Materialism and Scientism: A Religion of Despair?

When I was a young student at Harvard, I embraced the religion of the avant-garde: a rejection of God and the adulation of human accomplishments, particularly of science. Friedrich Nietzsche had declared a century earlier that “God is dead”, but it wasn’t until the 20th Century that so many educated people flocked to this new philosophy.

Some call this Atheism. Others call it Materialism, since its believers deny any reality beyond the material. But I like the term “Scientism” since it most accurately describes the new religion: the dogmatic worship of Science.

My university days were the most lonely and despairing time of my life, but I didn’t realize the cause of my malaise. Fortunately, in time I saw the limits of non-faith and started a search for something positive to believe. To my surprise, I gradually rediscovered the sublime beauty of Christian faith after trying several alternatives.

I believe that the most serious challenge to traditional faith is not the contending denominations within Christianity. Nor is it even the differences we have with other faiths. Rather, it is the complete negation of soul, of spirit, and of any Higher Intelligence.

Let me quote from one of the early advocates of Scientism, Bertrand Russell:

“That man is the product of causes which had no provision of the end they were achieving;
that his origin, his growth, his hopes and fears, his loves and his beliefs, are but the outcome of accidental collocations of atoms;
that no fire, no heroism, no intensity of thought or feeling, can preserve an individual life beyond the grave;
that all of the labours of the ages, all the devotion, all the inspiration, all the noonday brightness of human genius, are destined to extinction in the vast death of the solar system;
and the whole temple of Man’s achievement must inevitably be buried beneath the debris of a universe in ruins—all these things, if not quite beyond dispute, are yet so nearly certain, that no philosophy that rejects them can hope to stand.
Only within the scaffolding of these new truths, only on the firm foundation of unyielding despair, can the soul’s habitation henceforth be safely built.”

I am indebted to Charles Tart who in his recent book The End of Materialism described this new belief system so clearly. My religious views are different from Charles, but I appreciate his observations on spirituality and how it can be reconciled with science.

I have high respect for science and for scientists. But like Einstein, I see science as the handiwork of a great Higher Intelligence, who created the endless galaxies, as well as the subatomic realm.

The central pillar of my belief is this great God who has communicated with humans throughout all ages. I am not distressed by the seeming disparity of religious beliefs. When you consider how minuscule is our intelligence compared to that vast INTELLIGENCE of our Creator, how could any of us ever begin to comprehend or to explain His marvellous nature fully? How could we begin to explain Heaven, His Celestial Dwelling beyond matter and time?

Fortunately, we have no need to fully understand these wondrous matters. We need only enough wisdom to live our lives. And we need charity, sympathy and tolerance for those who see things differently from us. We can never persuade anyone by arguing, although civilized conversation is helpful.

Regrettably, our public schools and universities have outlawed all expressions of faith except for the beliefs of Scientism. That is a tragedy. However, people of faith have partly brought this upon ourselves through our own religious dogmatism. We deify our own moral understanding which we mistake for God’s law. We reject scientific observations if they seem to conflict with our beliefs, rather than pondering them carefully.

For instance, I believe we have lost credibility by our total opposition to evolutionary theory. Most scientists speculate that the universe began in one instant in time by a cosmic explosion—the “Big Bang” theory. So why not hold on to the more defensible belief that only God could have brought about such an amazing creation of the universe in one second? Whether God created Man in one day or He is still continuing to create life matters little, so long as He is the Creator. The details of earliest human history are lost in fog. Why not acknowledge that the ways of God are so far beyond us, that we don’t always know his methods. Evolutionary theory could well be wrong in various respects, but likely so are some of our own concepts about God and how he works.

I believe in the essentials of the Christian faith of my ancestors. Not because they were so wise—like us, they could only see “as through a glass darkly”. But God has provided enough light and inspiration to humanity in every culture and in each century so that we could know Him. The changes of belief over time and across cultures are not fundamental. I believe God is leading us gently to a better understanding.

The problem with Scientism is that with God dead, and the universe governed by random chance, humanity has no protection and no assurance for the future. Furthermore, there is no answer to death, despite frantic research to extend our lives. It is not surprising that this belief system brings loneliness and despair.

