Does Faith Matter?

"Self-deception, set to music" those were the words with which Sam Harris ended his diatribe against religion in The LA Times in March of 2007. I read it shortly after completing a course of chemotherapy for lymphoma. The experience of illness, the warmth of community and intimacy with God that shaped my understanding of faith were dismissed with this caustic phrase. It required a response.

More than a year later I am publishing a book Why Faith Matters. Into the swirling pool of cynicism -- where religion is a delusion, a deception and a fraud -- there is a need for some calm and correction. Countless generations of believers regulated their lives by faith. They believed not out of fear, but out of wonder; not from a desire to judge and exclude, but to understand and embrace. Where was that truth in this bitter broadside against faith?

The charges are that religion causes war, that it is an unscientific and dangerous delusion.

Does religion cause war? Before Judaism, before Christianity, was the world a peaceful garden? Did the Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Greeks, the Romans, not slaughter each other in numbers and proportions that would make later Christians blanch? The difference is that while religion has principles that oppose cruelty and conflict, no Assyrian stood up to say "How can we do this? After all, we are Assyrians!" Slaughter did not contradict their values. There was no restraining faith in God.

When that restraint was lifted, beginning with the Enlightenment, the world became bloodier. The "First Total War" as historian David Bell put it, followed the French Revolution, which opposed the influence of the church. It was Napoleon's war, trailing graves across Europe. In the past century, the First World War and the Second World War were not religious wars. Communism slaughtered millions, but it did not kill in God's name. The worst depredations of the Crusades and Inquisition pale in comparison with the suffering tyrants inflicted as faith was systematically suppressed. Even when religion plays a role in conflict, there are invariably other considerations -- power, land, tribal enmities, political divisions.

Then there is the drumbeat of "scientific truth." As the renowned Harvard biologist Stephen Jay Gould wrote "either half my colleagues are enormously stupid, or else the science of Darwinism is fully compatible with conventional religious beliefs." In a debate I had years ago with Gould in NY, he was quite willing to admit that science was powerful but limited. It does not give life a purpose, or explain why the universe exists -- such questions lie outside the domain of science.

Religion is no set of abstract beliefs. In different universities I have taught all the "proofs" for God: the ontological proof, the teleological proof, the cosmological proof. Never did a student come up to me after class, clap her hand to her forehead and exclaim "Ah, now I believe!" Belief is not a series of toting up the declarations in column A and column B. It is an orientation of soul.

Sitting with a IV in my arm receiving the life-giving poison of chemotherapy, I felt the prayers of my community, the love of my family, the certainty that with God I was not alone. I was under no illusions that this guaranteed recovery. As a Rabbi I have seen too many good people suffer to believe that prayer is a promise. Prayer is how we draw ourselves closer to God, achieving intimacy and acceptance.

Attacks against religion are replete with phrases about the ignorance, pettiness and 'mania' of religious people. Belief is derided as a psychological symptom. Such taunting makes good copy but it is counterproductive in achieving a fulfilled life. Cynicism is a good sword but a poor shield.

Atheism, wrote the Preacher Harry Emerson Fosdick, is the theoretical formulation of a discouraged life. That is too often true. God must not exist because things have not gone as I expected them to go. There is suffering and pain and anguish and death.

Yet there is a reason why people who are part of religious communities give more to charity, are healthier and happier - as demonstrated in study after study. Faith is not the child of hope but its parent. Faith gives one the courage to find purpose even in dark times. Far from self-deception set to music, it is the subtle harmony that the blare of self-regard too often obscures or obliterates.

Human beings are unsettled and often cruel. Religion does not make them perfect, but serves to make them better. Having survived both a brain tumor and lymphoma, being engaged in daily counseling people of trouble and in grief, I know there is music to life that I did not create but I can hear. The proper response to it is gratitude, goodness and praise.

