Imagine No Religion

Richard Dawkins—evolutionary biologist, Oxford professor, accomplished author, famous atheist, anti-religionist, and anti-creationist—is perhaps best known for his latest book, The God Delusion, a 2006 Bestseller. In The God Delusion Dawkins takes all of religion to task, laying upon its shoulders the blame for much of the evil in the world, especially wars. In the Preface of the book, Dawkins draws upon John Lennon’s famous song, “Imagine,” which includes the line “Imagine no religion.”  By imagining a world without religion, we are told, we can imagine a world without 9/11, 7/7 (London bombings of 7/7/2005), the Crusades, witch hunts…you get the picture. The suggestion is that religion is the cause of most, if not all, wars and violence. In fact, Dawkins is on a personal crusade to wipe out religion from the world.

In the weeks ahead, I’d like to take a look at some of the arguments of Dawkins and his fellow “New Atheists” as they are called, starting with this idea of religion being a major cause of wars and violence. For starters, let’s try to imagine a world without religion, or at least without Christianity (Dawkins refuses to distinguish between violent and non-violent religions). R.J. Rummell, political scientist from the University of Hawaii, has extensively researched historical data on wars, compiling estimates of government-caused deaths (i.e., deaths from wars, genocides, persecutions, etc.) throughout history (what he calls democide)(http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/NOTE1.HTM). He estimates the total number of deaths from democide in the past 100 years alone to be 262 million, which is about 50% of the total number killed throughout history! My, how far we have evolved! Of those, the number killed in the name of “Christianity” (including the Crusades, Spanish Inquisition, and witch hunts) on the most liberal count is about 264,000. Now, that is 264,000 too many, to be sure. Even one single death performed at the hands of man in the name of Christ would violate the consistent teachings of Jesus and his apostles in the New Testament. Jesus said “Blessed are the peacemakers” (Mt 5.9) and love your enemies and pray for them (Mt 5.43-47). He told Peter to put away his sword, for those who live by the sword will die by the sword (Mt 26.52). And he told Pilate that if his kingdom were of this world, his servants would be fighting, but his kingdom is not of this world (Jn 18.36). The apostles similarly taught followers to be peacemakers (Rom 12.17-21; 1 Pet 3.8-12).  So while some religions could well be characterized as violent and hateful, in no way do the teachings of Christ even remotely justify wars and killing in the name of religion—beyond, perhaps, defending the defenseless against such murderers.

But let’s continue imagining. Imagine a world without religion, and thus an atheistic world. Actually, we do not have to imagine, for we’ve seen it in our own lifetime. Consider the worlds of Soviet Russia, Communist China, and the Khmer Rouge, for example. According to Rummell, Atheistic Communism alone in the past 100 years has wrought 110 million deaths. That’s one third of all deaths by democide in all of history! And that’s 1000 times more deaths in the past 100 years than those caused by so-called Christians supposedly in the name of Christianity over the past 2000 years. And we haven’t even considered the regimes that strongly discouraged religion (Nazi Germany, WWII Japan, Vietnam, North Korea, etc.), which would bring the total to 141 million—almost 50% of all people killed in all of history! We could add to that the 100 billion abortions, which Christians have consistently opposed. So imagine! And these were just short-lived regimes covering only a portion of the world. It makes one wonder, if there was an entire world without religion, how long would it be before there weren’t any people left at all? Imagine!

Being Like Those Who Dream

Psalm 126.1-2 says, "When the LORD brought back the captive ones of Zion
                                 We were like those who dream.
                                 Then our mouth was filled with laughter
                                 And our tongue with joyful shouting;
                                 Then they said among the nations,
                                 'The LORD has done great things for them.'

When the Israelites had returned from captivity, it was like a dream come true. Well, not like a dream come true. It was a dream come true. For 70 years while in Babylon they had dreamed of returning to the Promised Land. But that wasn't just their dream. It was God's dream as well, for he had promised it to them 70 years earlier through the prophet Jeremiah in another passage that is often quoted today when talking about God's dreams for our lives (Jer 29.10-11 -- "...For I know the plans that I have for you...."). They were dreaming God's dream, God's plans for them. And in doing so, their mouths were filled with laughter and shouts of joy.

God didn't stop dreaming when Israel returned to the Promised Land. Nor did he stop when Jesus came into the world, nor when he died and rose again on the third day, nor when the Holy Spirit was poured out in Acts 2. He didn't stop dreaming when the Bible was completed. These were all part of God's dream. But God still has a vision for this world. He has dreams and plans for it and for us and for his kingdom. The question is, are we dreaming God's dream with him? Do you have a vision for your life, for how God will use you to fulfill his dream? Does your church have a vision for its future? Is it dreaming God's dream for the kingdom of God and for who he wants them to be? Can you describe the dream in a few words?

To live our life with vision means to never be satisfied with the status quo. It is to have a holy agitation that refuses to live with mediocrity. It is to refuse to simply exist, to just go with the flow, to just go through the motions, to just try to fill up 24 hours in a day every day. To live with vision is to see God's plan not only for your life, but for his kingdom and for this world, and to give yourself wholly to it. It is to become part of something much greater than yourself.

Prov 29.18 is often quoted in regard to vision, usually from the King James Version which says, "Where there is no vision, the people perish." That's one possible translation. The NASU says "Where there is no vision, the people are unrestrained." And actually the word "vision" here probably means "revelation," as from God through the prophets. So perhaps the verse is taken out of context when used to refer to vision in the sense I am talking about in this article. Nonetheless, it is true that to live without vision is to perish. For to live without vision means to stagnate, to go nowhere, remain at a standstill. And to do that is to die.

Athletes commonly use a technique called "visioning" in which they visualize themselves successfully going through each step or motion of their sporting event, whether it is skiing a downhill race course or pole vaulting higher than they ever have before. Studies have proven that visioning greatly improves an athlete's performance. Likewise, to envision God using us to achieve his dream and imagining ourselves reaching it is imperative to success. The alternative is not only to fail, it is to not even try.

Heuser and Shawchuck, in their book Leading the Congregation: Caring for Yourself While Serving the People, state, "A vision is the 'impossible dream' that God is dreaming in the hearts of those who are called to serve others."  Have you dreamed an impossible dream for your life in terms of serving God and serving others? If so, maybe it is God dreaming in you. And if so, then it is not impossible at all.