Humanity stands at a crossroad. Those who share a traditional faith in God must learn to get along, despite our many differences. We also need to engage lovingly and thoughtfully with those who have lost faith in anything greater than science. That view brings the despair evident in Russell’s comments. Our faith brings a strong hope:

So long as God is in His Heaven, all will be right with the world!

Three contemporary versions of Psalm 23

1.  The Message translation by Eugene Peterson
 ^1-3 God, my shepherd! I don't need a thing.
   You have bedded me down in lush meadows,
      you find me quiet pools to drink from.
   True to your word,
      you let me catch my breath
      and send me in the right direction.

 ⁴ Even when the way goes through
      Death Valley,
   I'm not afraid
      when you walk at my side.
   Your trusty shepherd's crook
      makes me feel secure.

 ⁵ You serve me a six-course dinner
      right in front of my enemies.
   You revive my drooping head;
      my cup brims with blessing.

 ⁶ Your beauty and love chase after me
      every day of my life.
   I'm back home in the house of God
      for the rest of my life.

2.  Psalm 23 Antithesis (author: anonymous)
The clock is my dictator, I shall not rest.
It makes me lie down only when exhausted.
It leads me into deep depression.
It hounds my soul.
It leads me in circles of frenzy, for activities sake.
Even though I run frantically from task to task,
I will never get it all done,
For my ideal is with me
Deadlines and my need for approval, they drive me.
They demand performance from me, beyond the limits of my schedule.
They anoint my head with migraines
My in-basket overflows.
Surely fatigue and time pressures shall follow me
All the days of my life.
And I will dwell in the bonds of frustration forever.

3.  Psalm 23, Japanese version:

The Lord is my pace setter, I shall not rush.

He makes me stop and rest for quiet intervals.

He provides me with images of stillness which restore my serenity.

He leads me in ways of efficiency through calmness of mind, and his guidance is peace.

Even though I have a great many things to accomplish each day, I will not fret, for his presence is here.

His timelessness, His all-importance will keep me in balance.

He prepares refreshment and renewal in the midst of my activity, by anointing my mind with his oils of tranquility.

My cup of joyous energy overflows; surely harmony and effectiveness shall be the fruits of my hours.

For I shall walk in the pace of my Lord, and dwell in His house forever.

Dealing with Life’s Disappointments

I just returned from a somewhat disappointing trip to the Midwest to visit with my extended family. Before I left, a visitor came to our house with a bad cough which I caught before leaving for the airport. So I was sneezing, wheezing and coughing up phlegm on the plane to Chicago. This hacking cough continued throughout the night and during a long drive to Southern Indiana. At our big family reunion, I was too tired to fully participate in all of the activities.

When I had almost recovered, my wife and other relatives caught an even worse flu with constant diarrhea. This disrupted our vacation plans of canoeing, sightseeing, swimming. Furthermore, the weather in the Midwest was cold and rainy most of the time, which dampened our summer fun. In Wisconsin, mosquitoes prevented us from sitting outdoors. Not much of a summer vacation.

I could write pages more about disappointments, both yours and mine. Close friends have a teenage son with severe recurring cancer. Another friend has a homeless brother who has fallen into a nameless coma. People all around are losing jobs. Highly talented young people can’t find work commensurate with their abilities. Seniors have lost a lot of their retirement funds in the financial crisis.

A natural response to our disappointments is resentment. We can vent our rage. We can sulk and withdraw from life’s seeming caprice.

But that is not our only option. We can also acknowledge our disappointments but still make the best of our life situation.

One of the great inspirations of my life was watching the heroic death of Linda Bergwall, who had worked in New York as a fashion designer. Linda received a long series of chemo treatments, but eventually it became clear that they were not working. So she set about buying and fixing up a home in Pennsylvania for her husband Jim and two lovely daughters. She made a farewell visits to family and friends. She came with us on our boat to watch the Vancouver fireworks. She enjoyed good food, music, and every pleasure she could find. She was constantly full of life, although dying.

When Jim and Linda visited our church, they taught us this poignant litany:

God is Good

All of the Time.

All of the Time

God is Good!

To watch Linda’s joyful faith when she was being consumed by cancer seemed contradictory, almost naïve. Yet, I believe she and Jim got it exactly right. It is hard to explain how God is good when our world is in such a hopeless mess. But that is the essence of faith.

