Will Durant on Religion and Human Longing

Earlier this year, I had a private e-mail correspondence with Mary Jean Irion, a now eighty-something poet and author of the 1968 book, From the Ashes of Christianity (a little-known text that I just so happened to come across while I was in seminary gathering sources for a research paper). During our e-mail exchanges about faith and reason, Ms. Irion referred me to Will and Ariel Durant's mutli-volume work, The Story of Civilization- more specifically the volume entitled The Age of Voltaire.

The Durants were gifted writers and popularizers of history and philosophy who set out to construct an unprecedented overview of recorded history that would be published for the benefit of the common reader instead of purely academic audiences. I found the Durants' assessment of history to contain the sobriety of age-tested wisdom and have found their work on the strengths and weaknesses of both religion and secular philosophy to be very helpful. Their work keeps my mind sharp and my heart soft as I ponder the cyclical and interconnected nature of life, the successes and failures of various social movements and the limits of human comprehension.

But I was intrigued by learning that Will Durant, a very reverent man, was also, by his own definition, an agnostic when it came to the question of "God." In his Dual Autobiography, written a few years before his death, Durant offered the following credo expressing his personal views:

"I am still an agnostic, with pantheistic overtones. The sight of plants and children growing inclines me to define divinity as creative power, and to reverence this in all its manifestations, even when they injure me. I cannot reconcile the existence of consciousness with a deterministic and mechanistic philososphy. I am skeptical not only of theology but also of philosophy, science, history, and myself. I recognize supersensory possibilities but not supernatural powers."

But while Will Durant himself remained agnostic throughout his life, he also nurtured a sincere respect for the role that constructive religion served in the lives of human beings. I couldn't help but to hear the sympathy in the following passage where Durant comments on the timeless appeal of religious belief:

"These church steeples, everywhere pointing upward, ignoring despair and lifting hope, these lofty city spires, or simple chapels in the hills -- they rise at every step from the earth toward the sky; in every village of every nation they challenge doubt and invite weary hearts to consolation. Is it all a vain delusion? Is there nothing beyond life but death, and nothing beyond death but decay? We cannot know. But as long as man suffers, these steeples will remain."

Think about that. "As long as man suffers, these steeples will remain." That sentence just blew my mind.

Suppression breeds reformation (and sometimes revolution)

I believe that, as a species, human beings have evolved with natural impulses that require sufficient avenues for expression. I also believe that, when it comes to human affairs, we often frustrate ourselves with vain attempts to suppress or eradicate our intrinsic impulses and primal instincts.

However, it seems to me that if these hard-wired impulses are left unchecked without a system of accountability or the expectation of responsibility, then anarchic and chaotic impulses are likely to emerge with the potential to tear our civilization apart. But on the other hand, if these impulses are ineradicable and are then aggressively suppressed without sufficient avenues for creative and healthy expression, it is likely that these same impulses will eventually assume more destructive and detrimental forms of expression.

Both tactics (anarchy and suppression) would seem to lead to similar and undesirable ends.

This is why I think that the antitheists will ultimately fail in their attempts to rid society of its need for religion. I am of the opinion that, despite their more harmful and extremist manifestations, humankind’s various religious traditions have offered much to meet the intrinsic human need for solace, hope, purpose and meaning. It seems to me that those who seek to bring about change in this realm must take into serious consideration creative and constructive ways to address or satisfy this innate human need, or else they will continue to be met with the fiercest resistance.

Likewise, I expect that those puritanical attempts to eradicate the influence of Enlightenment values (individual freedom, democracy, higher criticism, scientific investigation, etc.) will also prove unsuccessful. I am of the opinion that humankind’s ever-developing tradition of critical inquiry and investigation has yielded many benefits and has led to unprecedented progress in a variety of scientific fields. This tradition seems to reflect the intense power of curiosity, the defining impulse of humanity whose strength is attested to by countless examples of ancient folklore and religious myth. Those who seek to bring about change in this realm must take into serious consideration the notion that human curiosity about the nature of reality is not going anywhere and has already witnessed too much to retreat back into a state of blissful unawareness and uncritical obedience to an indisputable authority- be it religious or political.

But sadly, humanity as a whole has yet to learn from history's failed attempts at suppression, as many who find themselves in positions of power and influence continue to pursue ways to deny human beings the means to think, live and express themselves in healthy, creative and responsible ways.

