http://cerebellumblues.squarespace.com/blog/2010/4/7/can-an-atheist-be-an-artist.html
I’m an atheist, I admit it. I used to say I was an agnostic, but as
I’ve gotten older and read more and thought more about religion,
I’ve decided that every one is humankind’s creation. I’m cool with
my beliefs, but I wonder if society really is, especially among
those who, like myself, think of themselves as artists.
My uncertainty
stems from the countless interviews I have read with songwriters,
most of whom claim that their songs do not come from within, but
rather from without, either as gifts of god or as creations of a
force greater than humankind, creations that can only be gathered
by those who pay attention. I disagree with these conceits, and let
me tell you why:
First, I think art
is the most human of achievements, and to give some deity credit
for it devalues people.
Second, claiming
that some god wrote your song is not the height of humility, it’s
the height of arrogance. After all, you’re basically saying that of
all the people on earth, the god you believe in chose to give you a
particular song. Wow, you must think you’re pretty special.
Three, claiming
that all songs are all out there, floating around in the universe,
set free by some Prime Mover, and you just happen to hear them
first, is not only pretty damn arrogant, it’s also utterly
preposterous. In addition, it devalues all the thought you have
given to your music. I mean, why bother, right? Just sit down, tune
in, and wait for a song to drop out of the ether.
Last, and least,
all these great songwriters proclaiming how their works are divine
makes me sound like a total ass when I talk about how I think my
songs come from me, thank you very much!
And that’s my
point: because of the way artists talk about how they create,
namely, some deity does it for them, a perception has been created
that true artists are somehow closer to god than the rest of us.
Well, for the record, I do think I am an artist and do not think
there is a god of any kind.
Stepping off my
podium…
"Atheism is a
non-prophet organization." - George Carlin
The question I
always ask believers - and never get a satisfactory answer - is "If
god made everything and controls everything, then he also invented
atheism and made some of us not believe in him. Why would he do
that?"
The usual response
is the same one you get when you ask why god allows atrocities and
evil to exist - that he's "testing us." But that's not an answer,
it's another cop-out.
Not knowing where
ideas and inspiration come from is absolutely not the same as them
coming from god. But then believers tend to dump pretty much
everything we cannot explain at god's door.
This post (with
which I couldn't agree more) reminds me of one of my all-time pet
peeves:
Being the sports
geek that I am, it's like fingernails on a chalkboard to me when
professional athlete X, under the guise of humility, credits their
performance and/or victory of the day to God's will. What, God
didn't want the *other* team -ostensibly made of his/her children
as well- to win? Plays favorites? Maybe God bets on NFL games in
Vegas? Sheesh.....
Dave and Cory,
thank you for the comments. Now I'm hoping someone with faith
weighs in!
Dave--I don't so
much believe that God "tests" us--I believe He supplies us with
free will to make choices--- then we must accept the consequences.
Whatever one decides about believing/not believing is one of these
choices. Jeff--you may have begun quite an interesting dialogue
here. I'm interested to see who else weighs in!
Millicent - I
totally see the distinction you draw. BUT - all those things we are
choosing between with our free will, good and evil, right and
wrong, priesthood and pedophilia, weren't they all created by the
creator? And if so, why? Why introduce evil just to find out who is
good? I believe the potential for good and evil exists in all of
us. But the choices we make are our own.
I am fascinated by
old "religions" - Greek, Roman, Pagan, Buddhism - all of which use
icons (often described as gods) to represent facets of nature. But
in none of them do they claim one deity created the universe. They
are more ways of understanding the forces of nature - and therefore
the forces of the universe - without taking credit for it. The
native american culture I am now surrounded by in Santa Fe works in
basically the same way.
I took great
delight in one of my best friends - a man of "faith" - saying that
I may be an atheist but I was one of the most "spiritual" people
he'd ever met. I admire him for making that distinction. I wish
more people would.
Dave--There is
certainly evil in this world--no one can deny that. I do not
believe that evil is of God or provided by Him. I believe it is of
man & the choices he makes. As for being spiritual, I think
that is the true essence of one's "religion" or "non-religion."
I don't believe
supernatural forces/gods affect what we or our instruments can
detect in any objective way, and there has been much effort trying.
Therefor you yourself create your music somehow someway and we love
hearing about the process and listening to the results. The same is
true for other artists even though many of them think they are just
a magical privileged puppet God is playing with.
Dave-Why does your
best friend, man of faith, experience you as a most spiritual
person? Or, what insight of his leads him to this conclusion?
Millicent, to say
that only man is responsible for evil, but also does good, means
that only man is capable of Everything, while God only does good.
In other words, God is only half of man.
More important, I
don't buy the notion of good and evil. They are simply too
subjective. Was the church doing good as it subjected heretics to
starving rats and fire? Does it do good my denying condoms to
Africa? Does it do good by promoting stories as irrefutable fact
when all evidence indicates that most of these stories are fiction
(not the lessons, the stories).
Anyway, that's what
I think, which, of course, means I'm an evil heretic set to burn in
hell for all eternity. I'll take my chances.
No you're not &
you won't. It seems to me, though, that the examples you gave are
choices/decisions made by man resulting in either positive or
negative consequences----either good or evil. Thus, free will.
Great post, Jeff. I
too find it bemusing when artists claim divine inspiration. You're
right, in a way it's incredibly conceited to declare yourself
reciever of a god's gifts.