I have found several ways to minimize disappointments so that they don’t derail our lives. The first is to Reduce Expectations. Fortunately, I had remembered how many things can go wrong on a family vacation, so I was not surprised by this summer’s events. However, at other times things succeed beyond our imagination. My maxim is high hopes, but low expectations. Giving up on our hopes is not good, but having high expectations that are so often dashed is also frustrating. Essentially, we need to remember that life has lots of ups and downs. We should prepare for both good times and hard times. Neither lasts indefinitely.

A second way to limit the damage is Calm Acceptance. We can not avoid most of the difficulties we encounter, but we have some power over our reactions. Sometimes we dwell on our misfortunes, we complain loudly and look around for who is to blame. A better way is to let the harsh wind blow over us then pick ourselves up and move forward. Otherwise we waste precious energy bewailing our fate.

A third method to avoid being depressed by misfortunes is to Live in the present. Anticipating a wonderful vacation for many weeks seems OK, but can prove disastrous when it fails to materialize. I know a couple that invested huge energy and money for a year abroad; this actually wrecked their marriage when the reality of the experience turned out so much worse than the imagined pleasures. Equally, fretting about past disasters is a barrier to moving ahead. Each day has fresh opportunities and pitfalls. But we need to live one day at a time.

My last suggestion is Embracing Life to the fullest. At my age health concerns for my generation can become all consuming. Talk about diseases, medicines, vitamins, miracle cures, rejuvenation can fill days of conversation. In my experience, these are not only of little value, but they distract from the wonders all around us.

If we calmly accept that our lives will end, sooner or later, we are freed to embrace the delights of life. I have never so appreciated hearing bird calls before, nor savoured the exquisite beauty of each tree I see. Despite elevated blood pressure and deteriorating joints I love to work in my garden and walk by the ocean. I am discovering astonishing music and fantastic foods.

Like you, I have my share of disappointments. But I try to take them in my stride as only a momentary twinge. I stay busy with life’s delights.

Summer in the Garden and by the Ocean

Our Dog Shiraz

Our Animal and Spiritual Nature

I have the loveliest dog named Shiraz. She is a Rottweiler cross, weighing about 70 pounds (32 kg.). She is one year old, gorgeous, friendly, highly intelligent and well trained. She is perhaps the nicest animal I have ever known. But she is clearly an animal with strong animal instincts.

Shiraz dominates our ancient poodle Amigo in ways that are both hilarious and cruel. When we feed Shiraz in her large dish and Amigo in his small dish, Shiraz walks over and quickly empties Amigo’s dish before leisurely finishing her own. If Amigo disputes the pecking order, he receives a growl or a quick bite.

This highly-efficient, competitive instinct has allowed Shiraz’s ancestors to survive when lesser dogs were starving. It is also grossly unfair to our little poodle. Although we have trained Shiraz better than any previous dog, we can not train her to surpass her animal instincts. Her aggressive wolf ancestry lurks just below the surface and comes out when least expected.

I share some of Shiraz’s virtues and also a few of her less admirable qualities. My temper can flare up in an instant. I too am competitive by nature, which has helped me succeed in the business world.

I had the good fortune to take a course in anthropology at Harvard with Irven DeVore, who still appears occasionally on TV nature shows. He told us wonderful stories about living with baboons in Africa, which illustrated graphically that we share a lot of behaviour traits with apes and other primates. For instance, male baboons wake up in the morning and sit around for an hour or more as if having a second cup of coffee, while the female baboons immediately spring into action to care for the young and get going on the day – that describes me and my wife.

Nevertheless, I am more that just a highly evolved animal. I am able to change and grow in ways that Shiraz and the apes can never emulate. I have a much bigger brain capacity. I also have spiritual potential that is nearly divine if I choose to develop it to its fullest. However, this spiritual side never quite fully transcends my animal nature. It seems like the struggle between my two natures—animal and spiritual—will always remain.

Sigmund Freud labeled our animal nature the “Id” and our spiritual capacity the “Superego”. Freud had profound insights about human nature which brought him fame. However, Freud’s materialist worldview limited his comprehension of our spiritual potential. Freud had no room for God and saw the spiritual side as repressing our legitimate animal desires. He never realized that this spiritual nature can enrich our lives immeasurably.

