Between You And God Only

 

The philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein made several pithy statements I admire.  One of them is: "Make sure that your religion is a matter between you and God only."

That's as it should be, I think.  I'm not an atheist.  I don't find the fact that someone believes in God in itself distressing, offensive or incredible.  I don't accept any of the arguments which have been made over the years claimed to prove God's existence.  Neither do I rush to contest them.

But I wish, oh how I wish, that those who are religious would would make their religion a matter between them and God only.  

I don't mean to say that believers should not worship together.  It's not something that appeals to me, however. Reverence for the divine is something I can express without the presence or assistance of others.  I don't think the God I revere demands that worship be a group affair, or that it's required. I find the thought that God needs or wants anything from us incredible. Similarly, I think it demeaning to us and God to believe that God will grant our wishes if we ask for them in an appropriate manner.  Nor can I accept a God who demands that adults have sex only in certain ways. To paraphrase an author whose name I can't recall, such a God seems to me to be too small.

What I find disturbing is when believers try to foist their beliefs on others.  They have a long history doing so, of course, if they are the kind of believers who believe that their beliefs are the only true beliefs and their God the only true God, and all others should believe as they believe.

In doing so, they've caused a vast number of people to be killed in various ways, or savagely oppressed, or forcibly converted, for thousands of years.  Intolerance is a necessary feature of such religions.  One is fortunate if the members of such religions content themselves with merely trying to persuade nonbelievers and, if they fail to do so, think them damned for all eternity.

It would seem a simple thing to make your religion a matter between yourself and God only, but it's clear that too many believers are inclined to proclaim their faith publicly even if they refrain from demanding that others do so as well.  Do they think this will impress God?  Do they hope to impress us with their piety?  Do they think this religious exhibitionism persuades anyone, or is it for their own satisfaction?