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Date:         Sat, 29 Aug 1992 18:22:06 -0400
From:         Allan Adler <adler@RISC1.ACC.URI.EDU>
Subject:      God
X-To:         fnord-l%ubvm.bitnet@uriacc.ACC.URI.EDU,
              anthro-l%ubvm.bitnet@uriacc.ACC.URI.EDU

In a recent posting on FNORD-L, my friend Dan Foss writes:

>   Gail told me she is waiting for a sign from God to invite me back but thus
>far God has been saying No. I told her, this was also last night, if I were
>God, under the constraint that God *is* duty-bound and Responsible - though
>*we* (Foss & Adler) know this particular deity is slothful, inefficent, "on
>the take," and would have been compelled to accept Mandatory Early Retirement
>had he not proved such a useful Fall-Guy For The Higher-Ups - I would have
>told her exactly the same thing.


There are of course many Adler's in the world. For example, Margot Adler
wrote a book entitled Drawing Down the Moon, which deals with religious
questions. However, just in case Dan is referring to me, I wish to clarify
that I do not believe the statement that he attributes to Foss&Adler.

When people ask me if I believe in God, I say, "In who?", like I never heard
of it.

When asked to classify myself religiously, the short answer is that I am
an atheist. The somewhat longer answer is that I do not think that religious
questions make enough sense to have answers. This is different from
theism, atheism or agnosticism, all of which tacitly agree that the questions
make sense but differ in their responses to them (i.e. yes, no, I don't know).

I might add that I went through a period in which I read the scriptures
from all the religions I could find. At that time, I was fascinated by
that which I thought all religions had fundamentally in common. I had developed
an elaborate philosophy of my own in this connection, which I will describe in
my forthcoming autobiography, which I have long since repudiated. One lasting
outcome of this experience is that I regard ideas with the greatest suspicion,
since they are not to be trusted.

My readings included the New Testament, with particular attention to the
Gospels, as well as various Buddhist scriptures that I found in the book
Buddhism in Translations, edited by Warren and published by Harvard
University Press. There were many things that I liked in my readings
and which I still like.

I am particularly fond of pointing out to evangelists the line in the
Gospels where Jesus tells them to worry about the beam in their own
eye rather than the mote in their neighbor's.

On a recent edition of Nightline, they discussed the Benobo chimps and
the fact that while genetically just as close to us as other chimps,
they are quite different in their behavior from other chimps. Therefore,
when we look at chimps and see images of ourselves, perhaps we should be
looking at the Benobo chimps. On the show, there were two experts. One studies
Benobo chimps and wrote a book entitled Peacemaking Among Primates, or
something like that. The other guest was Lionel Tiger. Tiger remarked in
an offhand way that the rise of religion seemed to be tied to the
agrarian revolution and served the purpose of regulating sexual activity,
which served the purpose of making sure there was enough food for
everyone.

I don't know whether he is right or not. But the question of why our species
is afflicted by advanced delusional systems such as religions makes more
sense to me than the question of the existence or nature of the supernatural
entities that religions are concerned with.

Allan Adler
adler@risc1.acc.uri.edu
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU