A World Without Faith
John Lennon wrote a beautiful song we all know called “Imagine.” In that song he imagined many things and one was a world without religion. Imagine if the world did not have religion. What if Christianity did not exist? What would such a world be like?
Science may be able to describe to us how things work. But what about ‘why’? How would we develop a sense of morality and right and wrong without a faith system? Why would murder be wrong? Why would it be wrong to kill someone in order to take what they had? How would we develop a system of ethics apart from religious ideas or concept about God? Do we believe all war and violence would end without religion? Stalin and others in the name of a government without religion did many evil things. So do we think that evil and violence would disappear by doing away with all religion?
What about other moral practices? Would we have marriage? How would we develop our laws? Would we simply create a society where anything goes? An athiest might argue that such a society would still have laws to protect the freedom of others but why? Why would that matter? If there is no God or gods then why would anything be wrong?
What would this new world look like? What would say to those who grieve over the loss of a loved one? What type of funeral practices would we develop? What would we say to those suffering from hurt and pain in the hospital and cancer wards? With no chaplains to pray and no hope for an afterlife would life be better? What would we say at the scene of a school shooting or a national tragedy.
I realize that religious people have done horrible things. I know people have used religion for all kinds of evil. Religious people have supported slavery and segregation. Yet it was religious people who desroyed slavery and segregation. And do we really think that without religion we would not have had slavery or segregation? Do we think that all the world’s problems can be placed at the feet of the religious?
Dawkins and others argue for the end of faith. Sam Harris wrote a book asking for just that. Some think that the world would be better without faith or religion of any kind.
So imagine a world with no steeples, prayer, holy books, and no hymns. Imagine a world where Sunday is a work day or a day of play and no church bells ring.
Imagine a world that never knew a Martin Luther King, Billy Graham, Mother Theresa, Dietrich Bonhoffer, Handel, the Apostle Paul, or countless ordinary folk. Perhaps in another world they would have been doctors, lawyers, and politicans instead of preachers, nuns, theologians and such.
I’m not sure I want to live in such a world. I believe that the world is a better place because of the church. I believe that a world without faith would be a lonely place.
Blessings,
Derik
> “Stalin and others in the name of a government without religion did many evil things.”
What is your definition of “religion” ?
> “I believe that a world without faith would be a lonely place.”
Why would it be a lonely place?
My Stalin comment is that are those who deny the existence of God have also done evil. Blaming religion for all evil doesn’t work. “Why would it be a lonely place”- for me as a believer in Christ it is hard for me to see meaning in a world with no overall meaning (God, faith, purpose, eternity, etc). If there is no greater purpose or meaning then there wouldn’t be much comfort to those who grieve. I realize that Christians who argue this with athiests go round and round. As Dawkins calls it the ‘faith card’ but in the end faith gives overall meaning to many.
Apologies for the delay – I misplaced your blog
> Blaming religion for all evil doesn’t work
We can quote Dawkins!
“Of course religion is not the root of all evil. No single thing is the root of all anything. The question mark was supposed to turn an indefensible title into a debatable topic.”
http://www.newstatesman.com/200601300002
(Isn’t it just a really bad argument to make? How much credence would we give to ‘blaming smoking for all lung cancer doesn’t work’? If religion was to blame for 75% of evil wouldn’t that be something that needed to change?)
> as a believer in Christ it is hard for me to see meaning in a world with no overall meaning…
Perhaps non-believers find meaning in the here and now.
> If there is no greater purpose or meaning then there wouldn’t be much comfort to those who grieve.
There would be the celebration of what has been and the fellowship of those who are here now.
In response to your comments.
Thanks for giving me that direct quote on Dawkins. Many of the new writers in athiesm tend to blame religions for much of the evil in the world but to say ‘all’ is not the best wording. A few comments on your comments.
*YOur comment about 75 percent. I agree religious folks have a problem with those who misuse religion and they need to deal with it. As a Christian I believe that Christ is not to blame for those who misuse his name. He calls us to be peace makers. For those who misuse the name of God we need to say shame! We need to proclaim the truth and show others what faith is about. I believe the Christian faith is about freedom, making life better, and peace.
*Comment about here and now. I do agree that as a believer I also find great meaning in the here and now. I love life and am not ready to leave. Yet for millions of believers the here and now becomes even greater knowing that we are beings who live forever. WE enjoy life and get the most out of it because we have a sense of purpose. We believe that JEsus came to give us abundant life and so life is good and we enjoy living. I wouldn’t argue that. But knowing that God is real and that there is even more in store for us gives us joy and peace. I can’t argue that knowledge but it is what we believe.
