The three that seem to be most provocative are:
1) There is Probably No God. Now Stop Worrying and Enjoy Your Life.
2) Why believe in a God? Just be good for goodness’ sake.
3) You Can Be Good Without God.
The United Church’s response to the first one has been to say, “There is probably a God. Now Stop Worrying and Enjoy Your Life.” While there is no question in my mind that God means for us to live a life of abundance and therefore gratitude, what gives me pause with both statements is that they seem very flippant. They belie the fact that some things should be worried about like war, hunger, disparity and environmental degradation. It should be “There probably is a God. Now enjoy your life, but worry sometimes about the big things.”
Concerning the second and third statements, being good for goodness sake is fine. You can definitely be good without God. I have met many fine atheists and was, in fact, one myself for many years. However, being open to the presence and power of God makes being “good” take on many other dimensions.
Prayer, in particular, provides a challenge to being good, a guidance that makes me move beyond my own human preconceptions about what is “good.” Believing in God and being part of a faith community that wrestles weekly with what it means to be “good” also challenges me to broaden my outlook as I dialogue others with whom I often may not agree. We can all be “good” contemplating life sitting on our living room couches, but sitting next to “old so and so” while lovingly disagreeing with them really is where the rubber hits the road.
Finally, I fundamentally disagree with Halifax Regional Transit Authority not allowing the ads to be in their bus shelters. Free speech is foundational to a democracy and atheists or humanists have every right to say there is no God. I welcome the debate. Anytime we get people talking about God over the water coolers in their workplaces and around the supper tables is a “good” thing.
What do you think? Please click the comments link below and post your opinion.
