With Christmas almost upon us, a recent survey about the religious practices and beliefs of Australians got me back on a favourite high horse: the issue of God vs religion.
The December 2009 survey found that 68 per cent of those surveyed believe in God or a universal spirit, 24 per cent of Aussies don’t believe, and seven per cent say they’re not sure. Of the ‘believers’, 88 per cent say they are absolutely or fairly certain of their beliefs. Breaking this down, 56 per cent of women say they believe in God and 13 per cent in a universal spirit. Amongst men, the figures are 43 per cent and 11 per cent respectively.
This survey comes up trumps in my book; not because of its findings per se, but because it recognises something that so much public commentary fails ignores—the idea that believing in some kind of higher intelligence doesn’t have to be confined to following an organised religion. I get quite frustrated listening to simplistic discussions that equate ‘belief’ with adherence to organised religion, and then presume that anyone who’s not religious also lacks belief in something beyond the material world.
My thoughts about God/higher intelligence have changed a lot over the years, and will doubtless change again in future. For some time, however, I’ve felt that there are so many cycles and so-called coincidences in this world, and in the wider Universe, that it’s pretty unlikely they all came about randomly. I think there is some kind of higher intelligence at work; not something that’s separate from or superior to us, but something that is present within all of us, every day—if only we’d stop our babbling/moneymaking/war-mongering long enough to tune into it.
I also think it’s perfectly possible to believe there’s some kind of divine order, and to recognise oneself as a microcosm of that order, without subscribing to a particular text, worshipping in a designated building or following a narrow set of moral precepts. This kind of approach gives a bit of extra meaning to daily life, whilst allowing for your beliefs to evolve and change over the years.
Who knows how I’ll feel about the issue in 10, 20 or 30 years’ time? Maybe I’ll get to my death-bed and realise I’ve had it all wrong. But that’s okay, too. Right now, the idea of a benign higher intelligence that sets up the conditions for existence (including the capacity for humans to exert free will) is far more appealing and logical to me than the humanised, interventionist, judgemental and easily offended ‘God’ who seems to characterise so much of organised religion. It works for me, anyhow!
