What do I believe?

What do I believe?

I was asked this question by a twitter user who self-identified as a Jehovah’s Witness.  My response here is shaped in part by her having identified herself that way. I might have written something different to someone else, but not sure about that.

I don’t expect this document ever to be completely finished. I will think of new things to write in here, I’m sure.  So here goes.

• The true name of God is unpronounceable.  No human names for God are correct or incorrect.
• The religious/spiritual experience is universal, but non-verbal.  The use of words to describe this experience leads to conflict.
• The true nature of God is not understandable. No human scriptures or religious texts are correct or incorrect.
• No person or group of people has a monopoly on the truth about God.
• Asking the question “Do You Believe in God?” is non-sensical, because whether one believes or not depends on how the word “God” is defined, but the word cannot be defined, because human language is insufficient.
• The confidence of particular individuals in the truth of their own scriptures or their own interpretation of scriptures relates to their particular personality, but not to the accuracy of their interpretation or scriptures.
• People who push their religious beliefs on others are insecure and need others to validate them.  Often they are bullies.  Often they are crazy.  I was nearly attacked by a street preacher when the guy I was walking with decided to talk to the preacher about what the preacher was saying.

Nevertheless, I was raised Protestant, so I have been strongly influenced in my thinking by that formation.

I have been very drawn to the Baha'i' faith, and to the three unities expressed by Baha'u'llah, but I have never declared myself to be a Baha'i', because I haven't done enough research to be sure that I understand all the implications of that.

The above being said, I nonetheless share some of these personality issues that make me want to push my beliefs on others.

Some more beliefs

• conscientious objection to war and military service.
• sanctity of the environment as God’s creation.
• sanctity of truth — and repulsion toward people who lie.
• wrongness of oppression of people based on gender, age, race, LGBTQIA, religion etc.
• Generally I like free speech and deplore efforts to suppress it. 
• I am pro-choice. I do not believe that killing human embryos, prior to the appearance of human brain activity, is murder. Fetuses later in development are a bit more troubling to me, though it depends on the circumstances.
• some social justice: i.e. basic safety nets for everyone -- though I still accept that some would be richer than others, and I don't believe in government ownership of the means of production
• 12 step approach to self-improvement

This twitter user asked me how my beliefs are helpful. Yeah. I do believe that if everyone shared my beliefs this would be a better place. Sure.  I know everyone thinks that, but of course I think I'm right.

Regarding Quakers (Religious Society of Friends):

I am an unprogrammed Friend.  I identify with Friends General Conference, rather than FUM or FEA.  

Quakers do not have a creed.  You cannot say, based on the affiliation of a person with this movement, necessarily what they believe.  I cannot speak for others.

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Addendum:

I have also been influenced by Yoga, which I started studying at age 13.  I'm also drawn to aspects Zen Buddhism and Taoism.  Some Zen practitioners regard unprogrammed Friends/Quakers as practicing a form of Zen Buddhism -- though, also, some Quakers are very insistent that Quakers should be Christian.

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5/23/21

I was asked by my Quaker Meeting to formulate what I believe.  I looked back at this blog, but decided that there were some things I wanted to re-word.  This is what I have so far:

The divine as unknowable.  This is a core belief for me. Neither the divine nor the physical universe can be completely encompassed by human speech or thinking.  What happens may seem illogical or harmful.  This is due to our deficiency in thinking, not to the divine. 

All names and descriptions are wrong.  The divine is not impressed by any one wrong description over another.  Logical inconsistencies between religious beliefs can also be explained by the unknowable nature of the divine.

The word God is a variable, like the letter x in Algebra. It represents the answers to unanswerable questions.

Trying to prove the existence of God is nonsensical.  First, there is no consensus as to what the word “God” represents.  Many people seek to prove or disprove the existence of God using a concept of God that they understand to be promulgated by some group — but that group lacks actual authority to define God and the person making the argument may not even understand what that group actually believes.  Second, the nature of logic is to reason from assumptions to conclusions. Logic can show that certain assumptions are inconsistent with each other, but the assumptions are taken on faith.  Trying to prove an assumption is stating right up front that you lack faith in that assumption.  If you say you are going to prove the existence of God, that means that you do not have faith in God.

Sense of contact: Many people have a sense of contact.  I think some people call this a “personal relationship” with God. What is this? Is it actual contact with an external divine being or an interesting neurological phenomenon? People sometimes seem to be inspired by their sense of contact to speak words or take action.  Often these words or actions lead to conflict. I’m not sure if that’s good or bad. I do like meditation, yoga and Zen koäns, tho.

Life after death: I’m not particularly attracted to this concept.  However, I believe, from physics that time is a dimension.  Things that existed in the past are not gone.  They are just located in a particular section of time that is not currently accessible to us.  That does not mean that it will never be accessible to us.  Moreover that does not mean that some divine entity cannot freely travel back there and visit what exists in that other place. I don’t really believe that people are dead.

I sometimes quote from religious texts or traditions because they seem to coincide with what I feel.  This is due to my literary upbringing.  I do not accord any religious text a sacred weight. Each text is the best effort of the authors to express their understanding.  Each text is wrong, but also has elements of rightness — elements that genuinely reflect a historical divine inspiration. Each text must be interpreted within a historical context. It cannot be applied in a simple minded fashion to current events.   

I get annoyed by detailed systems of signs, numbers, symbols, or diet that purport to be religious or spiritual.

The concept of free will is not attractive to me.  I believe that most of what goes on in the brain is in the subconscious, based on what I’ve read of reports of scientific literature.  The conscious brain is a delusional egomaniac that thinks it is in charge, when it is the tail thinking it is wagging the dog.