David Wolpe is Rabbi of Sinai Temple in LA and author of Why Faith Matters (HarperOne)

Comments

[Rabbi David Wolpe - Huffpost Blogger]

Thanks for the comments -- I think.... A couple of responses. First, the reason I put "proofs" in quotation marks was precisely to suggest that they are interesting artifacts of intellectual history, and suggestive in some ways, but certainly NOT proofs. So to insists on that is, if you'll forgive, preaching to the choir.
Second, I notice how none of the posters chose to deal with the twentieth century -- or any time post French Revolution, when ideology proved far more savage than religion ever has.
Finally, I wonder about the source of the anger. In study after study, religious people are more charitable, have more intact families, give more time to help others etc. I'll be happy to post, but if you want the studies, take a look at the penultimate chapter of WHY FAITH MATTERS. Does this somehow antagonize atheists?

[Dave24]

Even if one concedes the point and agrees that religious people are "more charitable" etc., it says nothing about whether those religious beliefs are actually *true.* If you take a sugar pill under the assumption that it is aspirin, and it works, it's still only a sugar pill, working as a placebo. And there is a parallel with religious belief.

Yes, religion inspires good acts. But reducing religion to charity is not the point of the argument. Yes, religion makes people feel better. But reducing religion to therapy is not the point of the argument.

With God, people murder and kill and enslave and impose. So to "know" that the world would be worse off without God is simply absurd.

As Christopher Hitchens often has argued, find me a society based on the words and teachings of Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Paine, and the like that imprisoned its people, sparked war, or suffocated science and discourse. Such a society based on Reason would never shrink to the level of theocracy.

I respectfully disagree, Rabbi.

[dctackett]

I’ll take on your second point... aggression is an emotional behavior of humans and war an outcome of that, whether it is wrapped in a flag, a religious book or anything else, doesn’t really matter. You say that “faith in god” restrains people from committing atrocities, and when that “restraint” was lifted, the world became bloodier. This seems to be the old false argument that morals come from religion and without religion people will commit evil acts. I can’t believe people actually believe this. If someday something happens and you come to know that god is not real, what horrible acts will you commit? Your argument concludes that I am somehow bad because I’m not “restrained” by the belief, without knowledge, in a super-powered magical being? I’ve actually read the christian bible, and that god seems to be setting a pretty bad example, commanding genocide, inciting violence, promoting slavery, supporting and rewarding people who do horrible things, punishing people for things that aren’t their fault…
I’ll continue the post in another…

[dctackett]

You “wonder about the source of the anger”? The religious have a bad habit of trying to control other people’s lives and treating non-religious as mentally ill or sub-human. At best they “tolerate” you. They hinder the advancement of human knowledge with lies and deceit… ever been to a creationist “museum” where you can see humans and dinosaurs living together? The whole concept of faith is believing without knowledge and even despite knowledge to the contrary. There is an inherent danger in people believing that there is an ultimately powerful magical being “on their side,” especially when they know so little about the world and view the world as headed towards religious war and annihilation.

Many religious organizations support political leaders that cause extreme harm to humanity, other living beings and the world’s ecosystem. They fight to increase the wealth of the few and impoverish the many, they fight to start wars and deny their fellow citizens their natural rights and they rail against intellectualism. Look at the religious right in the US, I’ve never met more ignorant and more hateful people, but, of course, in their world they are morally superior and on the side of righteousness.
cont...

[dctackett]

I know there are plenty of religious people that are charitable and good, but these people are not that way because Jesus is making them do it, they do those things because they are good people, with or without religion. Many of these people that I know don't even believe the religion, they think there is some "higher power," and stick with the religion because they like the social community.

There are seemingly good people who, because of their religion, discriminate against others, support horrible political leaders and even won’t have their children treated by doctors because “faith will heal them.” They fight against the next generations being educated about human sexuality, a central aspect of everyone’s life. States with abstinence only education have the highest rates of teen pregnancy and STDs… Who could possibly think that having the least amount of information will lead to the best decision? The Faithful. It doesn’t matter if you know what’s going on, just pray to Jesus and have faith!

They might as well be shouting “ignorance is strength, war is peace and freedom is slavery!” Faith is knowing that you know without actually knowing. Faith is hope that what I believe is true. Faith is taking whatever you're told by your "in" group as the truth, while anyone that doesn't go along is in the "out" group.

