My search for religion

— or —

A funny thing happened on my way to the temple.^[1]

by Archie Goodwin

My father was an Agnostic and he came from a long line of Agnostics.  I come from an even longer line of Agnostics.  His attitude was “I’ll believe anything you want me to, but is it too much to ask for some proof?”  And, he never got the proof, and he believed what he could.

One of the things he told me when I was a kid was, “Archie, I’m going to fill your head with a bunch of nonsense.  You go out and find your own religion.”  And he sent me on my way with suggested readings, such as, Omar, the Tentmaker, and Thomas Payne – and he sent me on my way, and I’ve been looking for a religion all these years.

When it came to Judaism, after speaking with many Jews whose theology ranged from Atheism to Orthodoxy, the one thing I noticed in all these talks, and the theme behind everything, was the survival of the Jewish people.  That was the strongest thing I found – and it seemed to me that the Jewish religion is more of survival than of anything else – and I began to understand later, and had more tolerance for the Orthodox who used this tool of strict adherence to tradition in order to preserve the people.  And it must work because it has been going on for five thousand years now.

And I looked into the Muslim religion.  A lot had to do with the same survival.  I found a lot of fatalism, very strong fatalism.  They believe that nothing can happen, other than it happens by the will of Allah, by the will of God – and, if you believe in God Almighty, I don’t know how you can come to any other conclusion.

The Christian religion, as I see it, is an amalgamation of Jesus Christ, Santa Claus and an egg-laying Easter bunny.  A religion, the words of whose founder have been corrupted, distorted and turned inside out, so that you would never recognize them from the original author of those words.

Religions of the East

They are mystical -- something about being at one with the universe.  I can relate to that too.  In my body are the same atoms of nitrogen, oxygen and carbon which were used by millions of other living things all through the history of the world, and were shot out of dying stars somewhere in the universe -- so that I feel that I am one with the universe.

The Religion of the Pagans

I can identify with that also.  They worship nature.  Nature has given us the rainbow.  The beautiful blue green earth as seen by the astronauts.  Enough to cause you to weep with emotion as you look at it.  Nature has given us mountains, streams, and waterfalls.  Beauty, all kinds of beauty.

But nature has given us disease, AIDS, cancer and radiation.  Nature has given us the jungle, where nothing can live without killing and eating its neighbor.  Nature has given us that which we carry in the genes of every cell in our body – the vicious reptile.  We all carry it around with us, and we are never able to forget it is there.  These are the blessings of nature.

So, after looking into these different religions – I became a Christian!!!!!  Now, this may surprise you.  But not your usual, traditional type Christian.  I haven’t burned anybody at the stake recently, or thrown anybody out of a window.  Or started an inquisition.  I haven’t turned every pleasurable activity into a mortal or cardinal sin.  I haven’t put a curse on anyone and their descendants forever.  I haven’t turned Jesus Christ into a supernatural god who could be killed by mere mortals.  Or have attained the Christian genius of:

            Love the sinner, but hate the sin

            Then, kill the sinner to save his soul

As a Jew, I feel that maybe I have the insight to try to understand what Jesus was trying to tell the world. My feeling is that these were his words:

            We don’t know where we came from, and we don’t know where we are going,

            but while we are here, if we treat each other with love, respect, justice and compassion,

            it will be a better world for all of us.

This, I believe, is what he was desperately trying to tell the world.

The scene shifts -- out in the desert – in the broiling sun of the near East,  near Israel somewhere, Jordan maybe.  And Paul was out there in the desert.  Paul was an enemy of Jesus because he represented the status quo, while Jesus was for a far better world.  And he was an enemy of Jesus because of this. 

Whether it was a sunstroke or what.  Some kind of enlightenment or inspiration, he realized what Jesus was trying to tell the world –

            He saw how practical it was

            How beautiful if was

            How simple it was

And, when he realized this, he fell on his knees and cried, “Lord, how can I pass this message on to the world?”

And the Lord said unto him ----

“Well, Pablo my boy, we have a problem here.  You’re going over to Europe where I created my most barbaric barbarians.  They will have no idea what ‘virtue is it’s own reward’ means.  This is beyond their comprehension.  And, when you tell them to love their enemies, they’ll laugh at you.  Then, when you try to tell them to turn the other cheek, they will probably try to kill you.

“Now, what you’ve got to do, Pablo my boy, is to devise a system of rewards and punishments for them because they are childlike and do not understand well.  They must be driven.  You’ve got to give them a heaven to keep them morally straight and civilized and threaten them with Hell if they are not. 

“You’ve got to give them a book that is filled with the loftiest literature ever written and mixed with the most nonsense ever written.  This, you will tell them is the Bible – the word of God.

“But, then all books are word of God; every cookbook, every text book, every joke book, every novel, every book of pornography, every auto manual, yes, and even the Bible is the word of God, as I gave the writers the brains and the imagination to compose these works. 

“Pablo.  You are going to have to practice your sleight-of-hand because these simple souls expect miracles, and as you know, the hand is quicker than the eye, so practice up on your sleight-of-hand and give them miracles.

“Later, in later years, I will send them scientists to really give them miracles.  I’ll send them Galileo, I’ll send them Pasteur, I’ll send them Edison, I’ll send them Madame Curie, I’ll send them Newton and Einstein.  I’ll send them those two wonderful brothers who will try to come up here to visit me.  I’ll have a chuckle when one will say to the other, ‘It’ll never fly, Orville,’  and Darwin who will teach the world how my system works. 

“But for now, you give them sleight-of-hand and lots of razzle-dazzle, because Pablo, you know – this is show biz!!!! “

“For the rest, you will have to consult your history books.”

   **************

Then, I discovered that most religions are divided into two parts: One is ethics and the other is theology.

Ethics is to help humanity live with itself, and as for theology, everyone has spoken with God; everyone but me.  I have often been told that God wants me to do this or God wants me to do that.  My Maker has said nothing to me – not the first word. 

However, my Maker has lent me two wonderful things.  My Maker has given me life, and my Maker has given me a human brain.  In order to show respect, to honor and thank my Maker, I will live that life as best I can, and I will use that brain as hard and as often as I can  –  as I’m doing right not.

That is religion to me.

In a world where 90 or more percent of the people believe what they are told to believe, I want to thank you wonderful Unitarians for allowing me to believe what I’m able to believe.

There will be no questions and answers, as I have no answers.

Benediction

 I’m going to give the benediction that Rabbi Jesus gave to his congregation:

             May the Lord bless you and keep you

            May the Lord cause his countenance to shine upon you

            May the Lord grant you peace.

^[1] Archie Goodwin delivered this sermon to All Faiths Unitarian Congregation on May 18, 2008 at Crestwell School, 1901 Park Meadows Drive, Fort Myers, FL.