There appears to be something of a theme developing amongst the intellectuals at the BBC. In May GospelBlog noted an article by Tom Shakespeare that posited the idea that the optimal solution for a happy life is to be religious while not believing in God. Today Will Self has joined this campaign. In his latest piece for A Point of View he has tackled the idea that Nihilism, essentially the belief that life is without meaning, will result in the collapse of society; or in the words of Ivan Karamazov that he quotes from Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov, “in a godless world, “Do what thou wilt” constitutes the whole of the law.”
Like Shakespeare he notes that a belief in nothing is actually a practical impossibility and that:
“The problem with our contemporary secular beliefs is that they’re either makeshift, or entered into unconsciously, simply as a necessary operating system for our busy and digitised lives. The great believers in the wonder of the universe, as revealed to us by science, seem to have considerable difficulty in either galvanising us to social solidarity, or providing us with true solace. I’ve yet to hear of anyone going gently into that dark night on the basis that she or he is happily anticipating their dissolution into cosmic dust, nor do I witness multitudes assembling in order that they may sing the periodic table together, or recite prime numbers in plain chant.”
He appears to be joining Shakespeare in suggesting that some form of religious belief, it doesn’t really matter which, is generally a good idea. He says, “It isn’t, I believe, the content of our beliefs that really matters, so much as the practice of believing itself.” Presumably the Flying Spaghetti Monster so loved of the atheists could meet this particular criterion!
What we believe in is actually of vital importance. Part of Self’s argument is that for the moral structure of society to hold together we must believe in some form of ultimate accountability. But if this final judgement is not a reality and is simply a metaphysical construct required to keep society together then are we being any more honest by pretending to believe in it than simply acknowledging that life is after all pointless? On the other hand, if it is a reality and if, in the words of the Apostle Paul, “every one of us shall give account of himself to God” then would it not be wiser to, in the much mocked words of the Old Testament prophet Amos, “prepare to meet thy God”? But how to prepare? That is where it is important what we believe in. In the words of the New Testament, “whoever would draw near to God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who seek Him.”
There is a reliable guide in these matters. We don’t need to go blindly out into the darkness. The Lord Jesus in a famous prayer said that the reason He came into the world was that His disciples might have ‘eternal life’, “and this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.”