[HeevenSteven]

Terri Gross interviews Bill Maher and Larry Charles about their movie Religulous (20 minutes)

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=95210724

[dadw5boys]

The Truth in the Bitter Broadside on Religion come from so many personal interactions and the Colege Studies that show the Louder people shout about their deep religious faith the more you should fear them.

[onelovecandy]

David according to you...there is suffering and pain, anguish and death by Athiest. For me there has only been joy and unbelievable peace in letting go of an impossible religion and an improbable God. Don't speak for me and I won't speak for you.

For me .. letting go of religion means becoming everything I was meant to be. Me. Nothing more, nothing less.

Question everything... accept nothing

[MadOzbo]

"AMEN!"
I do not need religion, nor do I miss it.

My Life is content, I appreciate the good times, I endure the bad, knowing nothing is permanent or lasts forever.

I need no "Imaginary Friend in the Sky" to watch over me and either judge me or love me. I walk my own path, and go out of my way to do no harm to others. I help those I can, when I can, be they man or beast.

I do not fear the religious zealots who thing they cannot exist without some external entity guiding their own choices. I do pity them, though. They can never experience the pure joy of accepting complete responsibility and accountability for their own actions.

If they succeed at anything, they have to thank some "higher power," because they cannot achieve on their own.

If they fail, they cannot accept their own role in the failure. Excuses must be made how it "wasn't 'Diety's' will..." Of course the guy thanking Heaven for the touchdown doesn't give the same thanks for the fumble and the game loss later on, although the other team then gets to thank THEIR "Imaginary friend..."

Even the religious will have Pain, Suffering, Anguish, and Death. But for some reason, they think their religious beliefs somehow protect them from it...

[Ben Dixon]

Religon is a shackle that holds mankind back, the day man is able to break free of this shackle mankind will reach its full potential.

[dctackett]

You speak as if Christianity civilized Europe... How many religious wars were fought in that Christian Europe? Come on... have you bothered to look into it?

Science is of course limited, it explains how we observe the real world to function, it’s up to people to make meaning of it. That's mostly were religion comes in, however, religion has a history of fighting science when it doesn’t back them up or even disproves some of their beliefs. Religion tends to get ahead of humanity's knowledge and start jumping to conclusions. Religion is instructing and even commanding without knowledge, religion is the know-it-all kid who starts hitting when he doesn't get his way.

Your "proofs"... I can't believe you teach those at universities... they're just non-proofs, they're unreasonable leaps to fantastical conclusions. Those should only be taught as examples of poor reasoning and lack of knowledge.

Let's review them...
Ontological – if we can imagine god, then there must be a god. Yeah, and I can imagine a fire breathing flying green elephant... doesn’t make it real.
Teleological – life is really complex, a magical super-being had to make it.
Cosmological – there just had to be a first cause, and, of course that was a magical super-being.

[dctackett]

Atheism is not some reaction to not getting what you want. Atheism is not believing in magical super-beings. You say that atheism is the "theoretical formulation of a discouraged life," yet it's not theoretical, because atheism isn't pushing some theory, that's religion... and discouraging?

When you speak of "the countless generations of believers" you ignore that many of them did believe out of fear and coercion. Maybe they didn’t have the desire to judge and exclude, but their desires caused them to judge and exclude, rarely do they understand and embrace, unless it's a fellow believer.

Religions existed before Judaism and Christianity, many of the concepts and stories of those religions come from the cultures that existed prior to and contemporaneous with them.

Religions generally do have principles that oppose cruelty and conflict, however this most often reserved for their own kind. Slavery and murder of anyone outside the religion seem fine and often when internal members break the rules, they are to be murdered. Just look at that Judeo-Christian bible, cheat on your spouse, you get pummeled to death with rocks, talk back to your parents and they are free to kill you. The god of the bible was a bloodthirsty spoiled child, who tooks sides, commanded genocide and rewarded selfish, cruel behavior.

[rjmiller]

I think you dismiss athiesm too easily as something people pick up when things don't go their way. Personally, I was taught from an early age to question everything (I'm not sure whether or not this was intentional, although I am sure it annoyed my mother to no end). Being brought up Jewish, I was told that there existed a god, which I went along with because I didn't see other options. At some point around the age of 11 or 12, I thought: "What is the argument for God's existence? What is the evidence? Where is the smoking gun?" I had none, and still don't. From that point on, I did not believe in god.

