Sacred Humanist

In many ways, I am not certain exactly how you would define my mode of theism. I suppose I would have to say my conception of deity lies in the contention that gods like butterflies, lemon-trees and humans are the product of natural forces. They are not “supernatural”, since I believe there is nothing outside nature, nor are they symbols, archetypes or indeed manifestation of some divine oneness. Rather they are beings in their own right with their own personalities and attributes. While the gods are more "powerful" than us by our standards, they are not infallible, nor have they always existed in some kind of celestial eternity. They have evolved and thus have sprung from nature and are limited by a definite regime of physical laws that govern other creatures also. For in Greek mythology, it is said that even King of the Gods must bow to the forces of fate. For example, while the gods can prolong life, they cannot abolish death. Even for the gods some things exist as priori that cannot be abrogated. While I am of the opinion that the gods, for the most part will continue to exist as long as the universe subsists, they may eventually die.

I also believe that gods, while they probably operate according to a moral system of some kind, they work with a different moral ethical than we would like to imagine. They can be moved to help and enraged by injustice but like most people they are susceptible to rage and temper. Furthermore, while I believe that the gods can, like a moth around a flame, be drawn into the lives of humans through ritual, I think such interactions tend to come at a price. A god/goddess who attaches itself to a particular group of humans will enviably ask for favors and will grant favors in return. By saying this I am not denying or denigrating the possibility that the gods can love us, but I don't think they have any special concern for us beyond what we might call basic consideration that they have for other creatures also. Some deities may be more receptive to us than others but we must realize that any love which may develop between ourselves and deity might be quite fleeting, since deities have no obligation to love us, as of course we have no obligation to love them. In this sense, the gods are neither our natural friend nor our enemies; they are simply like any other creature, working according to particular instincts. I believe we can co-operate with deities but only with the acknowledgement that they are beings to be respected just, as any natural phenomena is to be respected, like the sea or fire. Gods can be beautiful and inspiring but we must be under no illusions that like the torrents of the sea or a ravaging blaze they can kill, thus we disrespect them at our peril.

"There is one
race of men, one race of gods; both have breath
of life from a single mother. But sundered power
holds us divided, so that the one is nothing, while for the other
the brazen sky is established
their sure citadel forever. Yet we have some likeness in great
intelligence, or strength, to the immortals,
though we know not what the day will bring, what course
after nightfall
destiny has written that we must run to the end".

Pindar

Over the past few weeks it has felt as though all the beliefs that I cherished, those "superstitions" I tended with such love and care, have crumpled away and not for one moment has there been a feeling of grief because of it. It is merely the ebb and flow of a tide that has carried me to a new intellectual island. I am free from the cage of doctrines and dogmas I unknowingly built for myself, the arbitrary dictat of an angry and judgmental God of so much "revelatory" religion. I have lifted myself from the hot coals of hell or the doldrums of a heavenly court. I have taken the words of the Apostle Paul to heart, but perhaps not in the way he would have hoped, , "When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things" (1 Corinthians 13:11).

For what could be more childish than to imagine a deity capable of the impossible. By definition such a being is a logical fallacy, since if it is possible for the divine to do the impossible then God can no-longer do the impossible. To speak of a mode of existence outside nature is also nonsense, since nature must encompass all that there is, even if it appears miraculous to us. One would think such thoughts have brought me to the hallowed isle of respectable, moderate atheism but oddly it has bolstered by sense of sanctity within the range of my experience. For if our scientific model of the world is essentially correct, than the credibility of the God hypothesis depends upon its ability to concur but also enrich our understanding of the available facts. It seems to be that if God exists, s/he resides, not outside the universe, but rather is that metaphysical principle that makes existence possible.

Whatever this constant is, rightly or wrongly I call it deity and by deduction this divine constant must necessarily exist within the universe permeating there is and all there will be. I have no certain proof, but a belief in a universal soul of sorts is more palatable than the tinkering God of the Judeo-Christian tradition. Is this constant a being then? I am tempted towards the answer no. Evolutionary process, it appears needs no intelligence; it is itself the source of intelligence. Unless of course it is the case that the universe is a creature, that has evolved intelligence, a quality that we can recognize as order. As far as this question is concerned, I find that I cannot come down smoothly on either side of the fence. On the question of “gods” in a polytheistic sense, I am willing to believe in them.

The Greek deities for instance do not exist outside nature; they are produced by natural forces, although they are eternal from the point of inception. They do not fall into the paradoxes of the God who disappears in a puff if logic because he creates a stone he can’t lift, (although they are far from powerless). Ultimately however, they are limited beings and must accept the way the universe is organized, for even the gods are tied by necessity (Fate) and the possible (the laws of nature). Equally, Traditional Greek religion, unlike monotheism doesn’t encounter the persistent problem of how to interpret a world of imperfection and disaster if there is indeed deity. This is because the Greek gods are not always good and moral beings. The gods are as unpredictable and capricious as the sea. They lie outside our moral frameworks and there help may be gained for a price. Even though they have the capacity to love, their care for humans is flippant and fleeting. They are gods we cannot expect certainties from, nor do they give favors lightly. Such religion to me seems infinitely more believable than the god of the Bible. It is infinitely more honest by not setting the gods above necessity and limitation.