Conversations With christians - Beth 1 - First Question

I got an email from another christian last week! We'll call her Beth. Like the other christians who have wanted to talk to me about god, she doesn't want to argue.


Here's what she said in her opening email:

Upon reading your "12 Steps to Enlightenment" I saw a comment from someone much like myself who was genuinely curious as to why you believe what you believe and how you came to such conclusions. I too would like to know, if you do not mind.
I'd like to make it clear I am not here to prove to you a deity exists or that I'm right or wrong. I just want to talk in depth with someone about it without it turning into an argument.

I am not interested in proving there is a God, but rather figuring out the absolute truth behind the origin of life. Although I admit I am a Christian, I still am open to learning about other possibilities.

I had to reply to this second statement:

You say you want to figure out the absolute truth behind the origin of life. I might just say that I will freely admit, and I think all atheists would agree, we have no idea what the “absolute truth” is of the origin of life. That’s what science is about. Trying to figure that out. But no one knows. Not christians, not muslims, and not atheists or scientists. All we can do is guess and ask questions and test and explore. Anyone who says they know the origins of life is lying to you and to themselves.

She hasn't responded yet.

After making sure I could use our conversations as inspiration on HDC, here's what she asked me:

Do you equate religion with deities or do you view them as separate? In other words, do you think man created God or Gods, or do you think that despite religion's obvious flaws, God is not defined by them?

In my opinion, based on my studies, man created gods as soon as he started experiencing unpredictability in nature, and as soon as he started thinking and questioning. (He meaning he/she.. all people, of course). So it seems that the god came first and the ritual came directly after as a way to try to get the good result to repeat itself (superstition). The bargaining with the god was wrapped up in that same experience.

I wrote about a study awhile ago. It’s about how if you feel you don’t have control, you tend to see more patterns in things. You get more superstitious. So if you feel like you have no control over the weather, predators, life or death, natural disasters, etc etc, you tend to see meaning where there is none.

And once you start getting superstitious, it’s easy to assign a supreme being as being in charge of that. Otherwise you can’t understand why things happen the way they do, seemingly randomly. It’s frightening. With superstition and a belief in a god or gods, you have answers to all kinds of questions.

Now, of course, we have science, which answers those questions for us. Not all the questions have been answered. In fact, new answers lead to new and exciting questions. But certainly enough evidence has been examined over the millennia to notice that there is none when it comes to anything supernatural, be it gods, fairies or magical energies. The real world is amazing enough. The answers are there, we just have to figure out how to understand the world around us. Then superstitions and gods tend to fall away.

If you look at scientists, you’ll find that the more educated you get the less likely you are to believe in gods. There was a poll done of scientists a year or more ago. I can’t find it offhand, but the results were as I just stated.    *Does anyone know where to find the study I'm referring to? Please let me know so I can link to it!

{EDIT: See Johnny's comment below for info on the surveys. Here is a link to a reprint.}

So I heard from Beth again after I emailed my thoughts which I just shared with you. She asked for clarification:

I will be honest with you, and do not think I group together all atheists, but that is often the answer I receive. However, part of what I asked you did not respond to, which I blame myself for. I did not articulate well, evidently. When I asked you if you separated religion from God I meant, do you personally think that God was invented by man, merely an idea, or can you see the possibility of an omnipotent being existing even with religion being around that defines them incorrectly?

According to what you said in the last email, your answer sounds like you think God is not real, but a figment of human imagination.

I’m sorry if I was not clear in my first reply. Based on everything I’ve studied, it is clear to me that man created gods, and gods are just a figment of man’s imagination.

I don’t think there are gods at all. I don’t believe in any kind of supernatural. So gods are just a way for man to make sense of the world when everything seems chaotic and out of control. It’s man’s way of hopefully gaining some kind of control, through subjugation to a supreme being who seemingly controls the forces of nature at his whim. Gain favor with the supreme being and you gain control over the chaotic forces that cause you problems in your life.

Then I asked her some questions:

Have you always believed in god? What type of christian do you define yourself as? Why are you interested in talking to an atheist about the nature of god and religion? What do you hope to get out of these conversations?

I really wonder about those last questions I asked. It seems strange to me, but also gives me hope. Let's see if she answers them!