“Whatever is flexible and flowing will tend to grow; whatever is rigid and blocked will wither and die.” The Tao Te Ching contains much of such wisdom. As we learn and grow in experience, we gain wisdom. We seek, we examine, we weigh. We reject that which makes no sense to us. Those things that we deem worthy and sensible we may choose to incorporate into our own worldview. And the wisdom that we hold dearest remains uppermost in our minds.
The environment we live in is important, but what is inside us is vital. We hunger for truth, but where truth actually lies is something we must ultimately decide for ourselves. We must think critically and form our own opinions. Allowing someone else to dictate to us what is true and what is not makes us slaves to another’s beliefs. If our minds cannot be chained, we will remain free, even if our bodies should be enslaved.
All good people seek peace, harmony and comfort. Some of us cannot find these in organized religion. Peace? Too often organized religion leads to conflict, hate and war. Harmony? When organized religions assert that they are right, and all other religions are wrong, someone has to be wrong. The result is anything but harmony. Comfort? Comfort comes from acceptance. If you find comfort in your beliefs, I would never want to deny you that comfort. Your faith may be among the most important things in your life. But you must bear in mind that I have found peace and comfort in my own beliefs, and these will be profoundly disturbed if you try to force your beliefs, or worse yet, your practices, onto me against my will. I think it is fair that we all be free to evangelize. By evangelization I mean spreading the word and being witnesses to the joy we find in our faith. I distinguish this from proselytizing, which I define as an intrusive and pushy way of trying to convert someone. When we evangelize we make our beliefs public, out where people can see and hear them so that interested parties can be exposed to our way of thinking. Some people want to be left alone. I don’t think we have any right to suppress the free exchange of ideas or to force our beliefs on others.
As a youth I adopted the faith of my family and peers. I tried very hard, but I never felt comfortable in that faith. I drifted for many years, frankly, not caring much about faith at all. Later, I sampled many beliefs – Eastern, Western and New Age – but I did not find comfort in any of these beliefs. Then, some time ago, I read Paine’s Age of Reason, and I realized I was a Deist. I found Paine’s critical style wearisome after a while. I think critical Deism is necessary at first, but ultimately we must figure out what is right about Deism, not just what is wrong with other religions. While I knew I was a Deist, my comfort level increased greatly when I discovered positive and affirming forms of Deism.
Shira Tehrani said that you can’t do anything about the length of your life, but you can do something about its width and depth. Deism has broadened my horizons, and I now feel a profound appreciation of nature and life. I weigh important questions against my beliefs. I seldom find conflicts. I am even comfortable in relationship to my former faith. I think there is much wisdom there if people don’t take things too literally.
I have come to the realization that when religion takes the blame for something terrible, the real culprit is groupthink. When people act like mobs and let other people do their thinking for them, bad things happen. Religion is not the problem, groupthink is the problem. When people stop thinking for themselves and let their religious, philosophical, ethnic, racial, or ideological leaders do their thinking for them, individuality will be trampled, rights will be abridged, people will be hurt and lives will be lost. You can stand up to the Taliban, whether they are wearing turbans or thumping a sacred text or sitting on a school board. Think for yourself, and stand up for your rights. Do not be intimidated. Be comfortable in your own skin.
