Reflections on the Evening

I left last night feeling very happy - so many people thanked me and I felt very welcome and accepted. I truly never expected 714 people to come to such an event. Thank you all for your kind hospitality. As my evening went on, I started to rehash things in my mind. I began to doubt whether I said the right things. I started to think of different ways I wish I would have answered questions and the times I wish I had spoken up more or questioned something Jay was saying. It was a very fine line to walk - between dialogue and debate. When in doubt, I decided to let it go in the spirit of the event, though it was often difficult to do so. I didn't want to seem like I was trying to pick a fight or turn it into a debate. Not surprisingly, many of the atheists I talked to wished that I had been more aggressive - pointing out the things that many of us were thinking. What did surprise me was feedback from some Christians saying the same thing. In the end, the goal was mutual understanding and respect - not for everyone in the room to hear every atheist argument out there or to convince anyone that I was right. Still, I can't help but worry that I may have let the audience down by not presenting my side many of the times I disagreed but kept quiet.

One thing that has really bothered me that I let go was the discussion of good works done in the world. Though I agree that the many schools built around the world by Christians have educated thousands of underprivileged children, especially girls, and that there have been many hospitals built by Christians that have served many, I don't think that Christians are the only ones who do good. The Peace Corps is a great example - it is, by definition, a secular volunteer organization. As a returned volunteer, of course, it is close to my heart. Each volunteer makes a significant impact during a two-year service as he or she fully integrates with the community and works with the local people to meet the needs they themselves identify. Many atheists are very charitable and like to help others, but this has historically been difficult to see. Many non-religious people even donated to Christian-run charities. The Foundation Beyond Belief is a recently-formed charitable foundation to highlight non-theistic generosity and to help us to find and support worthy non-proselytizing charities. I have personally donated and am thrilled to see this moving forward successfully.

I also wish that I had made it more clear that the reason I don't believe is that it does not match up with my reason and evidence-based understanding of the world. (The actions and behavior of people did not cause me to abandon faith.) Not so long ago, people were certain that illness was caused by demons or as punishment from God. We now understand the effect of viruses, bacteria, and genetic defects on our health and have modern techniques for healing or treating those illnesses. People also used to think that witches could cause bad weather that could ruin ones crops. We now understand meteorology, even if the weather forecast is not so accurate. There have been so many things that we used to think were supernatural that we now know are natural. I have not experienced any miracles, and I do not believe that just because one has difficulty explaining something that the answer must be "God did it." As our understanding of the natural universe increases rapidly, it seems that the answer may be just a few years down the road. I can wait rather than filling in the blanks for now.