Religion is a tough thing to write about publicly, mainly because it is so personal. I do not dip into a public blog entry on "challenge" and "religion" lightly. But I have a story to tell, and I think it can be done without denigrating anyone's beliefs. Ahem...here goes:
As a child growing up in the suburbs of Atlanta, our neighborhood was often visited in summer Saturdays by groups of Jehovah's Witnesses. When their cars started parking and they began walking up our driveways in pairs my family typically hid and refused to answer the door. Then my sister, mother and I peeked out of our dining room window and looked across the street as the weekend visitors knocked on the door of Reverend Smith.
Reverend Smith was a typical Protestant Minister - a warm, friendly man, the kind you want to perform at your wedding. But when the Jehovah's Witnesses arrived at his door it was a different kind of performance. He would literally stand on his front porch for hours debating the faith with his visitors. I'll never forget my mother saying, "They didn't know what they were in for!" I have no idea what they spoke about for hours. Their difference in perspective was not as divergent as a Rabbi facing an Imam, but I am sure if was a good, Socratic dialog of some kind.
About twenty-five years later, I had my own such experience. A few weeks ago on a sunny and hot Saturday morning, I was working in the garage. "Working" in this case meant putting my golf clubs into the car trunk and preparing to hit a few balls at the range. Suddenly I turned around and saw two men in white shirts and ties standing and smiling at the top of my driveway a few yards away. My first gut instinct was to say "no thanks" - a modern-day equivalent of the 9-year-old boy running and hiding. But then I thought back to watching Reverend Smith and said to myself, "Let's see what they have to say."
I did not know much about the Jehovah's Witness faith and I did not enter the conversation with anything other than genuine curiosity. I was very open with my visitors that I am still trying to figure religion and faith out for myself. Our conversation was good and lively. We talked about current events and their meaning, and we looked at a few Bible quotes that they pointed out. Overall, I enjoyed this good, honest driveway discussion about religion and beliefs. It was the kind of chat that is typically discouraged at the office and impossible among casual acquaintances at children's birthday parties.
But as our conversation went on I actually became more and more disappointed. The more I probed or questioned, the clearer it became that they were not really open to different ideas. It became obvious that they had very strong opinions and were used to deflecting doubt or criticism each weekend. They were true believers and saw their mission to convert others to the faith.
To me, for a belief system to work it cannot rely on simple, blind faith. Some challenge is needed to improve the dialog - meaning that believers must be willing to challenge their own beliefs. Like in science, a theory becomes stronger the more experiments attempt to disprove it. Obviously religion is unlike science in many ways, but it is not immune to critical examination and change.
The Catholic Church alone has made many changes over its 2,000 year history - including an embrace of many scientific discoveries. And recently, Pope Benedict spoke about the need for Reason in the discussion of religion. In a recent speech that is now only remembered for the anger it incited among Muslims, Benedict said:
""In the beginning was the Word. God acts with logos. Logos means both reason and word. The inner rapprochement between Biblical faith and Greek philosophical inquiry was an event of decisive importance not only from the standpoint of history of religions, but also from that of world history. . . . This convergence, with the subsequent addition of the Roman heritage, created Europe."
At the end of our discussion, we both agreed on a central problem, that "Kings and government cannot make the world a better place by themselves." But we disagreed on the solution. My visitors believe that only God, by reappearing (sometime soon according to current events), could set things right and return us to the Garden. For me, for now, I believe that God wants to see if we can figure it out on our own - thus giving us the challenge to improve what He set in motion long, long ago.
I will keep thinking, learning and examining my own beliefs - including by reading my three complimentary copies of Awake! But I hope my visitors will look deeper as well. To quote my favorite philosopher, Socrates, who was, indeed a religious man: "He who is wise admits he knows nothing."
For more information on the Jehovah's Witnesses: (1) Wikipedia; (2) Official Site.
Great article, Bob... religion is a fascinating topic.
I'm learning a great deal about Buddhism at the moment - it's interesting to study a "religion" that's extremely non-dogmatic and decentralized, but still advocates a consistent and coherent set of ethical and moral principles. You can find a brief overview at http://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/basic-guide.htm.
Hope all is well with you and your family! :-)
Josh
Posted by: Josh Kaufman | October 02, 2006 at 01:35 PM