By contrast, his Jewish contemporary Albert Einstein achieved an even higher world stature; this is evidenced by Einstein’s selection by Time Magazine as the “Greatest Person of the Twentieth Century”, far surpassing Freud’s influence.

Einstein said that his faith in a Divine Creator gave him a distinct edge over contemporary physicists who believed in a randomly ordered universe. Einstein sought to understand God’s grand design which governs all matter, from sub-atomic particles to intergalactic space. Einstein paid tribute to God throughout his life. He said: “I want to know God’s thoughts. The rest are details.”

Debate on religious and spiritual issues has gone on for thousands of years and will confront us for the foreseeable future. But the biggest question is whether there is indeed a Higher Power from whom we originate, or whether humans are just the top of the animal pyramid, governed by random chance.

The question of evolution of life on earth is secondary. Most astronomers believe that all of the galaxies were created in one titanic explosion in a single instant of time—the Big Bang. If Einstein is correct that God orchestrated this entire cosmic production, we are wasting time on heated discussions about whether or not plants, animals, and humans change gradually through an evolutionary process. Because if God designed and ordered the most infinitesimal, sub-atomic particles, how could he not also control all subsequent development in all spheres?

We must feed and develop our spiritual nature. On the other hand, we don’t need to view our animal side as primarily negative – it too was created by God. The animal kingdom is wondrously beautiful and captivating. But we can become much more than super-intelligent animals. We have the potential to become sons and daughters of the most high God.

Viewing ourselves as spiritual creatures as opposed to merely being the highest evolutionary achievement in the animal kingdom makes a dramatic difference in our worldview. It changes our behaviour. It alters our destiny. That is what the concept “New Birth” or “Born Again” truly signifies. It means actively embracing our divine heritage and becoming a “Child of God”.

To be spiritual requires humility before a mysterious universe in which we play a special, but quite junior role. We comprehend a lot, but there is far more that lies beyond human comprehension. And our animal nature keeps us humble as well.

We should nourish our body, mind and spirit. Nourishing our spirit is a formidable challenge which takes a lifetime. In past centuries, we entrusted this domain to our religion. Now many people have left religious institutions while still trying to keep up their spiritual beliefs.

We spend a lot of time and money to develop our mind and body. But our spiritual side may be starving on scraps and leftovers. If we truly value our spiritual nature, we need to provide it abundant time and resources. We need to read inspiring books and to associate with others who are spiritually striving. Our spirit, like our mind and body, will atrophy without dedicated commitment and healthy discipline. The Holy Spirit will guide us into all Truth if we pray for wisdom.

Shiraz shares the animal kingdom with other remarkable creatures like the bear I saw in my neighbourhood a few days ago. I wouldn’t want these animals to become much more intelligent with their uncontrollable animal instincts—they are dangerous enough already; imagine what they might do with guns or nuclear weapons. If humans are merely super-intelligent animals, then heaven help us.

Our spiritual side is what links us to a higher order of creation and to the God who governs the universe with exquisite wisdom. Our spiritual nature can connect us to His transcendent wisdom, which should guide our behaviour, our families, our communities and our whole society. That wisdom – if we grasp it fully – could bring world peace and the fulfillment of all our dreams.

Perhaps surprisingly, Einstein would agree. He said:

“If one purges the Judaism of the Prophets and Christianity as Jesus Christ taught it of all subsequent additions, especially those of the priests, one is left with a teaching which is capable of curing all the social ills of humanity.”

The Absence of God

A few weeks ago I was swimming at our local community pool when a fascinating conversation broke out in the hot tub. Two women were discussing their religious beliefs. One woman was excited about joining the local Baptist church, having grown up in another denomination. The other woman said she was an Atheist. She said “I believe in the absence of God”.

I have reflected for several weeks on the absence of God. Many people have experienced God missing at times, whether or not they have a religious faith.

I was struck several years ago by reading a conversation with Mother Teresa. She said that she had gone on for many decades after her first potent experiences of God’s presence, where he spoke powerfully to her. However, her transcendent ecstasies were not repeated again during the next fifty years, despite her exemplary life of service to the dying poor in Calcutta.

