Sexy Doubt
Doubt is a hot topic and doubters and skeptics are persons of interest for churches given the rise of the “nones” (and the decline of the nuns). For many who were raised on traditional Christianity a plausibility gap has opened up for a number of reasons, here are a few large ones:
- the rise of cosmopolitan relativism (See John Suk’s book “Not Sure”)
- postmodern suspicions that organized religion is a rigged game of power at the expense of the weak
- a Scientism fueled by the success of technology in improving human control over nature
- raising a moral critique of Yhwh mostly in the Hebrew Scriptures based on Canaanite genocide, slavery, treatment of gays and women
While skepticism is common in human experience, it flourishes in contexts of affluence and comfort devoid of the necessity of consequential decision making of immediate life and death.
That Which Is Beyond Doubt
I very much understand and feel the attraction of skepticism (given the bubble of relative affluence and comfort of my life and the ways that I too am subject to the influence of the list above) but a larger sliding of my perspective on time invites me into a more desperate, dark sphere. While one part of me resides in a middle class world buoyed by government entitlements, private insurance and the grace of loving family and community another resides in a world filled with the poor, the homeless, the mentally ill, the sick and the dying. I see first hand how tenuous is our grasp on the life we feel entitled to by our consumer economy.
I have in my congregation driven some of my good people to frustrating by my continued utterance of the phrase “the age of decay” to describe this world. The fact is I can’t let it go. I see it all around me. Men, women and children finally lose whatever it is that they have gained and that which they cherished and prized is stolen, trampled, forgotten or destroyed.
If in fact you look at a very long view of time the news is even more grim. David Brin, a scientist and science fiction author wrote a captivating piece for the online magazine Salon answering the question “How will the world end?” The end of every civilization is not a matter of if, but when. There are at least 210 theories of the causes of the demise of the Roman Empire and no consensus. The world we have invested ourselves into will end, sooner or later.
The Great Filter
Brin goes on to describe Enrico Fermi’s observation to colleagues while he worked on the Manhattan Project. Continue reading
