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November 14, 2007
The Gods of the Philosophers Don't Bring Rain
John Hobbins of Ancient Hebrew Poetry and I had a little dialog over a period of a few of days last week on . . . Well, I'm never exactly sure what these kinds of discussions are on. At one point, I said, "The gods of religions are extremely interesting and the gods of the philosophers are almost always boring." To which John replied, "An atheist who finds the gods of the religions abnormally interesting, and the god(s) of the philosophers rather boring. That is a sweet combination."
Now, I read Jason Rosenhouse EvolutionBlog on praying for rain in Georgia,
My only comment on this is to point out, once again, that the version of religion addressed by Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens, the kind where people believe in a real God who really is influenced by the requests of common folks, who can be usefully encouraged to end a drought when a lot of people ask him to, is the kind most people practice. The other kind, the one beloved of philosophers and theologians, where everything is metaphorical and complicated and subtle? That's the caricature. [emphasis in original]
I find it hard to argue with Jason on this point. Oh, just in case I am being too subtle, the gods of the religions don't bring rain either.
Posted by Duane Smith at November 14, 2007 2:47 PM | Read more on Religion |
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Comments
I can tell a funny story that is related. The story does not prove - at all - that a god, Baal or YHWH, brings rain. The bar for proof on such matters can and should be set so high, in my view, that there will always be room for doubt.
I rarely agree to officiate a wedding - this is a pastor writing - arranged via email, but the genesis of this one was so unusual, I figured, why not. The bride-to-be wrote saying she wanted me to officiate because her maid of honor had seen me do her grandma's funeral, and on that basis thought I would do her best friend's wedding very well. The logical leaps in the thought process were so appealing, I couldn't help but say yes.
The bride was up and coming in theatre, the groom a dot.com whiz. They wanted to have an outdoor wedding, on the north shore of Lake Mendota, at Bishops Bay. A splendid place, but with unpredictable weather. The couple live in the SF Bay area, but had grown up in Wisconsin. Perhaps they had forgotten that the only thing that is sure about Wisconsin weather is that it's always changing.
Sure enough, for the wedding rehearsal, a storm kicked up, and we had to cut things short. The wedding party seemed a bit shaken by the prospects. It was also supposed to rain the next day. I made some lame joke about how in Italy they say "sposi bagnati, sposi fortunati" - wet nuptials are blessed nuptials. They were not impressed. I was their shaman-pastor, it seemed, and they expected me to take care of the weather. That's the trouble with non-churchgoing religionists - they haven't been corrupted by subtle theology. God -if God exists - will do these sort of things.
The father of the bride said right there, in public, I'll make sure you're compensated if it doesn't rain tomorrow. The request was so childlike and sincere, I didn't have the heart to brush it off. I said I would do the best I could, but I wasn't making any hard promises.
As it turned out, it was sunny and breezy the next day. I collected big time (which is why I remember the occurrence vividly).
I have a policy that wedding, funeral, and baptism proceeds go to relief efforts, things like Church World Service or World Vision. I don't remember where those proceeds went. I trust they made a difference somewhere.
Posted by: John Hobbins at November 14, 2007 9:19 PM
the gods of the religions don't bring rain eitherAh - but can they make a butterfly flap it's wings on the other side of the world?
Posted by: Doug Chaplin at November 15, 2007 4:17 AM
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