I have been reading the French philosopher and mystic, Simone Weil. She wrote about the necessity of God withdrawing intentionally from the human sphere. Otherwise, she says, we would not have the freedom to become the mature spiritual beings that God wants; we might be more like animals or puppets, responding to what God desires in a slavish fashion, rather than in a willing manner. She said God’s love for us requires some distance between us and him.

God’s absence seems apparent in many places. I have seen the empty cathedrals of Europe, lovingly built by people of great faith, but now days admired primarily for their architectural elegance. Has God gone missing in Europe?

What of those who suffer unimaginable evil from crime, war, torture, and exploitation. Where is the presence of God for them? Or is he perhaps found more often during times of misery than in times of pleasure?

Finally, there are references in scripture to God’s absence, whether in the Psalms or in Jesus crying out “My God, why have you forsaken me?”

For many years I have reflected on the presence of God, but now I realize that we experience his absence as well. This dearth is a profound dilemma both for spiritual seekers and for atheists: how do we deal with feeling such an immense absence?

Twenty five years ago my wife and I lost a baby girl who was only 3 ½ months old to crib death. That event left us in profound grief, feeling totally deserted by God. How could God take away a bright child whom we loved so dearly? Kathy had put baby Hannah down for a nap while we celebrated our oldest son’s fifth birthday. But when Kathy went back to check on her, the baby was cold and dead. We grieved for most of a year, wondering what we might have done wrong. Such events shake us profoundly, even if we have a strong faith.

There is a phenomena of “absence makes the heart grow fonder”. When my wife, children or friends reappear after being gone a while, I am overjoyed to see them; I seem more excited than if they had been with me all along. Absence and separation from those we love most is a necessary facet of our existence. Perhaps this is part of why God doesn’t always seem present to us.

Even for those who strongly believe in God, our experience varies between feeling his uplifting presence and at other times experiencing his absences. I believe that God never truly leaves us, but our perceptions change. Should we focus intensely on recapturing his presence in our mind’s eye? Or are we better to wait patiently for this luminous light to reappear like the dawn?

Some people think that powerful worship can bring them quickly into God’s presence. Others wonder if emotional experience may not be more the result of suggestion than his real presence. They believe God is more likely to be heard in a “still, small voice” than in loud celebrations. Perhaps this depends on our temperament.

Our feelings of God are coloured by the religion we practised as children, or by the lack of any religion. We judge everything through that lens. So if we are bitter about our childhood religious experience, God may get tossed out, or at least his image may become disfigured in our mind.

I believe that those who seek God with all their hearts will find him eventually. We may seek God in music, books, scriptures, nature, meditation, prayer, or in other ways. The different ways we each experience God remain a magnificent mystery. So too are his absences.

A wonderful View of Life

Speech by Steve Jobs to Stanford Graduates

God and Money

Spiritual teachers throughout the centuries have focused on the conflict between our aspiration for God and our desire for money.

Money has an obvious, immediate appeal—even to the smallest child. I once offered my two-year old son a quarter. He said: “Don’t want quarters; want dollars”.

Money seems to satisfy all of our immediate needs, plus it brings us status and power. What could be better?

From the perspective of economic theory, money is–plain and simple–the ability to command goods and services from other people. So we can never have more money, except at the cost of some other person needing to produce what we demand because of the power of our money.

Possessing too much money can bring us an attitude self-importance, overconfidence, and conceit. It can deaden our feelings of compassion. It may become our total identity—“I am rich and important”.

Furthermore, material wealth cannot satisfy our deepest longings. It cannot buy love, happiness, health, good relationships, or a sense of lasting significance. It doesn’t help us face the prospect of dying. Wealth more often becomes a barrier in truly relating to other people and to finding God.

So what to do? The landscape of spiritual advice contains contradictory suggestions. Some suggest we give up money entirely and live in voluntary poverty. Others say quite the opposite. They suggest that God abundantly blesses those who are most devoted to Him and so wealth is a visible sign of His special affection—we deserve it.

I like the counsel of John Wesley, the great Methodist preacher of the 18th century. He said strong faith brings discipline to our lives. Discipline tends to bring us wealth after a while. But wealth then often turns our hearts away from God.

How we obtain our money is crucially important. Is our loyalty so strong to a corporation or to a well-paying occupation, that it compromises our allegiance to our family, friends, and to our community? Are we tempted to deceive and mislead in order to get rich? Or perhaps to take advantage of the weak? Do we believe “Let the buyer beware” when we sell our goods and services?

