Sometimes, the New Scientist comes in with fascinating articles and some very unexpected takes on things. The latest edition (17 March 2012) is one of these gems. The article features a scientific look at God and religion and there are some interesting studies and conclusions.
Rather than take you through a scholarly analysis of the various articles, I will jot down what I took away from it.
First off, there is an argument (which is not new) that humans have an innate wiring to see God in the world around us - a greater cause-effect than randomness or just natural laws. Children, one author points out, can outgrow Santa Clause - but still retain their belief in God into adulthood. It is said that the "militant atheists" are bound to get frustrated because its not just a matter of appealing to people's rationality re the "silliness" of believing in a deity - because it is part of the very make up of who we are.
The various authors aren't arguing for the reality of a God as such - but rather recognising the part played by this characteristic of people in our development on the planet - and saying that its not just because were were indoctrinated as kids. Interestingly, taught religious creeds are seen as different from the 'people's religion' within us. A statement is made that while people might say that they see God as per the creeds - all seeing, in everything etc - that often, the actual image individuals have is a type of "super-human" out there looking after us. [Maybe that's why the figure and image of Jesus is so powerful. It allows people to identify with this superhuman a lot more than a more remote less tangible, all powerful Creator of the universe!].
Theologians are likened to scientists - both groups test and reflect and come up with complex laws and rules about how life works. Some if this isn't intuitive to people - as is the inbuilt draw towards god and this people's religion. So the proposition is put that, over time, this inbuilt religious belief is more likely to survive in human kind that theology or science!
I found this fascinating - obviously! Another interesting point was that people with a strong religious faith don't quite trust atheists - a reason why an atheist President of the USA is considered unthinkable [of course a more secular Australia has an atheist Prime Minister!]. Apparently if someone says they don't have a notion of God looking over their shoulder to keep them accountable, then there is a question mark in the mind of many people who do have that image! I have seen video clips where Richard Dawkins is asked by some religious leader how come he doesn't steal, rape and lie etc if there is no God! He rightly says that such a view is silly and that atheists and humanists can have very high moral values when it comes to taking care of the people and world around them and be in awe of what has developed naturally. But this article gives a clue as to why some of the strongly religious can not see this.
One of the articles also presents some of the scientific experiments that have been done to test for God - for example, using "double blind" experiments to see if prayer gives better results than no prayer..... All a bit silly really. One could say that it means that science takes it seriously!
So, an interesting series of articles - which doesn't answer any of the big questions of the world about why we are here etc or whether there really is a God - but it does explain a little about the "god gene" within us and why so many people are open to religion and a belief in God, and why some can follow some quite bizarre beliefs - and why we can have a religious bent even if intellectually we reject formalised religion!
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Three delights
My wife gave me a Dymock's book voucher with the added requirement that "I choose something I would not normally read". This started a roll of 3 (hardopy!) books that, for my money (or hers!) were a delight to read. Each is quite different in story line and plot - but each share a freshness and a whimsy that was captivating.
The three books are: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (Mary Ann Shaffer - a one off, older author & Annie Barrows - her niece who finished the final bits for her aunt who became too ill to complete the final edits and then died); The Messenger (Markus Zusak - he also wrote The Book Thief!) and The Berlin Crossing (Kevin Brophy - a new author that I had not previously been aware). So three quite different books.
First to Guernsey - a coincidence - as we are now planning on visiting Guernsey and this book has whetted the appetite. The book is written as a series of letters between Juliet - a writer for the paper during WW2 now seeking to write a novel; her publisher and good friend (a 'gay' Sidney); her long term friend (now married with babies); a well known tycoon who is who suitor; and a rich number of residents of Guernsey who survived the war. You would think that a series of letters would be disjointed and awkward to read - but this was not the case. The book flowed as you gained a sense of people, place and their stories - and how they were interwoven. It is a story about how Juliet finds herself and place - as an outsider at first - in the hearts and lives of the people she is writing about. I think its the style of the writing that I really liked. It had a 'lilt' in it - but not at the expense of the pain and the drama that people went through. You really wanted the story and the writing to go on - not wanting to lose your now friends.
Then on to the Messenger. Again it was the style that spoke to me. The Book Thief was an incredible journey of words and emotions and capturing the place and moment. The messenger was perhaps a little more contrived, but there as something about the way Jimmy wrote in first person about what he encountered in others - in the apparently dysfunctional friends and family - and in the people that he was "sent" to help. It could have been too sappy - but the confusion within Jimmy stopped that happening. At one level, there is a simplistic underlying moral about looking out for people and 'spreading the love'. On another there was something deeper about the way we see ourselves - and others. I liked it. It took me on a plane from Brisbane to Darwin (4 hours) nicely - I finished the last sentence as the wheels bounced on the tarmac!
