The Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Salem, Oregon

UUCS Sermons
Sermon by Kate Lore

In the Deep South where religious fundamentalism is the strongest, you frequently see bumper stickers with religious slogans on them, like “Jesus Is the Answer” and “Honk If You Love Jesus.” Some years ago a story was making the rounds on the Internet describing a woman from Florida who put one of those “Honk If You Love Jesus” bumper stickers on her car.  One day, shortly thereafter, she had an uplifting experience while waiting at a busy intersection.  While lost in thought about the glories of God, she didn’t notice that the light had changed. Her reverie was interrupted when she heard the beeping of a car horn.  “Wow,” she thought, “these bumpers sticker really work.” Then the driver directly behind her started honking like crazy, and yelling as loudly as he could, as if at a football game,  “Jesus Christ, go!”  “He must really love the Lord” she mused. 

Soon everyone around was honking in concert, so she leaned out the window and waved and smiled at all those Jesus-loving people. Then another driver started yelling something and waved one of his fingers in the air, which her kids told her was the Hawaiian good-luck sign. So she leaned out the window, smiled, and gave it back. Just then she happened to notice that the light had changed, so she stepped on the gas, and made it through the intersection--just before it turned red again.  Her last thoughts were “Praise the Lord for such wonderful folks!” 

Now for a true story: several Unitarian Universalists down in Florida grew weary of all those Jesus-oriented bumper stickers and decided to make some of their own. They came up with two.  In response to the “Jesus is the Answer” slogan, theirs said “To Question Is the Answer,” and instead of “Honk if you love Jesus,” theirs said “Honk If You’re Not Sure.”  Both had the sub-caption, “Unitarian Universalist Churches and Fellowships.”

These alternative bumper stickers were really popular for awhile, but I’m sorry to say that they are no longer being produced.  Our reputation of being the doubting Thomases of the religious world, however, remains. We do ask a lot more questions than we have answers for.  When it comes to the deep existential questions about the meaning of life and death, most of us would have to honk with those who are not sure about the answers--though we may have some strong beliefs.

You may have noticed that there is a significant portion in our denomination who define themselves as agnostic.  Perhaps you are among them.  But what is an agnostic, really?

The agnostic has many similarities to the atheist but also some important differences. In 1869 Thomas Huxley, the English biologist and intellectual, coined the word agnosticism. The word came from the Greek meaning “the unknowing or unknown.”

In religious terms it’s the view that we don't know if there's a God or not. In Huxley's own words, "Agnosticism simply means that individuals shall not say they know or believe that for which they have no ground for professing to believe."

Huxley goes on to explain how he became an agnostic:

“When I reached intellectual maturity I began to ask myself whether I was an atheist, a theist or a pantheist, a materialist or an idealist, a Christian or a Free-thinker. I found that the more I learned and reflected, the less ready was the answer. The one thing on which most of these good people agreed was the one thing in which I differed from them. They were sure they had . . . more or less successfully solved the problem of existence; while I was quite sure that I had not. Furthermore, I had a pretty strong conviction that the problem was insoluble . . . So, I . . . invented what I conceived to be the appropriate title of ‘Agnostic.’ ....To my great satisfaction, the term took.”[1]

I imagine many of you have found yourselves in a similar situation when confronted by friends, acquaintances or colleagues who were certain they "knew" the Truth with a capital ‘T.’ You may have reacted as Huxley did, suspecting that those who proclaim to know the answers to the riddles of the universe are displaying their ignorance far more flagrantly than their wisdom.

Over the years, I’ve noted two different kinds of agnostics . First, there are casual agnostics who say they simply don't know whether or not God truly exists. They just don’t have enough personal evidence.  There is the possibility, then, that if they are given adequate evidence at some future time, then they may well become believers.

Then there are the strict agnostics, who proclaim that they can't know about the existence of God. That's a big difference. Whereas causal agnostics believe there is the possibility of their belief in God, strict agnostics say that the human mind is much too limited to ever have enough evidence to grasp hold of that indefinable concept. It would be analogous to an ant crawling across this pulpit trying to comprehend this church or the meaning of this message. 

Both the casual and strict agnostics agree that doubting has value and that there is danger in blind faith. Their spirit is captured well with these words by Sam Harris in his book The End of Faith:  “Religious faith is the one species of human ignorance that will not admit of even the possibility of correction; that is still sheltered from criticism in every corner of our culture . . .In the best case, faith leaves otherwise well-intentioned people incapable of thinking rationally about many of their deepest concerns; at worst, (religious faith) is a continuous source of human violence . . . . “

It is a continuous source of human violence.  Yes, faith unchecked by doubt can indeed be very dangerous.  And we know this all too well, don’t we?  The most current example is the war in Iraq .   Here we have a situation in which tens of thousands have lost their lives, and there has been a wholesale destruction of Iraq ’s culture and its social, economic and environmental infrastructures.  Along with all this, there’s been a rapid decline of our own nation’s stature in the international community, soaring federal deficits, and the strengthening of anti-democratic and fundamentalist forces.  And in spite of all these developments, President Bush’s convictions about this war  remain unshaken.  Doubt, he and his supporters insist, is a sign of weakness, a lack of resolve; it is what the terrorists count on. And so we bear witness to the type of evil that can be unleashed when someone’s religious convictions are untested by doubt.    

