Straining my brain by having to look up names of mythical and historical figures of whom I was unaware due to deficiencies in education or, more accurately, failures to take advantage of the educational opportunities available to me in carefree youth, I paused reading Dante’s Paradiso and bought a copy of Ross Douthat’s book, Believe (Zondervan Books, subsidiary of Harper-Collins (2025)). The book is subtitled, “Why Everyone Should Be Religious.”
After briefly reviewing the discoveries and proclamations of great scientists over the ages, including many in the past 40 years, Douthat notes that, while they can materially explain the physical locations and material workings of things, such as in the human brain through neuroscience, “at the close, among the problems [with] science [about man and being] that are left unexplained are consciousness, self, sentience (feelings), free will, knowledge, meaning, [and] morality...” (Id., p. 50, quoting, in part, How the Mind Works by Steven Pinker). Religion provides those explanations.
Medicine is a science; its application involves science. An old man, I am in need of medical science to keep me going. Besides the valued acquaintance of my own physicians, I am also blessed with family and friends who are doctors. I am ever aware that the dullest of these are brighter than I. Which makes it all the more meaningful to me when I see them gathered into Bible groups at coffee shops (usually on Wednesday mornings), going to church or temple (including, significantly, sharing a pew with me), and present at funerals (demonstrating at least some belief in or the acknowledged possibility of an afterlife).
And, whether in the context of a profession or trade, a career or job, a volunteer in the community or an unpaid caretaker at home, an uplifting feeling comes from seeing people practicing their faith. It’s nice when they shadow a church doorway or bestow extraordinary gifts to charity. But sometimes, unextraordinary acts of courtesy, kindness, compassion, patience, and like virtues, deeds observed and unobserved, can be more meaningful.
Lord knows (if you are agnostic or atheistic, scientifically conducted polls prove) that not all people who believe in God, a Supreme Being, also share personal opinions or tastes in arts, sports, recreation, politics, et cetera. But everyone, including the dullest, carries within himself an ongoing search for meaning and truth that the material world just can’t answer or satisfy. Douthat says that this is where religious belief comes in; where religion is uniquely helpful.
The author is compelling and logical in explaining why everyone should be religious. Faith and science are complimentary. Just by looking at the flowers and the stars, holding a baby, or being mindful of DNA (“the set of instructions that make you, you,” according to the Cleveland Clinic website), reason tells that there is a Supreme Being who created an ordered world.
God’s intention for humankind is that man transcend his temporal life into an eternal one. As with every enterprise in life (architecture, chemistry, engineering, medicine, music, literature, et cetera) there are guidelines and rules for accomplishing the principles of that purposeful activity. Mortal man’s ultimate undertaking is salvation of his immortal soul. Douthat states that religion is the guideline for success in that endeavor.
Just about every opinion I write is based on the same conviction, that the two most important institutions and the only constants in this material world are faith and family. Benjamin Franklin once claimed two other constants, “death and taxes.” But remember, in the First Continental Congress it was old Ben who insisted on a practice which endures to this day - - that every session of Congress begin with prayer and a supplication for God’s wisdom.
Never before have I given advice in my opinion pieces. But at the risk of sounding presumptuous, I offer this thought: religion can provide something good for one’s wellbeing that he or she will not likely find anywhere else. No one goes to the bank for medical help, nor to the hospital for financial advice. Entertainers act and politicians govern. Religion is the place for spiritual guidance, for understanding questions that the world can’t answer and for facing difficult matters where the world can’t help.
Consider the argument presented by Blaise Pascal (1623-1662), a philosopher and theologian who also happened to be a mathematician. Applying the branch of mathematics called game theory, he concluded the optimal decision and outcome with regard to religion and the existence of God. Putting the question in a betting context, he argued “faith is a wise wager.” Specifically: “Let us estimate these two chances. If you gain (win the bet) you gain all; if you lose, you lose nothing.” (“Paschal’s Wager,” Encyclopedia Britannica, at britannica.com.) Paschal was a Christian, a Catholic. Douthat, also a Catholic, but initially Evangelical and Episcopalian, says that individuals should decide for themselves whether to be Christian or in any other established religion rather than remain apathetic and without religious belief.
Faith is experienced in the soul. It is learned by practice through religion. It is affirmed by loving family, friends, and sometimes even passing acquaintances. It is a constant when everything else around you, or in you, is failing. One doesn’t need a classic poem or a self-help book, a certificate or degree, or an intellectual gift or special talent to know this. It’s clear. It’s simply “why everyone should be religious.” I agree with that opinion.
Chip Williams is a Northsider.