*About funerals and celebrating the life lived. I agree. A funeral should be a celebration of a life lived and we do that. However as a pastor I must say that if people believed that the person ceases to exist and that they are gone forever and we will never see them again that would not bring joy to most people. I would bet if you polled the population you would find the overwhelming majority of people who (while religious or not) believe that life does continue after death and even if they aren’t sure they hope they will see their loved ones again. While this doesn’t make it true and you can argue that it is wish fulfillment the truth is that this is a valid believe for many. I have done funerals for believers and nonbelievers. My experience (while maybe not yours) is that those who have no faith at all tend to have a different experience. People in the nonbelieving environment seem to lack the confidence and joy that believers have. I also know that when I do funerals for sudden loss (children, accidents, young people, etc) that the celebration you talk about is not very common. They are able to make it because they believe that their loved one will go on and does not cease to exist and they will see them again. I realize that an athiest might say wishing and reality aren’t always the same and will also want to delve into the problem of evil and why God allowed such tragedy to happen. I will say that we do not know all things and yet knowing that there is a God and there is more to life adds to the ability for us to celebrate as believers. This is hard to defend or argue to those who are not in faith but for millions this is true. Some may argue that they do not believe in God and have no faith and believe that the grave is it and yet they can celebrate and move on but for me this is a rare person in my experience.
In closing, the Christian faith has survived many arguments and abuses for 2000 years. And yet I believe that it is faith in God that makes life better. I can’t prove it but for me and many this is so. I love life. I love living. I love my friends and family and I love God.
Blessings.
> Many of the new writers in athiesm tend to blame religions for much of the evil in the world…
Again I’m tempted to ask for your definition of religion – religion is notoriously difficult to define and definitions that apply broadly enough to include all that we commonly accept as ‘religion’ would also include the political-religions National-Socialism, Maoism etc
> As a Christian I believe that Christ is not to blame for those who misuse his name.
I can agree with that – but I think it is christian religion as it has existed and as it exists that is being blamed, not Christ.
> WE enjoy life and get the most out of it because we have a sense of purpose
I think you’re failing to distinguish between a personal sense of purpose and a metaphysical sense of purpose (small picture – big picture).
> People in the nonbelieving environment seem to lack the confidence and joy that believers have. … I realize that an athiest might say wishing and reality aren’t always the same …
Of course for a nonbeliever Death is the final unpleasant truth over which we have no control. Of course we rail against Death. Of course we struggle to cope with loss.
I hope it’s not just atheists that understand wishing and reality are hardly ever the same thing.
> the Christian faith has survived many arguments and abuses for 2000 years
So has Astrology!
> I love life. I love living. I love my friends and family
As do nonbelievers.
The religion I would defend of course is the Christian faith. There are many definitions of religion and I would not defend all religion as equal because I accept the Christian faith. The religion I defend in my blogs is the Christian faith. I realize that religion doesn’t have to accept a God (Buddhism doesn’t require that). My arguments would center around the defense of the Christian gospel. And I realize that Christ is not blamed by those who critize Christianity. I also argue that the majority of Christians would not be guilty of the criticisms given by athiests, etc. However that is an argument that will go round and round.
I also understand the point you are making regarding personal sense of purpose vs the ‘big’ picture. I suppose one might argue that in the big picture human eternal existence is not necessary for the world to function. One might say we play our part on the planet and when we leave the world continues and our eternal existence is not necessary. I suppose that is where you are going but not sure. However the ‘big’ picture to me is that God created all things and all things have a ‘bigger’ purpose and that includes all of humanity. God will redeem not just me but all of creation (new heaven/new earth). This too is an argument that athiests and Christians will never see eye to eye.
And yes Christians struggle with tragedy and yet we find hope in the resurrection of Christ. Again something we will not see eye to eye. And of course astrology has been around despite criticism.
So in the end we have to make decisions for ourselves regarding the Christian faith or any faith. There will be those who reject Christ for various reasons. And I suppose that one day when this life ends we shall see who was right and who was wrong!!!!
> The religion I defend in my blogs is …
Then you can always write christianity instead of religion.
> I also argue that the majority of Christians would not be guilty of the criticisms given by athiests …
I’m not sure what “criticisms given by athiests” you mean? But if we’re talking about Christians in this world I don’t see why in principle we couldn’t find answers to whatever questions we have about them.
> And of course astrology has been around despite criticism
The fun thing about astrology is that it makes predictions about this world, so we can to some extent examine its claims. People seem to believe randomly generated nonsense as astrology quite happily. Oh we are credulous creatures!
> And I suppose that one day when this life ends we shall see who was right and who was wrong!
Not necessarily – if there is life after death then we will see who was right and who was wrong, if not we’ll just be dead