Religion for Atheists
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Join Date: Jun 2006
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Religion for Atheists
I really enjoyed Alain de Botton's book "Religion for Atheists". For me personally it felt like something I had been waiting for - a comfortable and confident attempt by an atheist to embrace and celebrate some of the good things about religion. I follow Dawkins on twitter and while I do really enjoy the resources and information he supplies, he can be pretty black and white. Maybe that's just because of where he has been placed in this cultural debate, I dunno. But de Botton is able to be more sophisticated in his analysis - and more practical in his suggestions.
It doesn't relate to AA in any way particularly, except when he describes how we could use the style of community that the church represents to help to encourage better mental, emotional and social health among people. He basically suggests that we steal the whole idea of church and apply it to new temples - and his descriptions of these temples reminded me of various church basements and their contents!
I also liked his "ten commandments for atheists", from the same book.
He uses the word "commandments" mischieviously I think!
It doesn't relate to AA in any way particularly, except when he describes how we could use the style of community that the church represents to help to encourage better mental, emotional and social health among people. He basically suggests that we steal the whole idea of church and apply it to new temples - and his descriptions of these temples reminded me of various church basements and their contents!
I also liked his "ten commandments for atheists", from the same book.
1. Resilience. Keeping going even when things are looking dark.
2. Empathy. The capacity to connect imaginatively with the sufferings and unique experiences of another person.
3. Patience. We should grow calmer and more forgiving by getting more realistic about how things actually tend to go.
4. Sacrifice. We won't ever manage to raise a family, love someone else or save the planet if we don't keep up with the art of sacrifice.
5. Politeness. Politeness is very linked to tolerance, the capacity to live alongside people whom one will never agree with, but at the same time, can't avoid.
6. Humour. Like anger, humour springs from disappointment, but it's disappointment optimally channelled.
7. Self-Awareness. To know oneself is to try not to blame others for one's troubles and moods; to have a sense of what's going on inside oneself, and what actually belongs to the world.
8. Forgiveness. It's recognising that living with others isn't possible without excusing errors.
9. Hope. Pessimism isn't necessarily deep, nor optimism shallow.
10. Confidence. Confidence isn't arrogance, it's based on a constant awareness of how short life is and how little we ultimately lose from risking everything.
2. Empathy. The capacity to connect imaginatively with the sufferings and unique experiences of another person.
3. Patience. We should grow calmer and more forgiving by getting more realistic about how things actually tend to go.
4. Sacrifice. We won't ever manage to raise a family, love someone else or save the planet if we don't keep up with the art of sacrifice.
5. Politeness. Politeness is very linked to tolerance, the capacity to live alongside people whom one will never agree with, but at the same time, can't avoid.
6. Humour. Like anger, humour springs from disappointment, but it's disappointment optimally channelled.
7. Self-Awareness. To know oneself is to try not to blame others for one's troubles and moods; to have a sense of what's going on inside oneself, and what actually belongs to the world.
8. Forgiveness. It's recognising that living with others isn't possible without excusing errors.
9. Hope. Pessimism isn't necessarily deep, nor optimism shallow.
10. Confidence. Confidence isn't arrogance, it's based on a constant awareness of how short life is and how little we ultimately lose from risking everything.
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I might give that book a read. I don't consider myself atheist but intrigued. I caught up with a new Therapist I think I will keep. He introduced me to Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). The list above is pretty well captured in the practice of the therapy and strangely enough in most of the secular and religious literature I've read on spirituality.
I Take what I need and leave the rest. Like a kid in a candy store.
I Take what I need and leave the rest. Like a kid in a candy store.
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