People who believe that Barack Obama is secretly a Muslim often cite as evidence the fact that his father was a Muslim and that he briefly attended a Muslim school. The assumption seems to be that the President couldn't be sincere in his claim to have embraced a different faith, even though the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life has found that about half of all Americans change their religious affiliation at least once in their lives, usually before the age of 24. In fact, believing something different from his parents makes Obama a fairly typical American.
Finding my own belief system was an important part of my journey. I left the Catholic Church during my freshman year of college when I realized I couldn't recite everything in the Profession of Faith. It marked a dramatic break with my Irish clan and threw me into a period of anxious questioning, which eventually subsided during a spring backpacking trip in the Blue Ridge Mountains, when I felt a sense of peace come to me as I looked out on a beautiful vista. I sensed that there was something greater than me that I was connected to, and that knowing that was enough for the time being.
In my late twenties, I felt drawn to start attending unprogrammed Quaker worship, where I could sit in silence with my questions without having to profess any answers. I liked the phrase, "There is that of God in everyone," which undergirded the Quaker traditions of social activism and inward listening for guidance. I also liked the variety of words used for "the Divine" and the fact that I rarely heard the term "He" applied. As much as changing my religious affiliation, I was changing my concept of God, from an old white man in the sky to a spiritual force that permeated everything and guided me to new people and work in ways that often felt miraculous.
Knowing how important it was for me to find my own belief system apart from my family's, I was intrigued to find that many of the people I interviewed for a recent book on the Serenity Prayer had gone through something similar, whether they ultimately changed religions or stayed within the tradition in which they had been raised. For some, letting go of their image of a vindictive, judgmental God helped them to live with greater peace and trust. Several discovered the concept of the God within, the idea that they had a divine aspect themselves, and were enlivened by it. One man, the son of a Southern Baptist minister, realized that God could be a mother figure, as well as a father figure, an insight that helped him break open the limited vision he had of God. Now a professor of religion and history, he says, "The more metaphors the better," because no one image can fully capture the Divine.
"People experience God in profoundly different ways," notes Rabbi Erin Hirsh. "If we can celebrate how many ways people can experience God, then we can be united in that, and God doesn't have to be divisive." Rabbi Erin, who grew up in a secular Jewish family, says she experiences God in moments of profound connection with other people. "It took me a long time to understand that, but I believe that there are sparks of the Divine in each person. When I connect with someone, and I find that spark, I've seen a glimpse of the Divine." She says that she is unusual for a rabbi in that she does not think of God as a supernatural being, but she notes that in Judaism, people are expected to wrestle with tradition, with scripture, and even with God, the way Jacob wrestled with a mysterious angel before he was granted the name Israel, or "God-wrestler."
Roman Catholic priest and scholar Andrew Greeley asserts that how we conceive of and describe God has profound implications for how we live. A sociologist interested in the intersection of religion and culture, Greeley has developed a tool he calls the Grace Scale "that measures a respondent's image of God as mother versus father, lover versus judge, spouse versus master, and friend versus king." Greeley's research shows that a high score on the Grace Scale predicts many other qualities, including interest in the fine arts, belief in the equality of women, satisfaction in marriage, compassion for people with AIDS, and willingness to invest in protecting the environment.
What we believe about God has implications for how we treat others, which is one reason it is good to question what we were taught as children. Many adults grew up with what I call the Lincoln Memorial image of God, a distant and stony-faced judge, and assume that they have to believe in Him or nothing. While believing in nothing is one option, it is not the only one. For many people, finding a belief system that rings true to their experience is part of the journey to a more mature faith.
Americans not losing their religion, but changing it often - CNN
Faith in things that are NOT real, is not. And sometimes leads to flying aircraft into perfectly good buildings.
Then I found the truth in the last place I thought I would, in Jesus. But it was a struggle of back and forth as I wrestled with everything I'd been brought up to believe, and not believe.
Once I had reasoned Jesus to be God, there was freedom. And I've never looked back, only up.
Take note: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFMmzKDonRY
All of this begs the question: How firm are their convictions, really?
There might or might not be a god or gods, but one thing is certain: they are natural gods, not supernatural gods. There is no such thing as magic.
...and for many, finding a belief system that rings true to their experience is a journey which leads, finally, to leaving faith behind altogether, and moving into a maturity which deals with reality, not myths and unearned claims of authority from clergy.
This article is fine as far as it goes, but it leaves the really big one just hanging out there, unintentionally implied throughout the article but never addressed. For example:
"...whether they ultimately changed religions or stayed within the tradition in which they had been raised" ...OR ultimately found that religion in all its mystical and metaphysical manifestations was something better discarded altogether.
Well at least not believing in gods is given as an option. Too bad atheism is implied as immature in the next sentence. Maybe the author should consider that atheists have a journey and they consider it to be a mature choice. As others before me have noted: atheists DO NOT believe in nothing (they simply don't believe in gods).
Alot of believers respect atheists (for the consistency in logic) and envy them (because there is no struggle in not believing). Yet they also believe atheism is the easy way out and think that the harder way is the right way - so they continue to believe.
Atheism is a threat to belief. Right down to its very core. Many believers become atheists but precious few go from atheism to belief (when it happens it's shouted from the rooftops). So yeah, the title, "Changing Faiths; Why it's not a bad thing" was probably an easy essay to write. I think that many believers are threatened by non-belief because they take it as an attack on their whole lifestyle choice. While most atheists remain silent, it only takes a handful to make millions of believers suspicious, self-conscious or, at worst, non-believers.
Complete rejection of faith, by one of their own, is devastating to believers. Changing faiths is "better".
I think you are right about this, at least to some degree. I also think that it is inconceivable to some believers that anyone could believe that there are no god or gods. They can imagine the possibility of someone believing in another religion, but no religion?
Atheists need to be more vocal, I think. We need to continue the religious dissonance in this country. Some believers will continue their efforts to turn laws into Christian based laws, and atheists who are vocal play an important role in stopping these foolish attempts.
So there is no wrong way for the sincere heart
A tough one indeed. May I suggest addressing the situation by looking a bit more carefully at the grounds one which you believe in a higher power and stop taking mere faith as sufficient justification for belief.
Many crimes are committed in the name of God.
I thought I was determining what religion (if any) I wanted to believe in or be a part of. I went to Catholic churches, to Protestant churches, to Buddhist temples. Around the same time, I was also trying to determine my political beliefs. Soon this exploratory process took on a life of its own and broadened to include my whole life. I was questioning everything. I was trying to make sense of not just religion and politics, but science, philosophy, human history, my childhood, my friends, my own body. And the process included reading, travelling, taking drugs, and talking to the sorts of people I never would have interacted with before.
And I'm happier because of all that. I didn't end up "picking" a religion or coming to any sort of final conclusion, but I feel like I learned a lot about myself and about life.