On the other hand,
to believe in an omnipotent god is to believe that god is
responsible for everything. This is where Millicent's argument
about free will falls down. Yes, your god may have allowed humans
to commit evil as a matter of free will, but he is all powerful. So
concievably he may not decide to make that evil happen, but he
could stop that evil happening and chooses not to. Inaction in the
face of evil is immoral.
MIllicent is
arguing that her god is cruel, happy to let people suffer all
because of some 'divine plan' the details of which he's going to
keep to himself. Either god is omnipotent and cruel, or limited and
good.
Tom, You sooo
missed my point, but I have put in my 2 cents worth & will
leave this dialogue to you guys. I wrote about what I believe &
do not profess to know what God does or does not allow. Carry
on...
Tom,
I see your point
and I agree with it, but here's the thing about faith, I've
decided: it just can't be argued rationally. Religion can't stand
up to scrutiny and maybe it's not supposed to. I dunno, for me,
there is no single religion I can get behind, but I confess, there
is some faith in my make-up. Or maybe a better word is
optimism...
Jeff
Harold - a very
good question.
I am not a man of
faith but I do believe in what I call spirituality.
My inadequate
explanation - and what I think my friend saw in me - is a
willingness to believe that there are powers and forces in the
universe that we do not understand. I might even suggest that the
invention of god by man is an attempt to explain these same
forces.
Many people believe
that dogs see things we don't. Many people believe that children's
imaginary friends are not imaginary - they just cannot be seen by
adults.
Many people believe
we have telepathic powers that we suppress as we age in order to
deal with the basic realities of life. I think I agree with
this.
I believe that the
life force people leave behind after death can still guide us and
influence us.
But I do not
believe in god. I think these amazing things are all facets of
nature and science that we simply haven't figured out yet.
Millicent - no, I
didn't misunderstand you, I merely took your argument to its
logical conclusion. If god is omnipotent, and evil exists, god is
evil, whether through action or inaction. If evil is 'of man',
Yahweh not doing anything about it is still evil.
I know what you
mean though Jeff, religion isn't something that responds to reason.
If it did, our religions would be very very different beasts and
unreasonable points of view wouldn't be put forward.
However,
supernatural aside I absolutely think there is a spiritual aspect
to our lives - that's what we access when we listen to music or
enjoy other great pieces of art - or meditate or engage in otehr
spiritual activities. I'm sure there are rational explanations for
them, and I'm sure there isn't a supernatural aspect to it. Like
Dave, I think we're talking about aspects of the natural world, but
that doesn't diminish them at all.
Dave-Thank you for
your careful thoughtful answer. Your friend's view that you are a
spiritual person makes sense and, I might add, is rational. One
last question-what is your definition of the god you don't believe
in/exists?
Harold - being
raised in a Christian country (albeit Church of England) I refer to
the Christian god.
I do not accept at
all the concept of a supreme deity who created the universe. And
who guides or influences or rewards our behavior in any way.
I am drawn much
more to the cultures which have multiple gods, as I said, like the
Navajo and the ancient Greeks. To me, these 'gods' are symbols for
facets of nature which makes perfect sense.
I can understand a
farmer worshipping the sun and the rain. Why wouldn't he?
I am also drawn to
Buddhism (my wife was raised Buddhist but is non-practicing) simply
because it teaches a way of thinking rather than belief in a deity.
The Buddha achieved Nirvana in this life. He didn't have to die to
go to heaven.
When you take the
belief that we go to a better place after death to its extremes you
end up with 9/11 terrorists! Why worry about your conduct on earth?
Even if evil is man's creation as Millicent believes, aren't we
taught that the christian god is a forgiving god and that you'll
probably get into heaven with a simple "I'm sorry"? I find far more
people of faith believe in heaven than believe in hell. Which adds
another level of doubt in my mind. And I have always deeply
distrusted deathbed conversions for the same reason. Live your life
like a reprobate, convert when close to death and all is forgiven.
Yeah right!
Incidentally, I
have taken a lot of criticism for putting my lack of faith into
words in a song I wrote when my father died. I guess that
combination was more than some people could tolerate:
"God has never
spoken
to you or me, I know
And if he did, well, all he said was
Time for you to go "
Nice post. I'm an
atheist and I agree with most of this. On the other hand, I do
understand to some extent why some artists feel their work came
from them.
Longer reply
on my blog.
I'm an atheist, and
I don't admit it, I declare it, and I'm proud!
To become an
atheist, you really have to think deeply about truth, delusion,
wishful thinking, fear, and how belief in a supernatural being with
special powers requires rejection of reason and rational thought -
which Christians call Faith. Not faith in mankind, or others, but
Faith in a supernatural all powerful being and what 'he' is alleged
to be able to do.
However, to be a Christian (say), you only have to accept what
others tell you, and be afraid of living your life with a personal
ethical structure that you yourself believe is right, not one that
is imposed on you by others.
It also allows you
to abdicate from taking personal responsibility for what you do, if
you want to.
If you believe, or
are told to believe, that atheists believe in nothing you are
wrong.
If you believe that
without following the Rules of a religion people will lead a
depraved and debauched life of sin, you are wrong. Anyone can lead
a depraved life of ‘sin’ if they choose to, whether they are
Christian, Moslem, Buddhist, Hindu or atheist. Many do, including
Christians.
If you do what's
right only because a book, a church, or a preacher tells you that
you have to, or else you will be damned, you still have a child's
morality of only behaving well so you don't get punished.
I try to behave
ethically and do what's right because of who I am, not out of fear
of retribution.
I believe I’m
qualified to try to write songs if I want to.
Carol, love your
comment. Always nice to see unabashed atheists flying their freak
flag! I'm with you all the way.