In conclusion, I think human history would testify to the idea that those attempts to actively suppress intrinsic human impulses only serve to speed along radical responses to such suppression. Because of this, I maintain confidence that wherever one finds suppression, one will find the seeds of a new reformation- if not a revolution.

Courage to be contrary

"If you care about the points of agreement and civility, then, you had better be well-equipped with points of argument and combativity, because if you are not then the 'center' will be occupied and defined without your having helped to define it, or determine what and where it is... Conflict may be painful, but the painless solution does not exist in any case and the pursuit of it leads to the painful outcome of mindlessness and pointlessness; the apotheosis of the ostrich."

Just yesterday, a good friend of mine forwarded me the above excerpt from author Christopher Hitchens' 2001 book, Letters to a Young Contrarian. I find Hitchens' well-phrased words to be helpful because I often find myself surrendering my true views and silently yielding my intellectual and moral stances for fear of causing conflict with other people. Such a habitual reflex has begun to erode my credibility, my integrity and my sanity.

Perhaps it is indeed naive to believe that any significant or worthwhile progress can be made without taking unpopular stances, making painful decisions or paying costly prices. And perhaps I am getting too old to expect growth to come about by another other way.

I suspect that much of my hesitancy to engage in conflict or debate is caused by intense feelings of inadequacy. But, in light of Hitchens' advice, this insecurity can be largely remedied by taking advantage of those times when I am not actively engaged in a debate or discussion about controversial matters and committing myself to sufficient preparation and articulation of my ideas.

If anything, even if I am unable to provide a conclusive answer to a dilemma, I can at least master my ability to understand other perspectives and articulate my own series of challenging questions that seek to dismantle falsehoods and provoke a thoughtful reappraisal and reexamination of facts, personal prejudices, philosophical underpinnings and ethical implications. But even this feels less than sufficient as I also need to take steps to honestly affirm that which I hold to be true and that which I understand to be of value- even when I feel the bounds of my own limited vision and partial knowledge.

I feel less need to provide conclusive answers to stifle any disagreement with my ideas, but I can at least articulate the view from where I stand- knowing that we all have so much more to learn.

This is the challenge. This is my goal.

Turning 30

I was born 30 years ago today. Initially, I felt somewhat disappointed. While in my twenties, I always considered turning 30 to be a major milestone that separated the Age of Excitement/Enlightenment (the teens and twenties) from the Age of Responsibility (30 and beyond).

I always thought that, by the time I turned 30, I would have already earned a graduate degree, attained a Grammy, completed my first nationwide music tour or released a biography. Amusing, I know. I woke up this morning with conflicted thoughts of both gratitude and regret. Part of me feels like I haven’t really taken advantage of the opportunities made available to me.

But yet I retain a hope that, in the coming years, I will continue to grow in my understanding of myself and others; that I will be able to take advantage of opportunities with a fearless tenacity; that I will be able to engage more fully in the lives of those I come in contact with; that I will grow in the wisdom and confidence to overcome the snares of fear, self-centeredness and insecurity that I have allowed myself to be entangled by in years past; that I will grow in my dedication to those things I believe in, expressing my ideas creatively and sharing them publicly.

However, in the midst of all this, I try to keep in mind that I have seen and done many things that are worthwhile and important to me and that my life is a unique experience in its own right. Perhaps the most rewarding thing I could’ve witnessed as I marked the third decade of my life was the sight and sound of my 3-year old daughter running into my bedroom to wish me "Happy Birthday"(of course, forgetting her lines on the way and having to have my wife shout a reminder to her from the other room).

Blacks and Homosexuality (part 1)

The fact that 70% of Black voters in California voted to pass Proposition 8 struck me as odd considering the fact that this same population turned out in droves to vote in the first Black president of the United States. How ironic that the same night that brought forth a history-making civil rights victory for one minority group also brought forth a crushing defeat for another. The fact that millions of dollars were raised by religious groups to both encourage and scare voters to support this legislation raises a variety of concerns in my mind. One wonders if such efforts were rooted in attempts to educate and understand, or if such efforts were driven mainly by fear-based ideology.

For context: I am a straight, married, African-American male and I struggle with how best to approach the issue of homosexuality and how best to treat those people who self-identify as either gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgendered. And to be honest, I'd have to identify myself as a person in the process of recovering from heterosexism.

