God Is.

One of my sisters recently mentioned in an email her belief that religion is a bunch of hooey. I'm paraphrasing, mind you, but that adequetely conveys the sentiment she expressed. And she is not alone. Her viewpoint is shared by a great many people, and it usually follows the following thought pattern:

Religion divides people, causes wars, gives some people an excuse to kill other people, and generally allows one group to think it's superior to another. Therefore religion is hooey.

This thought pattern is illogical; even if the predicates are sometimes true (and I think they are), they are not always true. Other things can also cause the ills noted above, and religion can also engender humanity's best traits--respect for life, love of peace, charity and humility. Thus, the only permissible conclusion is that religion can be a bunch of hooey, but it can also be a wonderful thing that elevates the human condition. So how do we guard against the former and seek the latter? God seems like a pretty good place to start.

God is basic to religion, and I can't remember a time that I ever doubted God's existence. How can even the smallest particle exist without a Creator? Everything has to have been created somehow. Call it science, nature, "big bang", randomness--what have you. Who made that very first particle, or gas molecule, that some say randomly became our universe? To me the answer is clear: God.

That said, and secure in my belief, I also recognize that my belief in God is nothing more than an inferrence I have drawn from the evidence available to me. He has not verbalized to me that He exists. Nor has She appeared visually to me in any physical form. And for every convincing article of proof, there could also be another explanation. Thus, I have to accept that my inferrence could be wrong. I accept there might not be a God, but I do not believe it.

The vastness and the interrelationship of creation makes me even more convinced of God's existence. It's at this point that many religious people get into trouble, because beyond belief lies interpretation. I have learned to be very skeptical of declarative statements about God which are more than two words long. God is this. Or God wants that. Or, worse, God hates the other thing. As likely as not, everything beyond the second word lacks proof. Surely God wants something and, hopefully, it's for people to love each other. And I suppose God hates other things, like greed, arrogance and violence. And I could suggest what God "is", but it would just be a guess. The purest, truest, declaratve statment about God, is merely that "God is". Beyond that, we just can't know.

Those who claim exclusivity with God approach religion with a hubris that is factually insupportable and morally inexcuseable. We should recognize this fraud and label it such. But to deny the relevance or the goodness of religion, is to throw the baby out with the bath water. The bad things often done in the name of religion do not come from religion itself but, rather, from its perversion. Interpret God. Praise God. Worship God however you choose--whether or not within confines of traditional religion. Or don't, if you feel the Creator of all existence neither seeks nor need such worship. But whichever you choose, do so with humility.

Most people think that agnosticism is the opposite of religion. I disgree. I think the opposite of religion is hubris. Purporting to recognize the vast mystery of God while purporting also to know God's thoughts, wishes and desires, is hubris, pure and simple. If someone says it's impermissible to question or doubt their interpretation of religion, then reject that person--but not necessarily his religion. Be it the Pope or some other learned prelate, remember: no one can say authoritatively anything more than "God is". Beyond that, declarative statements are mere speculation.

If the goal is to worship God, then it should not matter how one chooses to do so. When a person demands that someone else's worship of God is wrong unless it's like his own, it's not worship he seeks, but conformance, which has become his God. None of us can know more about God than His mere and awesome existence, so it is especially arrogant--and, again, pure speculation--to presume that some praise pleases God while other praise does not. I suspect God is as pleased to hear the praise of Christians as He is Muslims, Jews, Hindus and those not affiliated with organized religion.

So look around. The oceans, the trees, the heavens, your own body, even a sunny day. It all attests to the power and design of a Creator. Anything that acknowledges just this much can't be hooey.