I am a product of the (late twentieth and early) twenty-first century. All people my age are; there is no getting around this. My research as a historical liturgiologist focuses on the intersection of religion and culture and this has taught me one thing: Religion cannot exist without culture and culture cannot exist without religion. This is the way it is. I have seen a disturbing trend, though, in the recent years among my friends. This is atheism. I respect the beliefs of my friends whether they do or do not believe in a deity. This is none of my business, but I cannot help but think about what a world without religion would look like; more specifically, what a world would look like without Christianity.
Christianity is a religion of love, the love of God freely given to man and man responding to God's love by loving God and his neighbor. What does this have to do with atheism? To me, atheism is the belief that there is no God and the universe and the world is a random series of events that just seemed to happen and lead man to a certain point. To the atheist, man is just one of these random series of events in the unfolding of time. Therefore, man is just on earth, living out his days until he dies. This cycle will repeat itself until the end of time, whenever that might be.
One thing the atheist does not grasp, though, is the idea (or feeling) of love. Love, by its strictest definition, is a passionate or tender affection for something. For example, I love my parents because they are the people who gave birth to me. I love my computer because it provides me with an outlet for information and is a tool for social networking. I love my friends because they are the ones who calm me down when I need to be calmed down. All of these examples of love are not wrong in and of themselves, but what is the source of this love? The atheist would say that either love is futile or love is merely a human emotion, something man is born with before he enters the world. Love for the atheist is a priori.
The source of this love is God. God is the source of all things that exist, all living things that exist, and every person that exists. God is love, and He gives this love freely to anyone who desires it. The great thing about God is that He does not force Himself upon anyone; He gave man free will to decide what man wants for himself. If man does not want to love God, then God's feelings are not hurt. Of course, God wants all of his creatures to love Him, but He does not "hold a gun to someone's head."
To me, a large portion of the problems in the world today stem from a lack of love. I am certainly guilty of this in large measure, probably the largest. But what does this mean for the atheist? There can be no love in the world because love is purely a human emotion and will pass once man has been extinguished from the earth. There can be no love in the world because love does not have a source and therefore cannot be spread. How can something spread if there is no source? I argue that the world, in the direction it is currently heading, cannot contain love. Our culture is a culture that is hostile to its roots, hostile to religion. The culture of the United States (I cannot comment as to the cultural climate in Europe, Africa, or Asia) is one that is becoming increasingly hostile to religion.
How can love exist in a world that does not know love in its purest sense? Short answer, it can't!
Remember that culture is influenced by religion and vice versa. Therefore, let us acknowledge our roots as a society and remember the culture that we are in and how that culture was formed: An American culture with Christianity, the religion of love, at its center. Fr. Alexander Schmemann, who I am often prone to reference, says that the life of the world is religion, and at the center of religion and culture is love. Today, let us look around and reevaluate the love in our lives. Let us see the love of God made manifest to the world.
N.B.: Today, January 16, 2012, I will be taking my written comprehensive exam and tomorrow I will be taking my oral exam. I ask you to please pray for me. Thank you!
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