From my point of view, if believing in god makes you feel better, go ahead. As long as your faith in no way affects other people, it does no harm. However, when public policy is influenced by the religious leanings of the people in government there is a serious problem. Policy must be decided by rational decision making. An ethical code far more substantial than one espoused in religious texts can be formulated through logic (of course it isn't perfect, but nothing is).

Also, I don't understand what you call the "failings of science." Why does there have to be a "why" to our existence? We exist, the rest is up to us.

[wondering]

Let us consider a few of your points:

"Does religion cause war? Before Judaism, before Christianity, was the world a peaceful garden?" Is it your contention that religion began with Judaism and Christianity? Were the Assyrian, Babylonians, Greeks and Romans all atheists? Those peoples would have been surprised to hear that.

"Religion is no set of abstract beliefs." What???? You actually teach the ontological, teleological, and cosmological proofs as valid and sound? Each one of them is easily shown to be flawed! This can't be a serious statement coming from an academic. (Pick one proof, we'll debate.)

I agree with you on this point - attacking religion because it is supposedly the cause of most wars is a waste of time. But I disagree as to why it is a futile form of attack. Religion probably is the cause of most wars, but so what? Religion should be attacked because it is the enemy of mankind. Religions require us to deny our reason and free will. Religions reduce morality to reward/punishment conditioning. Only by dropping your need for a sky-daddy to hold your hand will you begin to become a fully realized adult human being.

[HeevenSteven]

Hey W, greetings.

I just came back here to comment about the subject of your first paragraph, but ya beat me to it. It seems the Rabbi thinks religion began with Judaism, eh?

I agree that the religion causes war or not argument is useless. It is clear though that as now it's always been used as a marker to separate US from THEM, and even modern civilizations separate themselves along religious fault lines. Christian v Muslm etc. It is religion that defines these cultures more than any other single thing.

I'm reading a really interesting book called "War and Peace and War: The Rise and Fall of Empires" by Peter Turchin. History meets evolution. Check it out.

[wondering]

Howdy, HS! (The following isn't really for you - you know this already)

The problem with using war to refute religion is that such a complicated human endeavor is rarely a straight-forward cause and effect relationship . The real evil associated with religion, is that it forces its adherents to deny their humanity. Religion can only survive by keeping humanity in slavery to the irrational. That is why we must fight against it.

More troubling is the Rabbi's assertion that the proof of god's existence is a settled matter. That is like saying you've proven the Earth is flat. A quick googling will reveal any number of refutations to these proofs. Just read Voltaire for example.

What True Believers always fail to acknowledge is that faith is irrational, immutable, and subjective. And, as this author has done, they equate atheism with nihilism. If only they could see that atheism marks the highest level of spiritual achievement in human beings - i.e., giving up the need for a sky-daddy to answer every question, developing a true morality, becoming fully human. It can be a difficult journey - perhaps they will get there some day.

[Dap]

Hey Brother HS, Hey Brother wonderin Just wanted to give a shoutput Be well.

[HeevenSteven]

I think it's important to understand that the abuses of religion, the attempt to inject certain religious doctrines into government policies and law, and the potentially self-fulfilling apocalypse fantasies of too many, is what begat bestselling celebrity atheists.

The origins of western religious traditions, according to the erudite scholar Karen Armstrong, lie with the golden rule. I think the problem with the practice of religion for too many is as Armstrong says, they'd rather be right than compassionate.

Instead of attacking people who are no threat to the practice of compassion, it would be nice to see more Rabbis, ministers and priests opine about the people who are?

[Dave24]

People have belief in belief. Scriptures are collections of woven and disconnected fables, meant to convey some meaning or lesson. But scripture also informs and dictates how one should behave. Moderates ignore this fact. Those who truly believe that scripture is deemed by God are the threat: not those who observe this fact, like Sam Harris.

Faith does matter, especially for those who don't believe in any of it: because the religious zealots are the ones who wish to impose their beliefs on others. Atheists want to be left alone. You can believe in whatever superstition you want, and as an atheist I defend your right to do so. But leave me the hell alone.

