I was brought up as an atheist, but as an adult and a scientist, I believe that we cannot prove the non-existance of a Deity, and I have lots of people in my life who have assorted faiths, so being overtly atheist somehow seems wrong to me, so I'm officially agnostic; I'm a 'don't know'. This seems to be a respectful and honest position to take.
It also helps, I think, when I get booked to work with religious organisations, to say that I'm open to new ideas and that, as yet, I haven't experienced God but if he/she were to make it known to me that they existed, then I'd be happy to go with those feelings or 'knowledge'.
So, last weekend I went to a large church in Bradford who had booked
me, as 'Professor Fiddlesticks', to go and provide Christmas party
entertainment to over 100 children whose parents were attending the
service. I knew nothing about the Abundant Life Ministries
when I arrived and was given a tour of the facilities. The church is
situated in two huge warehouses either side of a several-hundred space
car-park, and is on a massive scale. I was told there were
congregations of 2000, and the main room reminded me of some of the
American Evangelical churches I've seen on TV, with a charismatic
leader, a well-lit stage, loudspeakers and musical instruments.
I
asked my guide about some of the activities the church promotes and was
pleased to hear about a recycling promotion event recently, and a
several-weeks-long focus on healthy living, with activities such as a
dentist who did a talk or demonstration, with free toothbrushes and the
like being given out.
I think that this side of organised religion is great: if you can encourage or persuade any group of people that connecting with health, wellbeing, reduced waste and other sustainability messages, that has got to be a good thing. If church leaders decide to push this sort of message as well as their central theme, I'm happy with churches. One of my problems with religious belief and faith can be partly explained by a quote I heard from President George Bush... he said he wasn't interested in sustainability as he believed that the end of the world was nigh and therefore green issues didn't matter (paraphrased, but that was the jist of his reasoning).
I did my first show in a large space which had been very well decorated in a 'Whoville and Grinch' theme (completely new to me!) and the children were lovely... very excited and quite noisy, but what would you expect from well over 100 children all looking forward to Chrstmas? I did a second, shorter show to a smaller group of much younger children and their carers, and this went well too. I received a generous payment and a lift to the railway station, and was soon home.
I asked a Christian friend who lives in Bradford if she knew of the Abundant Life Church, and she was reticent and expressed doubts. So I did some Googling about ALM, and yes there are criticisms and discussions out there about the ALM in general... these mainly from other Christians. However, a phone conversation with my contact at ALM revealed that Paul Scanlon and his wife have worked hard to get to where they are now, and have been extremely generous to many people.
So, it's been an interesting few days... I don't spend a lot of time thinking about religious matters but this has been on my mind. I am not very 'pro' organised religion but I do know that it can help provide structure and community for some, and if they help promote ethical lifestyle choices, I'm happy. But when people kill or hurt each other in the name of their faith, then I'm not.
For many people these days, their 'religion' seems to be shopping and their 'God' is 'more stuff'. I do not like this church. It is destroying our planet. Recently I was shocked and upset to hear about what happened to 34 year old Jdimytai Damour who was working at a Wal-Mart store in New York. The store had advertised a sale and hired Damour as a guard. A crowd of some 2000 shoppers had waited outside the shop, and were getting restless to get into their shrine. They broke down the doors. Damour was knocked to the ground and people surged in, some of them stepping on him. Paramedics were called but they could not deal adequately with the injured man because of the huge number of devotees who continued to try to get into the shop. Damour died.
Scenes reminiscent of Muslims attending the Haj at Mecca, where there are regular crushes with hundreds of thousands of people, and inevitably some get killed in the process.
I do wish people could be a little more measured and calm about their particular religion and try to ensure that it doesn't impose on others or cause damage. The world would be a better place if we practiced 'live and let live' and had a better sense of perspective.