Why Religion?

Why religion

I was listening to the BBC religious programme at 7.30 this morning when one of the speakers talked about Jewish atheism.  He said he did not believe in God but that did not prevent him from praying.  To ignore this paradox as he saw it, he had re-written the traditional prayers without altering  their meaning but omitting any reference to an all-powerful God.  To the questioner, this seemed to be a paradox because how can you pray without recognizing a God.  The speaker said that there was no need to identify a hierarchical figure, an all-powerful overwhelming deity to whom we should pay homage, rather he suggested that the prayer should deal with the issues which troubled and challenged the supplicant and this did not need to include a god.

I found this argument very attractive as I have had great difficulty in accepting a god who while being described as loving and caring seems to stand by and allow terrible pain and suffering.  The religious accept this as God's will and are grateful for any mercies that he showers upon them.  For my part that is a fallacious argument as it seems to contradict the evidence all around us.  That the world of nature is beautiful, exciting and miraculous is unquestionable but I see no reason for there to be an overwhelming powerful deity controlling and deciding what does and doesn't happen.  I suppose in a way I am drawn to the concept of the Gaia or World Force that is in everyone and everywhere and that influences everything that happens in the world with the universal interaction of living and inanimate objects.

I've often wanted to pray but have been inhibited because of my inability to accept an all-powerful God.  This new idea of Jewish atheism makes me feel that I can now pray to a universal power without a hierarchy to inhibit me.  When asked whether there was any contradiction between being an atheist and a Jew, the speaker replied that someone who was born of a Jewish mother was Jewish whether he believed in God or Judaism.  Current thinking would now include someone born of a Jewish father.

Did God give up on the world a long time ago? This is the thinking of many, disenchanted with the world and the people and I am inclined to agree with them.