But even more dangerous than the corruption money can bring, is the distraction it presents: the passion, the yearning, and the ache for getting wealth. We may crave nothing else but getting money and spending it, so that it blinds us to all else.

One may even be quite poor, yet still totally obsessed with getting and spending money. We may buy lottery tickets or trade stocks feverishly, hoping to strike it rich. Even if we never succeed financially, our spiritual life may waste away because we devote everything we have in trying to get wealth.

The question comes down to what should take first place in our lives. Is it striving for the betterment of our family, community and the whole of humanity? Is it living our lives by moral and spiritual principals? Is it seeking to do the will of God? Is it creating security in our lives? Is it paying top dollar to keep fit? Is it going for cruises? Is it having a first-rate computer, or the ideal car? Is it using the shopping mall as the main source of pleasure?

We should not hesitate to pursue a good career or build a successful business if that doesn’t contravene our most important relationships in the process. Our spiritual danger comes not from getting money but from pursuing it too fervently at all costs.

There is nothing inherently bad about money per se. But like food or work, it can become an unhealthy obsession. Even worrying too much about whether we have enough is unhealthy. God provides for our needs day by day. That is why we pray “Give us this day our daily bread”.

My mountains

 
 

 
 

We Do Have Enough Time

One of the nameless fears that has always hounded me (mostly subconsciously) is that I don’t have enough time.

Not time enough perhaps for arriving at an appointment punctually. Or for promptly finishing a project. Or for getting taxes filed by the deadline. Or perhaps for finishing my book without delay before I run out of steam.

Last week my wife Kathy said that since we are now retired, we actually do have enough time for everything we really need to do.

At first my mental reaction was no, we never have enough time. I seem perpetually busy, from when I wake up to when I sleep. Even in the night I wake up thinking that I need to send an email, or to work on my writing, or perhaps on my To Do List.

But on reflection, I realize that I do indeed have enough time, and that I have always had enough time, even when I was a busy executive flying from one city or continent to another.

It is true that at age 62 my time is finite. I just went to the doctor for my annual physical exam. Even though I enjoy good health, my doctor soberly explained the different things that could cut my life short. As a male, I am vulnerable to three types of cancer: one is easy to detect (prostate cancer), another is difficult to spot (colon cancer), and the final type is virtually impossible to identify until it is terminal (lung cancer).

But if I continue my exercise, reduce my weight, and constantly monitor my health, I might live into my 80’s or 90’s. But no guarantees.

Well. That might sound a bit discouraging. But on the other hand, it doesn’t need to be dispiriting. I have 525,600 minutes each year to enjoy. Perhaps 10 – 15 million minutes left in my life to fill with wonder.

I have stopped wearing a watch. I don’t need to sit by a computer or TV. I can unplug everything. I can sit and talk to whoever walks by. I can stroll idly around my garden or down to the beach. I can sing old songs. I can cook a meal without hurry.

So I actually do have enough time for whatever comes. And I have always had enough time for what truly mattered most. But we live in a culture that tells us the opposite. It says we never have enough time.

The attitude of hurry and worry fills us with unnecessary anxiety. We either live in the unfinished past or else we dwell on tomorrow’s problems. So there never seems to be enough time to live now, in this present moment.

We must decide which alternative to believe. We can either live our whole lives thinking “I can’t stop for a breath or I may lose this race”, or else we can make a conscious decision to think “I have enough time to slow down to live in the present moment”.

Whichever thought we choose will keep repeating itself in our mind again and again as we face the daily pressures of living.

One thought is tranquil, the other thought is anxious.

So I have decided what to think.

I have Plenty of Time.

Tony Blair & Yale's Faith and Globalization Initiative

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair is challenging the world to involve faith in every aspect of public life. To learn more, check this link.

Here is what Tony Blair said recently:

[My Yale teaching] experience has strengthened my belief that religious faith and economic and social globalization are partners – globalization needs values to succeed. In pushing people together, globalization has made multicultural and multi-religious societies, and it is necessary now for human capital and spiritual capital to link. This, combined with an increased need for multi-faith dialogue and action, will in time be seen as a defining question, and perhaps the leading question of the 21st century.