On Faith and Science

The following excerpt is from a novel called I Married You for Happiness by Lily Tuck:

            She is not religious. She does not believe in an afterlife, in the transmigration of souls, in reincarnation, in any of it.

            But he does. “I don’t believe in reincarnation and that other stuff and I don’t go to church but I do believe in God,” he tells her.

            Where were they then? Walking hand in hand along the quays at night, they stop a moment to look across at Notre-Dame.

“Mathematicians don’t necessarily rule out the idea of God,” he answers. “And, for some, the idea of God may be more abstract than the conventional God of Christianity.”

            At her feet, the river runs black and fast, and she shivers a little inside her leather bomber jacket.

“Like Pascal,” he continues, “I believe it is safer to believe that God exists than to believe He does not exist. Heads God exists and I win and go to heaven,” he motions with his arm as if tossing a coin up in the air. “Tails God does not exist and I lose nothing.”

            “It’s a bet,” she says, frowning. “Your belief is based on the wrong reasons and not on genuine faith.”

            “Not at all,” he answers. “My belief is based on the fact that reason is useless for determining whether there is a God. Otherwise, the bet would be off.”

            Then, leaning down, he kisses her.

This was one of my favorite passages in the book. I think using reason to “prove” or “disprove” any kind of spiritual belief is mostly pointless and counter-productive. Spirituality is not meant to be something than can be proven through science. We must allow people the freedom to explore spirituality, intuition, metaphysics, and abstract concepts, without fearing ridicule and rejection from the scientific community.

Allow your intuition and your emotions to guide your faith and to enrich your understanding of the transcendental realm of life. Understand that not all things can be proven; not all things can be seen; and not all things can be understood by everyone. Your spiritual beliefs are a culmination of all of your past experiences, fears, hopes, and dreams, and it is foolish to assume that others will necessarily experience spirituality exactly the same way you do (or even experience it at all). Thus, let’s not waste our precious time debating the existence of God and whether we can prove God. Let’s remember that rational thinking is not all there is and that it is not the only lens through which to view our existence.

“Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense." -Buddha