Part of the problem of being religious in our time is for many it feels like you are deceptively engaged in wishful thinking or superstition. And no one wants to do that! So there are more and more “nones”, people who have no religious affiliation, and “dones”, people who are done with traditional religion. These people say, “When I see, then I will believe.”
On the other side are many people who continue to trust their religious tradition teaches the truth. They do not think they are being superstitious or foolish. They are serious people of faith. They also have eyes and think their religion reveals the true meaning of life. They argue “If you believe, then you will see.”
To be fair and honest, religion can been good and not so good. Jews, Christians and Muslims all teach their followers to trust God and stand with the neighbor or stranger in pain. Not all the adherents of these religions live out this teaching. Some people are hypocrites. Nothing new there! In the name of religion, over the centuries, some people have been terribly destructive while others have been admirably constructive. Some have been indifferent and cowardly. Others have been caring and courageous. After all, religious teaching is a vector that we can either follow or ignore.
But I am convinced, in this crazy time, we need to listen to each other more. People who are agnostic or atheist need to study religious truth and religious people need to listen carefully to the questions and doubts of those who refuse to believe. And what if religious people could be honest about their own doubts and questions? And what if, nones and dones, atheists and agnostics had more doubts and questions about their own positions. Remember, think that you may be wrong.
My question: Why is not possible to live in the middle? Maybe our religion is right about some things but not absolutely right. Maybe our scriptures proclaim the truth sometimes but other times they can be wrong. Maybe there are parts of our way of thinking about God that need to be changed or rethought? The question we need to ask about our respective religious traditions or lack thereof, is what about them works and what does not work? What parts are no longer applicable and what parts are still quite valuable? The goal of religion is not to be religious. The goal is not to possess the truth, it is to pursue the truth. Faith is trusting without knowing for sure. For good or for bad that is our situation. So, let's live in the middle between religious absolutism and religious relativism. Whatever God is about, I cannot believe the Deity gave us minds so that we do not use them. Live in the middle and we'll see, yes, we will see.
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