I grew up in Mbombela and, like the good citizens my parents were, we went to the NG Kerk every Sunday. To me, this was life. This was spirituality. This was right and everyone in the world with a different religion was wrong.
I took science in high school which made me ask fundamental questions about our universe which the Bible couldn’t answer. A few physical impossibilities, like a flood killing all life on Earth no more than 3 000 years ago and today’s thousands of species stemmed from those few animals on the boat, sparked my curiosity. I started asking questions like, why does the Bible not tell us that the Earth is round? In fact, when Galileo just suggested that the Earth moves around the sun and not vice versa, the church ordered to have him executed for blasphemy (though they eventually settled for torturous house arrest instead).
In this case, science was seen as going against the Word of God, when in fact it told the world more about reality, which in turn brought us closer to the truth, to “God”.
I don’t think God is a boy watching ants on an anthill using a magnifying glass, which have to obey His every command or the ants’ souls will burn forever and ever.
I am not an atheist. I’m more of a spiritualist. I believe in a lifeline, grounded in the Earth, that connects all life on Earth like the leaves of a tree. The different species are like the branches (and there are thousands of branches on this ancient tree) and far enough back – about 14 billion years ago – we come from the same original organism. Geographical changes over eons formed the various species. The Bible fails to elaborate on this. But that’s just my opinion, the same way Christianity is just someone else’s opinion.
So what is the “truth” then?
Nobody knows for sure. But science strives to figure it out.
I read Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species and what I recognised was an attempt to answer some of the questions about life as seen in the world of biology and physical sciences.
This is the theory of evolution in a nutshell: all life on Earth evolved gradually (very slowly) from one organism (most probably single cellular), or a “common ancestor”, through natural selection. Geographic changes forced organisms to adapt to their environment or they would die out. Natural selection means some individuals within a species were preferred by mates because of certain physical traits, or the individuals adapted to their environment effectively, allowing their genes to be carried over to the next generation, and so on and so forth.
It does not mean humans evolved from apes. Rather, we have a common ancestor with apes, which means their species “branched off” earlier than us. They are like our distant cousins, not our parents.
Instead of turning me into an outspoken atheist, my encounter with the theory of evolution deepened my curiosity about the world, about reality of how life on Earth developed to contain the myriad species it houses today. I couldn’t help but ask why evolution is still not believed by so many people and why it is not taught in schools as fact? Not believing in evolution is like not believing in summer – whether you believe it or not, it’s the explanation with the most evidence – and it’s not going anywhere.
After I had philosophy of religion as a main subject at university, the unstable ground upon which religion was based, crumbled away for good. Here I have learnt that science and religion stem from the same place: to make sense of the world, how it came to be and what the purpose of life is.
Religion branched off from science a couple of thousand years ago. It became the ultimate myth; the story about the world people chose to believe – with blind faith as a foundation. Science, on the other hand, doesn’t claim to know the ultimate truth, but rather strives to answer the questions we have about reality as factually as possible. This is why a theory is only a theory until it can be verified by empirical evidence. In other words, scientists say “I think this is the answer, but if someone can come up with an answer which proves this one wrong and resembles reality more closely, we’ll ‘believe’ that one instead.”
Craving spiritual fulfilment is like craving a meal. You and your soul are hungry for something, but you have to be very selective of what you take in. To me, Christianity is like McDonald’s: it tastes wonderful and it keeps you satisfied for hours (maybe even days). All the marketing companies tell you how your life will be incomplete without it. You’re not entirely sure where it comes from in the first place but it satisfies momentarily so you don’t ask too many questions about its history. On top of that, it’s designed to taste and feel so good that it’s addictive. In reality, it’s actually quite bad for you. You eventually think this is the only food in the world and you forget that there are so many others. It keeps you away from growing your own organic food in your own backyard.
Spirituality is much broader than religion. All religions grow from spirituality. Spirituality means asking questions about reality and finding the answers, the meaning of life, by reading more than just one book. Spirituality is moulded from your own experiences – not someone else’s.
One significant difference between spirituality and religion is the fear factor. Fear is a tool used by people in power, like dictators, to control the masses. It’s so easy to have a large group of people follow you if they’re petrified that their “souls are going to burn for all eternity”. There is no way of proving anything after death so people play it safe and live according to whichever rules will guide their souls away from hell. I sometimes get the feeling the “fear of God” the Bible speaks of, the fear that
this boy on an anthill, monitoring your every move with his magnifying glass, will send your timeless soul to burn for eternity, is a main artery underlying Christianity.
Forget fear. Choose freedom.
It’s important to find your own spirituality. Read up about Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, or a combination of all the religions that suit who you are and how you see the world. Read whatever book you need to that will tell you how to be a good person, to live fully and selflessly and to not bring harm to others.
Think about it: there are about 25 major religions, with countless spin-offs in the world, but there is only one Earth and only one way that life came to be. How do you know your religion holds the one right answer among all those to the question of how life works and what happens after death? Again, no one knows. That is why thousands of people are killed every year for their religion.
I’m not claiming to know all the answers. In fact, I’m happy to point out that I am clueless about what what happens after death. The point is, no one knows and no one should claim to do so. The quest to the discovery of the meaning of life starts as soon as you put aside the prejudices and cemented ideas you were brought up with, and start asking those questions you have always been to scared of asking.
Those questions will bring new knowledge about the world which will take you further in your spiritual journey.
It took you 14 billion years of evolving to get you where you are. Don’t waste it. Live it.