Finally, to The Berlin Crossing. It was a surprise. Having enjoyed the messenger on my way to Darwin - and even though I have a number of fresh books loaded onto my kindle, I opted to buy a book at the airport for the flight back to Brisbane. I saw this book amongst some of my more regular authors - glanced at its writing style - and then went for it. An unknown to me. It is about a young man living in East Germany after the wall comes down. As the "wessies" come into the east to take over and enlighten the people, he loses his university job because of his previous party membership (and the old Russian car that he drives!) and is with his mother at her deathbed when she tells him where he can find out about his 'real' father. This starts a search for significance (hence the link with the other books I think!). The book switches to the story about how his Irish German father was coerced into spying for Britain, met his mother and died to save her. An underlying issue - and the trigger for the book - was the difficulty that many East Germans faced once the wall was down - how they felt un-valued and looked down on. The clash between the austere and socialist approach of communism and the new capitalism was brought out - as too was the paradox between his loyalty to the system that made him - and seeing the ruthlessness used to maintain its status. But again, it was a story of understanding yourself and finding your place in the world.
All of these books are well worth the read! None are a grind - and all leave you feeling like you gained something personally from the experience. They talk to "what is life about"? And in these books it seems to come out as: having this sense of place; being able to contribute to those around you; and the importance of relationships. And this all resonated.
Happy reading!
The three books are: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (Mary Ann Shaffer - a one off, older author & Annie Barrows - her niece who finished the final bits for her aunt who became too ill to complete the final edits and then died); The Messenger (Markus Zusak - he also wrote The Book Thief!) and The Berlin Crossing (Kevin Brophy - a new author that I had not previously been aware). So three quite different books.
First to Guernsey - a coincidence - as we are now planning on visiting Guernsey and this book has whetted the appetite. The book is written as a series of letters between Juliet - a writer for the paper during WW2 now seeking to write a novel; her publisher and good friend (a 'gay' Sidney); her long term friend (now married with babies); a well known tycoon who is who suitor; and a rich number of residents of Guernsey who survived the war. You would think that a series of letters would be disjointed and awkward to read - but this was not the case. The book flowed as you gained a sense of people, place and their stories - and how they were interwoven. It is a story about how Juliet finds herself and place - as an outsider at first - in the hearts and lives of the people she is writing about. I think its the style of the writing that I really liked. It had a 'lilt' in it - but not at the expense of the pain and the drama that people went through. You really wanted the story and the writing to go on - not wanting to lose your now friends.
Then on to the Messenger. Again it was the style that spoke to me. The Book Thief was an incredible journey of words and emotions and capturing the place and moment. The messenger was perhaps a little more contrived, but there as something about the way Jimmy wrote in first person about what he encountered in others - in the apparently dysfunctional friends and family - and in the people that he was "sent" to help. It could have been too sappy - but the confusion within Jimmy stopped that happening. At one level, there is a simplistic underlying moral about looking out for people and 'spreading the love'. On another there was something deeper about the way we see ourselves - and others. I liked it. It took me on a plane from Brisbane to Darwin (4 hours) nicely - I finished the last sentence as the wheels bounced on the tarmac!
Finally, to The Berlin Crossing. It was a surprise. Having enjoyed the messenger on my way to Darwin - and even though I have a number of fresh books loaded onto my kindle, I opted to buy a book at the airport for the flight back to Brisbane. I saw this book amongst some of my more regular authors - glanced at its writing style - and then went for it. An unknown to me. It is about a young man living in East Germany after the wall comes down. As the "wessies" come into the east to take over and enlighten the people, he loses his university job because of his previous party membership (and the old Russian car that he drives!) and is with his mother at her deathbed when she tells him where he can find out about his 'real' father. This starts a search for significance (hence the link with the other books I think!). The book switches to the story about how his Irish German father was coerced into spying for Britain, met his mother and died to save her. An underlying issue - and the trigger for the book - was the difficulty that many East Germans faced once the wall was down - how they felt un-valued and looked down on. The clash between the austere and socialist approach of communism and the new capitalism was brought out - as too was the paradox between his loyalty to the system that made him - and seeing the ruthlessness used to maintain its status. But again, it was a story of understanding yourself and finding your place in the world.
All of these books are well worth the read! None are a grind - and all leave you feeling like you gained something personally from the experience. They talk to "what is life about"? And in these books it seems to come out as: having this sense of place; being able to contribute to those around you; and the importance of relationships. And this all resonated.
Happy reading!
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