I know that I am not alone as many of my people have long struggled with this topic. Homosexuality is an issue that evokes a visceral, gut-level reaction from many of us Black folks, especially in discussions of whether it should be legal for gay people to marry or adopt. Discussing such matters brings forth strong opinions and deep feelings, largely because many of us have close friends, co-workers and relatives who would classify themselves as such. In addition to our familiarity with those who classify as gay, feelings run high also because many Blacks in America have been under the influence of churches and pastors that condemn homosexual lifestyles- basing their views on more conservative interpretations of the Hebrew and Christian scriptures.

Add to those factors, the notion that we, as Black people, have been dehumanized and degraded for centuries in this country due to biological factors that are beyond our control. As Black people, we have long been discriminated against by well-meaning individuals who also quoted their scriptures to condemn our existence. Therein lies most of the tension for Blacks regarding the issue of homosexuality.

My views about homosexuality we largely influenced by the fact that I grew up with a parent who was very accepting of gay people. My younger brother and I both have vivid childhood memories of our mother's closest friends being gay men (R.I.P. Anthony "Ding Deets" and Frederick). For us, it was weird (especially considering that I was in my early teens at the time), but our mother provided us with an early example of how to establish long-lasting and intimate friendships with those who have different sexual orientations. For me, having these early experiences and close relationships with gay people played a large part in humanizing the issue of homosexuality and serving as a necessary counter to the blatantly heterosexist attitudes that I would embrace in my early twenties (believing that I had to take a firm stand against all things homosexual in order to be faithful to my understanding of the Christian faith).

In addition to these early experiences, my wife and I have some close friends and relatives that self-identify as gay. Their examples arouse a wide range of mixed feelings for us and illustrate how issues take on a whole new meaning when they are connected to people we are familiar with.

One of them my wife has known since he was in grade school. Like all of us, he has his personal faults and foibles, but he has been a good friend to us and, over time, I'd like to think that we consider him as being "our friend" instead of referring to him derogatively as being "our gay friend." However, I have mixed feelings because I know that sexuality is an issue that our friend struggles with since he also identifies as a Christian and has regularly attended congregations that condemn and seek to "correct" homosexuality.

In addition to this friend, we have a mutual friend that we have known since he was a little boy and who recently "came out" to the surprise and disgust of his family. I am torn as I wonder who is in more need of correction: the boy, his family or both?

To bring it even closer to home, just last night, my wife informed me that her younger and only sister just “came out” to her during a phone conversation (This only a week after my wife and I engaged in a minor debate as to whether being gay is morally wrong and whether gay people should be allowed to adopt children). Surprisingly, my wife had little to say when I asked her how she felt about her own sister's announcement. I'm speculating, but I reckon my wife's lack of commentary reflects the notion that while it is easy to judge a distant stranger it is far more difficult to issue that same judgment towards ourselves and/or those we know and love.

In recent years, I have worked hard to examine and uproot my own prejudices, but regrettably, I feel that I have been too much of a closet supporter of gay rights and have not been vocal enough in publicly advocating for the fair treatment of people who self-identify as being gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgendered.

I am aware of my moral inconsistency on gay rights and admit that heterosexist thoughts still crop up in my mind on occasion. I have noticed my hypocrisy in the many occasions where my mouth expresses my support for their equal treatment, but my actions reflect my discomfort and half-hearted support. I have noticed my silent cowardice in the company of religious friends who boldly contrast their moral rightness in condemning homosexuality with the so-called "distorted" and "ungodly" perceptions of those who defend it.

I know that I'm not completely comfortable with the issue of homosexuality, but I am willing to wrestle with my prejudices, primarily because I have had positive personal experiences with people who identify as homosexual.

But how do we feel about all of this? In thinking about the issue of sexuality, several common questions instantly rush to the forefront of our thoughts. Are people born that way or do people choose a homosexual lifestyle? What do religious authorities and texts say about homosexuals and/or homosexual behavior? What does the most credible science say? Should gay people marry? Should they adopt? Should they be denied the rights that heterosexuals demand for themselves? Will churches who preach against homosexuality be forced by law to permit gay marriage? Will pastors be jailed for preaching against gay lifestyles? Is across-the-board acceptance of gay rights just a matter of time and persistence?

Many of us have asked ourselves these questions, but how far have we gone in pursuing their answers?

(To be continued...)