Mike Murray essay -- Reason to Believe

30 June 2008

Reason to Believe

--by Mike Murray

As did George Carlin, I “grew up Catholic.” For millions of people like us, that term speaks volumes. It is our polite way of saying that, as children, we were indoctrinated into the Catholic faith by our parents. And that, as adults, we made other choices.

Carlin was among those who abandoned religious faith altogether. He made that fact perfectly clear, time and time again. And he reinforced it while performing his March 2008 HBO special: It’s all bulls**t, and it’s bad for ya. The comedian made famous by his “seven dirty words” routine died earlier this month. I suppose it’s possible that he underwent a last-minute, death-bed conversion. But I doubt it.

Another famous American who clung to atheism all the way to the grave was scientist Carl Sagan. The physicist / astronomer / biologist skyrocketed to fame via his landmark movie and companion textbook, both entitled Cosmos. Sagan also made it clear on many occasions that he had no belief in a Creator, absent irrefutable proof of one’s existence.

I have taken issue many times with Sagan’s core contention: that God cannot exist because no one can say with certainty from where such a being would have come. Sagan was fond of asking, “If God created us, who created God?” He found believers’ standard answer (“God always was”) to be wholly unsatisfying.

Fair enough. But to Sagan, I would have liked to have had the opportunity to pose this question in rebuttal: If God does not exist, and so could not have created matter (the building material of the Universe), from where did that come? If it is scientifically improper to state that God “always was,” it is equally wrong to claim that “matter always existed.” If one contention cannot be accepted without proof, neither can the other.

Fact is, both notions require a leap of faith. And the one that Sagan and his kind took was much grander than the one taken by theologians. Because it is one thing to sidestep the issue of matter’s origin; it is quite another to make the fantastic argument that matter “evolved into consciousness.”

I can accept that gas and dust from the postulated “Big Bang” somehow coalesced into stars. And that, at their death, the largest stars exploded and spewed forth heavy elements that were fused in their interiors. And that those heavy elements eventually clumped together, forming bodies such as planets, asteroids, and meteors. I can also accept that stars routinely capture less massive bodies into their orbits, resulting in solar systems. And that solar systems gravitationally attract one another and produce galaxies. And that galaxies group together into “neighborhoods.” And so on.

But for all that, it is still a spectacular leap to say that such processes led to the creation of life, that they precipitated awareness. Molecules can combine and cells can divide ad infinitum and never achieve cognition. A universe that simply “evolved” – from gas to rock to living organism? I don’t think so.

That, in a nutshell, is my reason for disagreeing with many who populate the scientific community. It stretches credulity much less for me to believe in a supreme being than to buy the implausible notion that matter always existed, and that it serendipitously morphed into life.

That is not to say, however, that I accept in toto the teachings of any particular faith. While I respect others’ religious convictions – and admire spiritual devotion of sundry kinds – I cannot comply with theological tenets that I do not accept as valid. Hence my membership in the group of people who “grew up” Catholic.

Just the same, I believe that some form of “higher power” exists. I believe that there is some rhyme, some reason, behind the creation of a universe that includes creatures who feel, who think, who wonder. I don’t know what lies beyond mortal life. I don’t know if places such as Heaven and Hell truly exist. But I do believe that – at the very least – death leads to enlightenment (even for skeptics such as Sagan and Carlin).

I believe that because I find it to be more likely than the alternative: that everything we see around us on Planet Earth and in outer space is the result of nothing more than colossal, cosmic happenstance. That plants, animals, and humans are the result of nothing more than the chance metamorphosis of matter – matter that had no origin.

Logic leads me to conclude that such a scenario is highly improbable. But selfishness plays a part as well. It, too, persuades me to reject the beliefs of atheists. Because if Sagan, Carlin, et al. are correct, then there is no “hereafter.” Of any kind. And that would be tragic.

Among the things that see me through difficult days is the belief that I will eventually be reunited with friends and relatives who have preceded me in death. I carry on, encouraged by the expectation that I will once again see the special souls who “crossed over” before me, who led the way into the great unknown.

I look forward to being greeted by my dad, by old Army buddies, by childhood chums. Perhaps I will be able to tell them in death what I could not in life: that they are precious to me. That I love them. That I always will.

I eagerly await the wagging tails of dogs with whom I’ve lived. I count them among my dearest friends. Every critter in my life surpassed me in the demonstration of affection and loyalty. If rewards are doled out in the “next life,” then all of the animals I have known will receive greater helpings than will I. Each is more deserving.

Kelly and Sparky during my childhood, Zipper during early adulthood, Maggie and Janna in recent years – all have greatly enriched my life. They and others made the trials and tribulations of day-to-day living easier to bear. I hope that when my time arrives they will be faithfully waiting, ready to ease my transition to whatever comes next.

I hope no less for non-believers. Despite their skepticism, I hope that Carl Sagan and George Carlin were each met by a welcoming committee of loved ones. And that wherever they are now, they’re happy.

Such musings keep me going. They give me reason enough to believe.

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