stake here...not a limb or even a life.
Well done and congratulations on your "Happy Heathen!" Award !