I’ve noticed among my experience a sharp rise in people claiming to be atheists, or agnostics. It seems that fewer people are going to church. And it also seems that there is less guilt being cast upon those who do not go.
The shift away from the church does represent a step in our spiritual evolution. The Vedic scriptures speak of a time where knowledge evolves, new “energies” are discovered. Electricity and radio transmission are examples of the manifestation of new energies. In”The Holy Science” Swami Sri Yukteswar interprets these scriptures and explains our existence in terms of science; some things already discovered by science, and others yet on the horizon of exploration.
But in this model, Swami explains that our knowledge evolves around a 24,000 year cycle. The “highest” and “lowest” evolutionary states are separated by 12,000 years, and the full round trip takes an entire 24,000 years. According to Sri Yukteswar we are in the up-swinging of this cycle. as indicated by the relevant discoveries of electricity, and it’s applied knowledge.
Our evolution is described in terms of the assumptions of our time. In the 1500’s, societies lived in their closed pocket of isolation. communication was largely verbal or visual. A wall created that sense of definition we all look for. Wall construction thrived throughout the middle ages. The fears of what was beyond the wall was driven by both ambition and self-preservation. To know what was out there effectively required the mounting of armada’s and Armies. Today I can look at a web cam anywhere in the world. Through twitter I’ve established first hand contacts in every corner of this square globe.
As our fears of the unknown diminish, our focus can shift. Human natural curiosity begins to have some free time away from the basic survival stuff. The need for protection by the Church, from unknown fears, becomes less necessary. Those things we were told “to fear” were perhaps never dangerous to begin with. The Church has served as a protection from our fears, but never has it provided the essence of spirituality which is free of hypocrisy.
As our knowledge of the physical world has advanced significantly, and our environmental fears have diminished greatly, the Church’s model of the world has appeared illogical. This separation from the church, coupled with the mass assumption that Church = God, has given a rise to the logic of atheism. The world is also working under the general assumption that God is not accessible. This access the Church promised does not seem to manifest in a real way. Eight years of Catechism provided a good technical knowledge of Church Doctrine. But that doctrine only makes sense within it’s own context. The world is smarter than that now. I can understand why people would flee the church amidst the worlds hypocrites.
What I’ve come to understand is that people do not all feel a sense of God. Growing up my family attended a Methodist Church. My best friend was Catholic. I would go to Church with him on Saturday so I could sleep in on Sunday. This crosses all logic, and provided no theological cover. But I never cared about that. If you pray to Jesus, you pray to Jesus. that one part seemed real to me no matter where I was, who I was with, or contrary to any reputed logic. I never understood why the fight over the distinction between churches. some Fundamentalist Christians will argue that Roman Catholics are not Christian. But the devotion to Jesus is the only relevant factor, and the outward indicators of denomination and lifestyle provide outward support for our beliefs.
The emergence of the “New Atheist” represents an advancement of societies reliance upon the Church for meaning. As our world advances into the 21st Century everyone is experiencing a new sense of exploration, which was beholden to the realm of Kings only 500 years ago. The existence of “God”, as defined by traditional Christian churches, does not exist. Some people are able to connect their innate awareness with God to an ill-defined logic and meaning. Many are not.
The New Atheist is a reaching, a new level of objectivism. Many atheists believe that we are nothing more than the collection of our experience and the physiology of our neuro-associations. Just like the teenager who is happy riding the roller coaster all day because it’s the best ride and best fun, the connecting of logic satisfies the New Atheist. The world has rules, it all sorta makes sense from a day to day string. The New Atheist is generally someone who has reached full manifestation in their world. They are fully engaged in their senses, logic and experience of the world. The denial of God is based purely in logic. Without feeling a sense of or connection to God, their belief is that it is an illogical choice. Why would anyone ever choose an illogical fantasy as reality? Just like that Teenager on that roller coaster, they are completely satisfied in the sensory world and the world makes sense. … well sorta.
