The Spiritual Sceptic

Spirituality is a subject that has been raised quite a bit recently. Some might call it synchronicity!

I am lucky enough to have a good mix of friends and acquaintances to make a heady cocktail of cynics, spiritual types and a few with firm religious beliefs. Some are happy, some are less so. Lately I have been wondering if spirituality and religion might be key. Do humans have a God-shaped hole we are seeking to fill?

Sometimes, maybe surprisingly, those I know with a definite faith in organised religions seem most malcontent and those who are more open-minded and still searching for reasons for life are more contented, peaceful, grounded even though they are still technically searching for answers that (let's face it) may never be found in this life. It could be that curiosity is a natural and healthy mind set for human beings.

I have what I see as a good old healthy streak of British cynicism, which sometimes I enjoy and at other times, grates. It is a huge generalisation of course, but some of my love for America comes from the wide-eyed wonder that seems more of a natural norm for the nation. From experience, there seems to be a ring of truth about the British and American visiting Disneyland. "Look there's a man dressed as Mickey Mouse." states the Brit, "Look there's Mickey Mouse!" cries the American. It may be fantasy but it's fun! The British are known for their dry and cynical humour which I enjoy very much; we tend to have a streak of sarcasm that makes for wry comedy.

As a nation it is important for our political leaders to remain publicly areligious for fear of mockery and being seen as biased or even weak. It seems impossible (at this moment anyway) that America could have a non-religious leader, or to perhaps to clarify it further a non-Christian leader. Does this make the British more or less tolerant and open-minded? I would like to think less but perhaps this isn't always the case.

For me it is important to be try to be open to possibilities (and this includes spiritual and practical ones) which is probably why organised religion has never appealed to me. To be fair, organised religions have not exactly encouraged world peace and harmony, though many who follow them declare the essence of their faith is to do just that. How readily then, religious doctrine can be warped for selfish end.

The biologist and celebrated atheist Richard Dawkins argues strongly and convincingly against intelligent design and calls religious faith 'delusion' and talks of atheism as a free thinking school, that encourages people to ask for evidence, to be sceptical, critical and open-minded. Unfortunately, many atheists I have met can be as close-minded as their religious counterparts. Dawkins declares that,

"We are going to die, and that makes us the lucky ones. Most people are never going to die because they are never going to be born. The potential people who could have been here in my place but who will in fact never see the light of day outnumber the sand grains of Arabia. Certainly those unborn ghosts include greater poets than Keats, scientists greater than Newton. We know this because the set of possible people allowed by our DNA so massively exceeds the set of actual people. In the teeth of these stupefying odds it is you and I, in our ordinariness, that are here."

This is actually something to celebrate, and I do embrace the idea that this moment is something to enjoy. Perhaps the coincidence that we exist at all is incredible enough, though this does not stop so many of us yearning and searching for more- which may be a healthy (and importantly) hopeful thing.

Maybe we should celebrate inquisitiveness as a natural state of being, and unfortunately organised religion (and defiant atheism) often appears to answer questions with a definitive firm answer leaving no more to seek . Science answers the questions it can, but for now so much is unknown; it is agreed that dark matter is believed to make up 90% of the universe, and yet it is hypothetical and invisible.

Discovery is an important part of the human experience and spiritually offers endless possibilities. Without a quest for discovery, humans would not have invented the wheel, or space travel or cupcakes, and I would not have the simple pleasure of trying a new food. These are the things that make life better for sure.