Chris Jepson: On loosening one's jaw

You take the same exit off Interstate 4 to reach the luxurious Mall at Millenia or The Holy Land Experience. I laughed out loud when I made that connection. Contrary to Matthew 6:24, you can have both God and mammon. Just off Exit 78 in Orlando, Fla.

God as a theme park? The idea of God has been exploited since man first put quill to parchment. To claim to know the mind of God is what classic Greeks condemned most in man — hubris, a quality harshly punished by the Greek gods.

That doesn’t seem so much the case these days. Folks (devout and otherwise) speak for God with impunity; I suppose because they think they have immunity. Or, they have the word. Is that one and the same? Subscribing to the “word” anoints one with immunity?

Certainty and righteousness are two human qualities that set my jaw. One of my favorite Ralph Waldo Emerson quotes goes, “A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesman and philosophers and divines.” And I accuse myself of an intolerance, one perhaps, reflecting that of a closed mind.

I grew up an atheist. My father, as did his father, had little use for organized religion. He simply didn’t see the need — for either God or the accompanying religions claiming to know the “word.” It was ludicrous. Why subscribe to superstition? Why ignore mankind’s extended history of an evolving godhead? Why absolve God for the atrocities done in his name (see all of human history)? Why check your brain at the door when considering God and faith? Why spend (much or any) time on what is undeniably unknowable?

What’s interesting about my father’s relationship to religion is that he never once said categorically, “I am an atheist.” He would have wanted me to reach my own conclusions without his fatherly imprimatur. And I did.

Clichés say it all: “the acorn doesn’t fall far from the tree” or “as the twig is bent so grows the tree.” I am my father’s son, and I am proud to say so, but along with the “wheat” came the “chaff.” And that is an important thing to separate. To let go of, if you will. Father had a profound intolerance for ignorance. It was unacceptable. Sloppy thinking was unacceptable. Subscribing to superstition and religion (one and the same) are examples of shoddy thinking and hence…

I agree wholeheartedly with his perspective, except I have reconsidered his disdain for “sloppy” thinking. I choose to critique the “faithful” not so much as thinking sloppily, but as thinking differently. And that, I confess, has been a long time in coming. Indeed.

I still find religion immensely amusing. How can one not? To claim to know the mind of God, c’mon. Hubris? And your God is jealous? Stop it!

What intrigues me is the low regard in which atheists are considered in America. One recent poll had atheists trailing rapists in public approval. Elect an atheist to public office? Hell no, I’d sooner see a rapist…

I have a recommendation concerning the dialogue of religion in public life. Let’s start from the following premise: “As an atheist, I am no more immoral for believing as I do, as you are necessarily ignorant for believing as you do.” I think that — go ahead and laugh — ecumenical.

After all, “Reciprocity is the lubricant of life.” A biblical verse?

Live it.

Jepson is a 24-year resident of Florida. He’s fiscally conservative, socially liberal, likes art and embraces diversity of opinion. Reach him at [email protected]