Last week, I bumped into a friend I haven’t seen in years. The latest is that he’s found religion, again. For better or worse, he no longer frequents the bars. He has attained peace and happiness, and I am sincerely happy for him.
Eager to spread his vision, he wanted me to join him, but I told him I’m probably beyond help.
Curious about my Asian heritage, folks in Utah often ask me about my religious background. When I tell them I’m an atheist, a hush hovers over the room, and I realize I’ve destroyed any chance of running for office in Utah.
Sometimes people would tell me it’s OK and just think that I’m totally confused and estranged. They’re probably right, but I warn them that they wouldn’t want a guy like me in their church.
All of us want the same things in life?a sense of connectedness with the world, answers about the unknown and values that allow us to live together in a society. Most people get these from their scriptures and weekly services at church. Secular people just get it somewhere else.
The atheists I know don’t proselytize. They’re not against religion and don’t try to make you one of them. All of us tried to be religious at one point or another (you can’t avoid it growing up in Christian Judeo societies), but it just didn’t work for us.
I had my stint while attending a Catholic school in Hong Kong. Parochial schools were popular there because the education system was deficient, and the church was willing to fill the void. It was a two-way street. We give them a chance to mold our minds, and they give us an education.
Although the spiritual effects of daily prayers, rosary beads and reading the Bible eventually wore off, I have not forgotten the values the nuns and the priests instilled in me.
I still support religions of all sorts. And if I ever have children, I would support their curiosity about any religion and joining a church.
The teachings offered in many religions?such as tolerating our differences, forgiving others and being compassionate and charitable?are important to our society. It’s the myths surrounding these messages that are hard to accept.
The stories behind the major religions are hundreds and thousands of years old. People find less and less relevancy in them. It may be a sad statement on current religions, but I see more religious fervor in some people after watching Star Wars than after they attend their own churches.
It seems to me that more and more people find their religions unfulfilling. People are experimenting with Buddhism, Scientology and other religions, but I meet atheists and agnostics with increasing frequency.
Many people wonder if we are heading into becoming a totally secular and Godless society.
George Lucas, who believes in the existence of a supreme being, doesn’t think so. One of the biggest functions of religion is to explain the unknown, he said, and what we realize we don’t know increases continuously.
We live in a complicated world, and we all have developed our own way to cope. Religion and spirituality are often that vehicle.
There hasn’t been a new religion to revolutionize our beliefs for quite a while and we desperately need it, as evidenced by our decreasing commitment to, and increasing defection from, existing religions.
When the right one comes, I’m all ears.
Alex welcomes feedback at: [email protected]