According to some who knew and worked with George W. Bush before he became president, this dogmatism, this unwillingness to alter his beliefs even in the face of compelling evidence, is relatively new.  Jim Wallis, editor of Sojourner Magazine, has said that when they first met, Bush was actually very open and seeking.  But since entering the White House he “has become a messianic American Calvinist who doesn’t want to hear from anyone who doubts him.”  Wallis goes one to affirm something that the President doesn’t understand: that religious faith and a reasonably healthy spiritual life can accommodate doubt, and that doubt is an asset rather than a liability as we strive for wisdom and virtue[2]. 

The idea that doubt invariably undermines faith is simply not true, as the history of religion amply illustrates. The fact is, many of civilizations most spiritual and influential writings refer to the beneficial role of doubt .Take, for example, the following passage from the Chinese text, the Tao Te Ching, written about the 6^th century B.C.E:

The ancient masters didn’t try to educate the people,

But kindly taught them to not-know.

When they think that they know the answers, people are

difficult to guide.

When they know that they don’t know, people can

Find their own way[3].

Certitude, this text suggests, is far more hazardous to a nation or a community than doubt.  And I’m not just referring to religious doubt.  I’m speaking about a commitment to question all the accepted truths within our culture. I’m speaking about always being open to new knowledge and experience.

The Buddha, for example, took a long, hard look at the world around him and found that most of what he had been taught, and most people believed, didn’t make sense.  He developed a unique insight into human psychology and the nature of suffering and then created a path by which human beings could achieve insight and inner peace.  And being a true free spirit, the Buddha then rejected the efforts of his followers to deify him or to treat his teachings as gospel truth.  Instead, he encouraged people to “be lamps unto themselves,” to evaluate even the Buddha’s sublime teachings in light of their own experience.

Stephen Batchelor describes Buddhism as a “deep agnosticism.”  It refuses to draw conclusions not based on evidence.  It is neither atheistic nor theistic; does not take a position for or against an afterlife, because none of these assertions can be proved.  Rather, Buddhism is founded on a passionate recognition that we do not know.[4]

That struggle to question and doubt is certainly not an easy one. It's a skill that's difficult to learn and often requires the pain of breaking away. Those who dare to doubt are often forced to leave behind old institutions, friends, and even family members in their search for truth.   Anyone here ever been penalized for doubting?  I sure have!  In fact, I have a whole slew of Baptist relatives who are sure that I’m going to hell for my doubts.    And you should have seen them in at the turn of the new millennium! They were certain that the world was about to witness the second coming of Christ.  Oh, how they begged and pleaded with me to join them in their remote cabin in the Sierra Nevada mountains!   They wanted to spare me and my family the violence that would come with Armageddon—another Biblical prophecy they were certain was about to unfold. 

 Although I hated to make them fret, I declined their invitation.   And, as you know, nothing happened when the new millennium dawned.  No Armageddon, no Second Coming, no Y2K disasters, nothing.  I try to imagine how they responded to the profound absence of drama as they huddled in the safety of their cabin in the New Year.  Surely they must have been disappointed.  I suppose they eventually came to peace with their error by saying something faithful, such as: “Well, you know that God does work in mysterious ways and it is not our place to question Him.”    I actually don’t know what they thought or said because we’ve never discussed religion since—which, in this case, is a very good thing!

 Yes, there are many people in this society who do not understand why we must question, why we must doubt. And often we are called heretics for doing so.  But the reality is that many of the greatest minds and hearts the world has ever known have been given the negative label of heretic--simply because they dared to doubt the currently held “truths.” But this may be a good time to remind you that the word "heretic" comes from Greek, and it literally means "able to choose."

I like this definition.  It puts a much more positive spin on the word. Heretics, then, are different from others in that they are able to make their own choices---instead of having decisions made for them. They use their freedom to forge their theology and their fate.  They listen to their own inner voice and to take the less-traveled path when necessary.

To doubt, then, is not simply to dissent. It is to be a creator, a person who dares to create relationships with the world around them -- and who dares at the same time to be an individual who accepts the responsibility of their freedom.

That is why many of us end up in this church. Every religion and every church has a different vision of what truth is and how it should be lived out. Our vision of truth is different--not so much in what we believe as in how we believe.

We believe that truth is not static and still. Truth is not monopolized by any one religion, holy book, or messiah. Instead, truth is continually revealing itself in every moment of time, in every living being, and in every breath we take. We fling open the doors and windows to truth so that we may be sustained by its eternal power. Eventually we learn that we don’t have to have all the answers in order to live the questions into being.

So go ahead and honk if you’re not sure. Honk again if you love life anyway!

Blessed be.