{"id":1599,"date":"2017-01-21T23:01:59","date_gmt":"2017-01-21T23:01:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/areasontosmile\/?p=1599"},"modified":"2017-01-22T05:06:07","modified_gmt":"2017-01-22T05:06:07","slug":"towards-finding-middle-ground","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/areasontosmile\/2017\/01\/towards-finding-middle-ground.html","title":{"rendered":"Towards finding a middle ground"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"bda1ed6a587a04507a50ac169f424912\"<\/a>\u201cWhat is objectionable, what is dangerous about extremists is not that they are extreme, but that they are intolerant. The evil is not what they say about their cause, but what they say about their opponents.\u201d\u2015 Robert F. Kennedy<\/p>\n

First, a confession: Although I pride myself on my ability to dialog and find a common ground with anyone, I\u2019ve had real trouble<\/a> with this lately.\u00a0 So let me be clear that this article isn\u2019t some sort of decree from Olympus, so much an insight into the very things I\u2019m grappling with these days.<\/p>\n

I recently discovered the excellent work Hunter Maats is doing over at MixedMentalArts<\/a>, and have felt compelled to get involved.\u00a0 And although his recent conversations have been aimed at intolerance in the Atheist community, this conversation can just as easily applied to any ideological gulf.<\/p>\n

Let me say upfront: Any person who insists on being absolutely and unquestionably\u00a0right is operating from a place of ego, and not<\/em> from a place of reality.\u00a0 There are very few things that are true for all people in all times, and all places, and in all circumstances, and anyone who says differently is either selling something, or dangerously deluded.\u00a0 As Freud said, “neurosis is the inability to tolerate ambiguity.”<\/p>\n

The second article I ever wrote was about how Atheists and Creationists are nearly identical <\/a>in their ideologies (still one of my most controversial articles). I\u2019ve also written about the difference between Science and Scientism<\/a>.\u00a0 To make sure we\u2019re beginning with a common understanding, here are a couple of definitions:<\/p>\n

The American Heritage Dictionary defines Science as:
\n1.The observation, identification, description, experimental investigation, and theoretical explanation of phenomena.
\n2. Such activities restricted to a class of natural phenomena.
\n3.Such activities applied to an object of inquiry or study.<\/p>\n

It also defines Scientism as:
\n1.The collection of attitudes and practices considered typical of scientists.<\/p>\n

2.The belief that the investigative methods of the physical sciences are applicable or justifiable in all fields of inquiry.<\/p>\n

By definition, science is an investigative method that in no means opposes a spiritual life. Believing that a person must have a rational world view OR a spiritual one is not just misguided, it\u2019s actually dangerous.\u00a0 Consider that decades of science based attempts at refuting religion have triggered a backfire effect that caused some people to double down on their religious views to the point of rejecting objectively perceivable facts.\u00a0 It\u2019s no coincidence that the Religious Right are the ones denying Climate Change, they\u2019ve been trained to believe reason is contrary to their world view.\u00a0 None of this happened in a vacuum.<\/p>\n

To my science minded brothers and sisters:<\/strong>
\nI freely admit that there is no empirical proof that God exists, or that there is any reality beyond this physical world of gravitation and solid mass. Never forget that there\u2019s a major difference between what we fervently believe, and what we KNOW for certain.\u00a0 But there is a giant, and often unquestioned assumption at the core of most (not all) Atheist\u2019s world view, and that is that empiricism is the ONLY measurement of truth.<\/p>\n

But why?<\/p>\n

We all operate with faith in the unproven and unprovable.\u00a0 Do you love your family, or significant others? Prove it. You might say \u2018I say it,\u2019 but anyone who\u2019s dated a sociopath can tell you that doesn\u2019t mean anything.\u00a0 You can say \u2018I feed, clothe, and take care of them,\u2019 but the military and prison systems feed and clothe people, and it has nothing to do with love.\u00a0 \u2018I am loyal to them,\u2019 but that might be the path of least resistance; ‘she happy == me happy.\u2019\u00a0 Even if you were to measure a certain hormonal release in your brain when exposed to them, that\u2019s a chemical reaction, not \u2018love.\u2019<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s not even asking you to prove that they love you back.<\/p>\n

Love, hope, optimism, justice, fairness, and any hypothesis that had yet to be tested all began as articles of faith, not empiricism.<\/p>\n

Also, here\u2019s a question: Let\u2019s assume that Jesus Christ literally turned water to wine, and literally walked on water. Let\u2019s say Lazarus literally rose from the dead. I\u2019m not trying to convince you, but let\u2019s assume it all happened as written\u2026how exactly would we prove that now?\u00a0 What exactly<\/em> would proof look like?<\/p>\n

And if your hang up is it didn\u2019t happen because it couldn\u2019t<\/em> happen, that means you\u2019ve closed off your mind to the common beliefs of billions of people because it doesn\u2019t fit your preconceived notions\u2026how does that make you better than anyone else?<\/p>\n

To my religious minded brothers and sisters:<\/strong>
\n\u201cI do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with senses, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use and by some other means to give us knowledge which we can attain by them.\u201d \u00a0-Galileo Galilei.<\/p>\n

Arguing about obvious and easily proven things makes us look foolish. Climate Change is real, no one is lying to you about climate data. We all get to have our own opinions, but we don\u2019t get our own facts.<\/em> Just like it is wrong to have our Atheist friends try to force empiricism on the spiritual, it is equally wrong to try and force spirituality on the empirical.<\/p>\n