To live ones entire life holden to the same belief, in disbelief, is very sad to me. Eventually the roller coaster becomes the entire world, and the logic of examination becomes your existence. In time a sense of emptiness will come. The roller coaster can drive literally drive you crazy. But given enough time, your actions are only driven by their end. Usually the satisfaction of logic is enough to drive most of life’s actions.
The New Atheism has become an expert juggler, of all of these things. They will use their logic to analyse what I am saying here, and file it within a religious or philosophical context, like a book store. There are people of faith reading this wondering what the world is coming to? It brings us no closer to God, or proof to further the conversation with the New Atheist. But it puts the New Atheist in a position of evolutionary enthesis. They are carrying a blank slate of belief in their heads, open for God to walk in and show herself. Perhaps for some yes. But for most, there is still an emotion driving their logic.
I’ve spoken to many Athiests with the intent of fully understanding them. I’ve tried to climb into their heads. If you keep peeling away logic, you will eventually break the conversation down to a list of assumptions. Even in the most rigorous science, basic concepts have to be assumed and built upon. As we examine matter at it’s most minute level, we make assumptions about that matter to create the machines to do that examination. when we flick a light switch, the light goes on. There are some very serious assumptions of physics going on there, regardless of how educated the engineer may be. We cannot explain how electricity flows, but our entire society is built upon the assumption that it does.
Viktor Frankel wrote about assumptions at the human level. We know the electricity flows, and we want to ride the roller coaster. But Viktor Frankel survived the Nazi concentration camps. He was a man of great insight, and a psychiatrist. He explains how every assumption about life was completely removed from him. He was torn down to the core of his existence. Frankel had a single desire, to live. He had nothing in his environment to support his desire and he was reduced to exist within his own consciousness. Some run off to the Himalayas to meditate in caves and find what was forced upon Frankel. He found a part of him, within himself that was untouchable by his Nazi captors.
That which Frankel found is what drives us. The book which Viktor Frankel wrote is called “Man’s search for Meaning”. We’re attached to our senses,our logic and our meanings. Who are we? I can say that I am a floating soul attached to this body, like a balloon on a string. I can only speak from my experience, as can the Atheist. In retrospect I’ve found that my life has been driven by that search for meaning. But I’ve also felt a connection to the world beyond this physical body. I’ve benefited from meditation, so I know that perspective of the self can change from within.
The New Atheist is poised. Everyone comes into this world with karmic baggage, Christians call it original sin… Some out there will feel an internal yearning, that there is more to life than this. Oddly, it is to religion where one generally turns to find the answers to this meaning. But with the power of will power, some find the wisdom in turning off the logic and be touched by that higher self.
I have accepted the assumption from Swami Sri Yukteswar’s book; we are on an evolutionary up swing. Within the context of the Vedic Mechanics at work here, the New Atheist represents the second step in change; I don’t have to accept my current state. The first step is the fundamental assumption that change is even possible. But we cannot predict evolution based on the past. The New Atheist is poised to accept a new meaning of God. The human yearning for growth does not stop because your logic has reached a comfortable conclusion. The day to day rat race of working, paying bills, dealing with kids, problem solving all give us something to do. It keeps us on the roller coaster. Our logic cannot turn off the world. But there is a part of our brain that will continue to be drawn out of itself by that balloon over your head, following you. It is that little voice inside of you. That common element of human compassion that has served as our basis of cooperation. Upon what does an Atheist attribute their compassion? Compassion is not logical… nor are we.
In time more people will experience a connection to God. The traditional churches are actually inhibitive in some respects. We will see more and more people turning to meditation. The explosion of Yoga in the United States is a direct result of the same dynamic.
Yoga is a rudimentary form of meditation, and a pragmatic step or spiritual approach of the Vedic Scriptures. But the truth does not lie in an ancient scriptures. Truth lies in the experience realized as a result of spiritual practice. Call it Yoga class, call it objective meditation, call it whatever you want. The New Atheism is blazing a broad path of objectivism which will only help open the door to a willing heart!