"I still believe in God . . . I’m not proud of it."

I just won’t shape up and become a proper person who believes in nothing at all.

Possibly the best short spiritual autobiography you'll read in quite a while.  By Irish novelist Anne Enright, who just won the Man Booker Prize.  Here's how it begins:

Last year, when she was five, my daughter announced that she was going to become a Muslim. [...]  It was time, I decided, to send her to Catholic Instruction.

Grateful hat tip:  The Misfit.

Comments

[realpc]

Yes, that's how it is now. If you want to be considered a smart and decent human being, you have to be an atheist!

It's partly because of the insane cruelty of radical Islam and the narrow-minded silliness of the religious right.

for the Brights, this as more evidence that religion is evil.

I wonder, if atheism becomes a real fad, how that might affect our society. I wonder if atheism influences people in any predictable ways. I guess it would depend on the person.

People who hate authority and value individualism might be happier as atheists. But others might find atheism depressing.

[Adrian]

thanks for the link! i found it over at sheila o'malley, one of the best book (and film!) blogs out there

[Horace Jeffery Hodges]

Does atheism do any good? Or is it just good at avoiding some bad things?

Jeffery Hodges

* * *

[Meade]

"People who hate authority and value individualism might be happier as atheists. But others might find atheism depressing."

I tend to dislike authority and value my individualism but explicit atheism never did seem to help me in my own pursuit of happiness. Actively believing there is no higher power than my self was depressing and burdensome. An acknowledgment of the limits to my power at least left a crack in the door for a little humility, hope, and healing.

[wj]

I confess I find the idea that someone ought to be proud of belief in God somewhat amusing. But then, I have found that I pray and I get results way too often to accept "coincidence" as a better explanation. Perhaps I am not at the point where "pride in my belief in God" is as silly as "pride in my belief in gravity" would be, but really....

Of course, someone who believes absent any evidence at all might have a case for pride in believing anyway. But too much training as an engineer leaves me reluctant to see the merit of getting that far in advance of the evidence. Better, perhaps, to save pride for one's actions, rather than one's beliefs.