Why I ditched God for good

[rug]

My Give Just One Thing campaign was born out of the desire for my daughter to grow up a good person in a kinder world



Ariane Sherine, creator of the Atheist Bus campaign, now thinks kindness is what matters most. Photograph: Frank Baron for the Guardian

Ariane Sherine
Tuesday 3 December 2013 07.26 EST

Five years after my atheist bus campaign went global, I'm launching a very different kind of campaign. One night this year, as my two-year-old daughter was curled up next to me, I looked at her and thought: "I don't mind what you do when you grow up, or what you look like, or who you choose to love. I don't mind if you become a bin lady, or sext your boyfriends during assembly, or get a tattoo of Michael Gove. I only hope I can teach you to be kind."

I knew I had changed when I realised that I didn't mind whether Lily grew up to believe in God or not. Instead, I worried about the world she was growing up in. I wanted it to be a kinder place – but what did that mean in practice?

If I didn't know what kindness was, I couldn't contribute to this vision of the world, and, if I wasn't kind, what hope did my daughter have of contributing, either?

It is hard to define kindness. I see it as acting for the benefit of humanity, animals or the environment. It doesn't invalidate the act if people know about it, nor if the giver feels good as a result – as this Harvard study shows, this effect is a happy by-product of giving. Unfortunately, the coalition government's cuts are the exact opposite of kindness. I wonder if the uncaring example it has set is partly why research published today suggests that nine out of 10 Britons rarely perform a simple act of kindness.

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/dec/03/why-ditched-god-for-good-atheist-kindness-campaign

[cbayer]

1. Pay it forward. She's inspirational and

I couldn't agree more.

[elias7]

2. What does she mean by God?

What does anyone mean by God? It's easy to disbelieve in something that is on the level of santa claus and the easter bunny. It's easy to disbelieve in the anthropromorphic imaginings of concrete minds.

My personal opinion (probably not relevant here) is that God is not something to believe in or not believe in. God is a label, a symbol for whatever cosmic forces or processes that has precipitated energy and matter into the universe, including me.

[cbayer]

3. I like your definition, ellas7. nt.

[rug]

4. She doesn't say but this is her bckground.

"She was brought up Christian; although her father is currently a Unitarian Universalist, while her mother's side of the family are Parsi Zoroastrians (though both parents are non-practising)."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ariane_Sherine

[CJCRANE]

5. That's a good definition

and one that I personally agree with but it's not most people's definition (as you implied in your first paragraph). It's a word that has certain connotations in Abrahamic cultures.

The connotations of "Tao" are probably closer to your concept.

[elias7]

7. I am a taoist

The eastern concepts of a mathematically calculable cosmic order without personality or intent very much appeals to my empiric nature.

[cleanhippie]

6. Doesn't matter. One doesn't need ANY god to be good.

Pick the definition and it's still irrelevant.

The point is, being a good person does no require believing in a god of any definition.

[elias7]

8. I agree

I am talking about definitions of what one does or does not believe in. There is a thread just posted positing a multitude of alternate universes. The mystery or process behind the existence of our and all other universes is beyond our grasp to comprehend, but I call that God, for lack of a better term. Call it Mat, Mai, Tao, etc. , whatever you like, it's just a description for an unknowable (transcendent) process that is also the explanation for our being (immanent, or within us).

I can't pray to something like that, but I can try to align myself to natural rhythms and flows as one does in yoga, taiji, meditation, etc.

The eastern religions are ones of identification with the divine through recognizing one is part of this great process, the western religions stress relationship with the divine, as if there is an actual entity that can help you win a ball game or saved a loved one. That seems rather parochial thinking to me. But, I believe if a story or a myth or a religion works for you, that's the whole point. Those who don't need something concrete or tangible, or even guidance, can use their own stuff, experiences, narratives to live well.

[muriel_volestrangler]

9. If you do go with a 'cosmic process' about energy and matter, that keeps that 'God' out of morailty

The vast majority of energy and matter in the universe has nothing to do with living organisms at all. Even the processes on earth have taken over half the time that life is likely to survive on it to produce a species capable of thinking about morality as a concept. Most life on Earth still goes on without anything we could call 'morality', or 'kindness'. Some of the more complicated organisms can be said to be kind to their offspring; and a few are kind to apparently unrelated individuals of the same species - but we're still a small part of life, let alone the solar system.

[Humanist_Activist]

10. If God becomes a label you define yourself, then the label "god" is now meaningless...

You basically just talked about unconscious cosmic forces, and call them god for no reason. Why?