Some Early Thoughts....

So, I am teaching a course on religion and I have tried hard to avoid the notions of "truth" and "faith." They are clearly untestable propositions and, in my experience, do nothing to open the minds of my students. Rather, they lead to old arguments and tired debates about whose religion is more right. Unavoidably, perhaps, the questions have sunk into my students and by way of them, myself. What is truth? What is "god?" Why is science exalted over religion, because its success rate is so much higher and visible? And most importantly, as a scientist and a skeptic, how do I construct meaning?

Here is the thing, meaning derives from social constructions. As George Herbert Mead pointed out, society is nothing more than sets of symbols with shared meanings that facilitate cooperation. To be sure, large societies consist of large sets of symbols; some very abstract and general and therefore allowing people to consider themselves part of a nation or even humanity, whereas others are much more narrow and particular and facilitate interaction with family, ethnic or racial categories, gender, or even occupation. Knowing this does not take the fun out of being human because one could still legitimately take part and embrace social interaction. But, I have to question the depth of experience for the scientific person. Especially when it comes to religion and science. On the one hand, the two are not naturally antithetical. God could realistically be conceived of as creating the process of evolution and even contributing to what appear as "random" mutations. On the other hand, believing in evolution and science fully forces one to posit a cosmogony that strips humans of a unique place in the grand scheme.

Moreover, if life is truly random, then an afterlife, ethics or morality, a path, or anything with a transcendent connotation becomes implausible. And, where purpose is lost so is meaning. One could descend into Nihilism, but this is pointless. But, how does someone construct meaning? I have a few students who are not questioning their faith, but which church they feel is best for them. Their unflinching belief is refreshing in some ways because they have such strong meaning attached to the universe. Myself? I feel moved by human scenes. The types of scenes that tap into the deeply rooted primal ability to sympathize with others. I see pain or hurt on the face of someone in a convincing movie, or in the news, and I feel connected to humans.

For most of the day, I can reduce these feelings to socialization; to internalizing sets of symbols meant to allow for social organization and appropriate behavior. However, there are moments where even I catch myself deeply embedded in a situation. I get that gut feeling, and my head begins to buzz. I realize at that moment that all humans share something beyond the symbolic realm. Maybe religion is the way to tap into that for some, but for me, it is during moments of suffering that I feel the closest to humans. And, I am not sadomasochistic by any means; in fact, I wish there was no suffering. But something about the look on a person's face when they are forced to feel really high levels of pain makes me human...