NY Times Op-Ed columnist Charles Blow points out in this article that many people seem to need "spiritualism" even if it encompasses merely (nontheistic) transcendence from everyday life. Many who are raised outside of traditional religion gravitate to it, but not because of dogma. Rather, it is the sense of community that draws them in. Put another way, it is the pomp, potlucks and picnics that people need, not the father, the son or the holy ghost.Dale McGowan, who will be offering a Parenting Beyond Belief seminar and a Platform at the Bergen Society in October, is quoted in the article.
Dale McGowan, who was quoted in Blow's article, also posted a comment, which can be found here.
ReplyDeleteAs submitted to the NY Times:
ReplyDelete"There was still a void, and communities of the faithful helped fill it. ... But when is the choir going to sing? And when is the picnic? And is my child going to get a part in the holiday play?"
Among nonbelievers, some eschew this "churchism" and others, as Charles points out, thrive in it. The thrivers are torn between suppressing their touchy-feely side and swallowing hard to get past the belief dogma of their local church, synagogue or mosque. And of those who swallow hard and attend, guess what happens to their children? They attend Sunday school, are indoctrinated in the local dogma, and are categorized on the next Pew survey as "raised in a religion".
Charles rightly points out that nonbelievers need to "do a better job of appealing to the ethereal part of our human exceptionalism". There does exist a religious humanist movement, the largest and oldest of which is the Ethical Culture Society (25 Societies around the U.S.). They meet weekly, in a church-like format but on a basis that is 100% rationalist and naturalist. There is no "party line" regarding the existence or non-existence of supernatural elements, and as a result members are both believers and non-believers (the majority being the latter).
Is this a religion? Not if one defines religion to include at least some supernatural belief (eg, resurrection, tablets from god, ascent to heaven, etc). But the religious humanists claim that supernaturalism does not a religion make. What is religious about their humanism, they claim is exactly what Charles describes: weekly services that include music, public announcements and a donation basket, as well as Sunday school for children, picnics and potlucks. In short, spiritualism. And, by the way, the federal government agrees with them on this point.