So now, a question for you: Do you believe the Angel Gabriel literally appeared to Muhammad to dictate the Koran? Did he literally ride a horse up to heaven at the end of his life?\u00a0 Was Hercules a real person who strangled two snakes in his crib that were sent to kill him as a baby?\u00a0 Was there a real Nemean Lion that he choked to death?\u00a0 Was Buddha literally approached by Brahma after he achieved enlightenment? Tempted by Mara the Evil One?<\/p>\n

If you casually dismiss these stories as fiction, even though some people believe them as literally<\/em> true, then now you know how your beliefs sound to people who don\u2019t share them.\u00a0 Saying Jesus will literally come back one day sounds exactly<\/u> the same as King Arthur promising to return from Avalon one day.<\/p>\n

And you can\u2019t prove it\u2019s any different, because there\u2019s no proof to give. Just like many of our Atheist brothers and sisters have decided truth can only be found in a laboratory, many of us have chosen to belief only our holy book contains the truth, while the rest are fairy tales.\u00a0 And it\u2019s an equally baseless assumption, and usually one we\u2019re born into.\u00a0 Just ask yourself, if you\u2019d been born on the other side of the planet to a vastly different family, what would you believe right now?\u00a0 If you\u2019d been born in Outer Mongolia, or Communist China, Tehran, or 3,000 years ago in Greece what would you believe?<\/p>\n

Just like they\u2019ve forced many of \u2018believers\u2019 to resist what is true, trying to convince an adult that a talking snake forced a woman to eat a cursed apple does nothing but make it easier to ignore and laugh at you.<\/p>\n

So, what do we do?<\/strong>
\n\u201cBelief is a wise wager. Granted that faith cannot be proved, what harm will come to you if you gamble on its truth and it proves false? If you gain, you gain all; if you lose, you lose nothing. Wager, then, without hesitation, that He exists.\u201d -Blaise Pascal<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t KNOW what happens after we die, no one does.\u00a0 Maybe nothing, maybe everything; I\u2019m not particularly worried about it either way. \u00a0Leading a moral, compassionate, good life now is far more important. Even a fervent belief in an afterlife by no means diminishes our responsibilities in this one.<\/p>\n

Progress will be made by building off the things we have in common, beginning with the knowledge that only our egos are afraid of dialog, or compromise.\u00a0 We can (and have) argue for years about the unprovable.\u00a0 But does anyone disagree that we should treat other people how we like to be treated? That kindness and concern for our fellow human beings is a good thing?\u00a0 That there may be truths that exist beyond the bubble of our personal experiences?<\/p>\n

I would also invite us all to give up being drawn into petty debates about what is and is not literally true.\u00a0 Since I am going to tell you a secret: It isn\u2019t actually important to get hung up what is and isn\u2019t literally true.\u00a0 Does knowing Romeo and Juliet didn\u2019t literally happen in any way diminish the power of the story?\u00a0 If you knew for a fact that Jesus was a flesh and blood man who was crucified and died, or even came back because he was comatose rather than dead, would it destroy your faith in his teachings?\u00a0 If so, that isn\u2019t faith, that\u2019s your ego wanting to lay claim to the one and only truth.<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s the point: There is no one and only truth, and there is no way to prove it one way or the other.\u00a0 \u00a0You can look at the intricate majesty of the natural world and the Universe we live in, and be filled with a profound sense of spirituality, as many great scientists have described.\u00a0 You can also look at the deeper meanings of the miraculous and see what these stories are trying to communicate not just about God, but about each and every one of us.<\/p>\n

Issac Newton was one of the greatest geniuses of all time, and also a fervent believer, if he can do it, any of us can. It isn\u2019t about recruiting, but the free exchange of ideas with the goals of improving life and creating better people. \u00a0Don\u2019t forget, we\u2019re all neighbors and cousins, and NONE of us are getting out of here alive. There\u2019s as many ways of looking at things as there are people, and there\u2019s room at the table for all of us.<\/p>\n

You are great, and I love you!<\/p>\n

And if you love me back, click ‘share’ up at the top!<\/p>\n

B. Dave Walters<\/p>\n

Writer, Life Coach, and Talk Radio Host<\/p>\n

Find out more about me:
\nhttp:\/\/about.me\/BDaveWalters<\/a><\/p>\n

Ask me anything:
\nhttp:\/\/formspring.me\/BDaveWalters<\/a><\/p>\n

Pages I support:
\nJesus and Buddha\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0— Interfaith dialog<\/p>\n

Gnostic Theism<\/a>\u00a0— Religion and Spirituality for the 21st Century (Join the Movement!)<\/p>\n

Love One Another<\/a>\u00a0—\u00a0\u00a0A safe place to come find more reasons to smile!<\/p>\n

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\u201cWhat is objectionable, what is dangerous about extremists is not that they are extreme, but that they are intolerant. The evil is not what they say about their cause, but what they say about their opponents.\u201d\u2015 Robert F. 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He is the author of one book, \"49 Lost Secrets of Peace, Love, and Money\". For years, friends and relatives looked to him for guidance and support during difficult times, and he realized at an early age that his purpose in life was to serve and inspire. While touring as a personal coach with a prominent rock band, he was discovered by one of the top trainers of the Anthony Robbins companies, which lead to him settling down to open and operate a Marketing, Business Services and Coaching firm in Los Angeles. Armed with an insatiable thirst for knowledge, he brings the same discipline and determination that helped him earn Black Belt rankings in Shaolin Kung Fu and Tai Chi to all areas of study and focus. In addition to earning a degree in English from Morehouse College, he has mastered the science of NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) and other communication, healing, counseling and spiritual systems from all over the world. He brings his empathy, insight, and vast personal experience into all his relationships, which has lead to him being one of the most sought after Coaches in the world today. 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