Compassionate Atheism

An interesting title for an essay. You might be of a mind to instantly reject the article, or you may be of a mind to at least find out what it’s about. Actually, It's just a wild idea. But you never know, sometimes interesting things start with a wild idea. I’ll try to keep it short.

God, religion, and the analysis, and or, rejection of the hypothesis of God is such an integral part of human life and civilization that it often takes up as much analytic mental effort as deciding whether or not to have breakfast. Most people have breakfast, some don’t, some have a big breakfast, and some spend time on the creation of breakfast. And religion is sort of like that, It can be an important part of life, or not, it can take up a lot of time and effort, or not, it can be the basis of the judgments of the day, or not. Breakfast is a highly variable part of life and so is religion. Most of us know that religion in some form or another, has been with humanity ever since we were very quickly “created” supernaturally, or spent a few millions of years biologically evolving into a sentient life form.

Now, at this time in the life of our species, like every species of animal that has ever lived on Earth, or that is living on Earth at this time, we hit a point in our existence where there are great changes. We may survive, and we may not survive. Over time this happens to all species of life on Earth, but not by their own hand, claw, beak, or paw. We are unique, however, in that we have the intellect, if we use it, to know what we are up against, and the ability, never before seen on Earth, to control evolution and our environment and build our presence on Earth in a way that will allow our species to live and prosper on a planet designed for our permanent existence. Will we? I hope so.

From the relatively recent development of the biological, technical, social life, and skills, of our species, we can see, or at least expect, that religion, will be a major presence in whatever the future of our species becomes. And we can also infer that from the time that we first expressed knowledge of our presence in life with drawings of animals and handprints on the walls of caves; to our modern creation of nuclear weapons, that we link our existence to the concept that one or many supernatural beings were somehow, someway, for various reasons, intimately linked to our existence and to our future. Religions sprouted from these primitive intellectual seeds and many religions were created to explain the how and why of our past, and how to request the Gods of our creation to provide us with an Earthly and eventual supernatural future. And through our modern religions, this still is the major influence in the birth, the life, and the death of our existence.

Most humans throughout our Earth, not only have breakfast every day but also have a connection with a religion that helps us navigate the dangerous waters of human life on Earth. However… ?science has questioned and proven that religions, as expressed in ancient days and up to and including the present does not have correct questions and answers for our origin. In the last three centuries, the development of science has shown, that nature and humanity are not the magical results of supernatural creation. And this is the way almost all religions explain the presence of humanity and our unique intellectual capabilities. The future we humans create will be a product of human minds and human hands, and not the result of supernatural direction.

Religion is still an important part of most human life, but ever since the 16th century, the development of science has directed humanity away from the supernatural base of religion as the explanation of existence. The truth of science proven through observations and experimentation, has replaced the ancient superstitions of religions and imagination as the basis for understanding the physical nature of existence.

However, belief and dependence on religion is still the basis for the creation and structure of human governments and society. Science and technology have weakened the iron hand of religion, and the expulsion of religion in many aspects of modern human life is reducing the universality of religion. In many countries, and strongly at this time in the United States, religion is struggling with the development of rejection of religious belief. There are now beliefs that reject what was the universal mandate of superstitious belief and we now evaluate humanity and nature through intellectual structures other than religion. There are now three basic paths one can take to examine, explore, and create or reject belief in the origin and nature of humanity.

These are, in my opinion… 1- Religion, 2- Agnosticism, and 3- Atheism.

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1. The first is the selection of a religion and obedience to the teachings of that religion, new or old, that explains who you are, how you came to be, and how you must worship the God of that religion to make the God of Creation satisfied with your existence. Religion usually comes from family, but as science and reason advance, and families scatter, individuals are more likely to seek their own path through the forests of existence. ?

2. The second is Agnosticism, a sort of a “sitting on the fence “situation” where you can’t accept the supernaturality of established religions and can’t express a belief in a supernatural God, you think that the supernatural base of religion is unknown and/or unknowable. God is not adequately explained or described by any religion but then, the total absence of God is not a sure thing either. ??

3. The third possibility is Atheism, a belief that supernatural beings simply do not exist and that there is no solid evidence that a god as described by any religion exists. Usually, this carries the added opinion that religion is detrimental to the continued existence of humanity, that religion fosters war and murder rather than creating a compassionate society composed of all human beings that protects and preserves the structure of humanity.

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Whenever, if humanity can rationally, scientifically, and compassionately develop a plan that will preserve the existence of humanity on a planet that can conserve both human existence and nature in a biologically stable environment; then we can talk about the future with an assurance that humanity will survive.

There is one social characteristic that is spread a bit thinly throughout humanity and also found in many other species of animals. It's origin may be in the increased survival of offspring that are cared for with strong emotion. It is not usually recognized for its great importance in human culture, but if accurately recognized and appreciated, it could be instrumental in stabilizing human behavior. This would be the recognition and nourishment of the emotion of compassion. The meaning of compassion is "to suffer together" and it stretches from feeding a lost and hungry dog, to giving a lifetime of care to injured humans. Most humans have strong compassion and feel good when they apply it to a hurting family member, and usually also to an unknown person in a difficult situation. It might be possible to extend human compassion to aid the survival of tribes and families, and of great importance, extend compassion into the realm of protecting not only individual lives, but also to the creation of the necessary changes to protect the existence of communities and environments.

Religion typically lauds compassion in almost all situations, but mostly confines compassion to their own beliefs. There is a history of religions slaughtering those not of their religion. I think that modern atheism and agnosticism probably have the same general expression of compassion for others as established religions. Compassion in the care of infants was, I'm sure, a factor in the survival and evolution of early humans, as well as a factor in the survival of the young of other animals as well.

I wonder, if at some future time, the expression of compassion could become an essential part of atheism and agnosticism, and also, hopefully, in most religions, and perhaps if compassion was improved and expanded through genetic manipulation, making compassion a major part of humanity, it could be a factor in the control of human populations. Compassionate concern for humanity would be a valuable tool in correcting overpopulation and environmental decline. Then, in a future not terribly far from now, the application of compassion to the survival of humanity could lead to control of birth rates through an accepted control of pregnancy to keep humanity at a comfortable population size for a single planet. Perhaps most religions could also support population control, and all that coupled with universal birth control and a serious concern for the future of humanity, perhaps such a merger of human concern and human compassion would help design a compatible and functional future for humanity? One can let one’s mind wonder, can’t one?

?Martin Moe