[goedel]

Of course faith matters, to those who profess faith. It does not mater to atheists unless those who have it seek to impose it on those who don't. Before the rise of Judaism and later Christianity there were wars, certainly, but they were not motivated or impelled by religious differences.

Religious communities and religious individuals like to have others join in their beliefs, because it gives them more security. That others can live their lives without belief in a "higher power" threatens their own convictions. That inner discomfort has been and is a source of intolerance by the religious towards non-believers.

Faith is the claim of believers, but strangely they love to find a scientist who says or wrties something that can identify as belief in God. Why should that be? I feel no satisfaction when I encounter a former believer who, for whatever reason, has lost his faith. In such cases, the reason is seldom an examination of the meaning (or lack thereof) of the sort of pseudo-questions raised by the faithful: why are we here? what is the meaning of life? The abandonment of the faith is usually as emotionally based as was its original adoption. Indeed, originally, most people get their religion as children from parental indoctrination. This happens before childen are old enough, usually, for abstract thinking, linguistic analysis and technical philosophy.

[OpenlyLiberal]

Outstanding post, Rabbi. Very helpful to this Christian who struggles mightily with the concept of "religion." I have felt that it was "religion" that Jesus was fighting against, and "religion" that completely lost sight of the most basic elements of his teachings. Your post helps give another perspective to this concept of "religion ruins everything." A great argument to some of the condescending dismissiveness I hear from fellow liberals so often when conversation turns to religion.

[January]

I agree the attacks on organized religion (the distinction between faith and organized religion is necessary; institutions may or may not nurture a working faith) as in the case of Sam Harris cited here are shallow.

I appreciate hearing the story of how trust that help is available has made this author stronger in the face of a life-threatening illness. But the real enemy of religion is neither scepticism nor science. The real enemy of religion is superstition.

Missing from this article, and I suspect also missing from the book mentioned, is the distinction between faith and carrying a rabbit's foot, for instance. That is not to say such a distinction is easy to make, although we can identify some behaviors that are superstitious.

Yes, it matters what we believe. It is possible to sort out the difference between knowledge and belief. And we can clarify the differences between belief and faith. However, appeals to "faith" without clarifying what it means to have faith--in God, for instance--may be wonderful but at the same time fleetingly empty, in the same way a faith in luck or faith in heroes lead down the wrong path.

Testimony as is likely to be found in the book cited here teaches us. So long as it only teaches what everyone has long heard and outgrown wastes our time. We pray for the Rabbi's continued survival and health. Only more time will allow the maturation of faith from a crutch to a vision.

[dctackett]

I agree, faith, without clarity sounds nice, but is empty. "having and intimate relationship with god"... what does that mean?
Religions need to evolve or die... I've known many people who, when the actually read the bible, become atheists, because that god was their god and their bubble was burst. They need to drop all the stoning and god supporting genocide and such... and the commands that just don't make sense.
The more knowledge and brain power people accumulate, the more they'll shun those religions.

[mommadona]

I am a spiritual person.

I have absolutely no faith in organized religion.

That, dear sir, is the quantum leap of free will.

[fuzzywuzzy6]

Thank you for a lovely post, Rabbi.

Some of the posters seem not to understand the history of Judaism, believing it to be defined solely by the Five Books of Moses, and never having heard of the Talmud, or of the Jews' ongoing argument with G-d. There is a long history of intellectual engagement and re-evaluation of belief, and attempts to better understand how to live a moral, ethical and compassionate life.

I fear that the frequent references to the Judaeo-Christian heritage by the far right fundamentalists have led these folks to believe that the Jews share many basic religious assumptions with the Hagees, Falwells and Robertsons of this world. We do not. The term is most often misused nowadays, and I rarely hear moderates or liberals use it.

One of the earlier comments refers to the zeal of those who would proselytize, including some of the most angry and passionate atheists. That is correct. Having been subject to proselytizing myself from various religious organizations, including street preachers, it seems to me that the most strident missionaries are those that doubt the strength and correctness of their own beliefs, so they must bring others into the fold in order to validate them.