Love

Over the last few days, several bloggers here in Iceland have been involved in a debate about whether or not atheism is a religion. Now of course that sounds preposterous in a way, since atheists do not believe in a god. But if one looks closely at the details, it is apparent that there is an "atheist movement" in Iceland led by a group of people who: meet regularly in private to discuss their ideas; actively lobby the government to change its spending practices; and hold public events wherein they try to gather more supporters. It was on this basis, the tendency to proselytize, that at least some of the argument turned.

One blogger in fact found this tendency especially annoying, and compared it to the religious person who did not make a big deal out of going to church, who was fine with the idea of the Bible being written by man but inspired by God, and believed in evolution with the caveat that God started it, etc.

I woke up this morning thinking about this, about this type of religious person. And I realized that actually I  had formed the opinion quite some time ago that this type of religious person and some types of atheists are exactly alike, believe in fact the same thing.

I consider myself a Christian who has decided that the Bible is not literal and I do not feel the need to go to church regularly, so I will make the supposition that Christians like this are Christians who have taken the words of the Apostle Paul rather seriously. And by this I mean specifically Paul's ideas about love. Paul believed that the greatest emotion was love, and that simply God is Love.

In the clarity of thought that comes first thing in the morning, I came up with the idea that for other religions, other emotions are paramount. Buddhist focus on harmony and peace, for instance. Anthropologists seem to think many primitive religions focused on sexuality and fertility. Certainly many politicians believe other religions focus on hate and punishment.

The Christian-light movement of the United States focuses a lot on love. Love carries with it a certain proselytizing element, because love is a proactive emotion. Jesus acted out of love when he stormed into the temple and threw out all the merchants. Love is not a passive wishing and hoping and daydreaming type of emotion. Love is the thing that makes a parent run into a burning building to save their child. Love binds us to those around us in such a way that all we want to do is improve the world for those we love.

I read some articles by some atheists that actually said the same thing, that they believed in and admired the human capacity for love and that they were trying to expand the role of love in their own lives. When I read that, I lost a lot of my suspicion or fear over atheists. Before then, I had rather thought the emotion they subscribed to most of all was cynicism.

But that was very cynical of me.

Comments

Pierre said…
Hello girl. Talks on life seem to be endless. This is not a reason to stop talking. P. M.
July 27, 2010 at 9:57 AM
Jon said…
Good point Pierre. All you need is love (thank you Beatles).
July 27, 2010 at 10:02 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dett í, ofan á, úr, út

I´m not sure if someone had dett í (gotten drunk), or if það bara dett ofan á (it just sort of happened), or if some dett úr (forgot), but at any rate, my household goods dett út (have disappeared). Let's review the chronology here. Early August packers from the shipping company arrive at the apartment in Moraga. They load my 4 large plastic containers and 8 cardboard boxes, plus one baby crib, into their truck. I watch my things depart. In September, I ask the friendly girl (Magie is her name) if she happens to know when I might expect my stuff. Late September she tells me. I am most impressed. Extremely so. Mid October rolls around, and I have not gotten a call. And it occurs to me that I am going to be traveling through November. Hmm. So I call again. Well, yes, she tells me, looks like your shipment should arrive on the 31st of October. Now here I admit that maybe I was a little lacks. I had a lot to do before my trip, and so when they did not call me, I did not follow ...
Read more

Cultural tourism in Iceland

I just finished writing a chapter of my dissertation, which resulted in a much larger discussion of cultural tourism in Iceland than I had intended. But the fact is, this is an issue I have been extremely interested and concerned about for at least 15 years, if not 20. I have never, ever liked the way Iceland is marketed to tourists in the U.S. Everything from the unspoiled nature to the crazy city life in Reykavik. It has always left the part of Iceland I loved--the simple joy of being in a relaxing and lovely place with my family--completely out of the picture. In 2001, I went to Hvollsvöllur to examine the Saga Centre as part of a study commissioned by the National Park's service to look into cultural landscapes as heritage tourism. I thought that endeavor might represent a change in how Iceland was presented to tourists. But in the last 10 years, and especially while working at Vikingaheimar, and at meetings with the Saga Trails Association, I came to see just how completel...
Read more

On Icelandic doctors

My friends and family here in Iceland were very enthusiastic about me going to the krabbameinsfélag for an exam. I was really impressed how easy it was to get an appointment--booked online even! And when I got there this afternoon, the efficiency continued: they have a well oiled operation in place there, all very organized with computers asking questions and keyed lockers to keep one's personal belongings in. Then when it came time to see the doctor, well, that lasted all of 2 minutes. And I paid 3420 kroner. So I was overall a little disappointed. When I mentioned to the front desk clerks that I was wondering if it was possible to actually get an appointment where I could speak to a doctor, I was given a variety of phone numbers. None of the ones I called had appointments within the next 6 weeks. In the United States, when I want a doctor's appointment, I can usually get it within a week of calling, though sometimes I have had to wait 10 days or so. The highest co-pay I hav...
Read more