In the clues section, we look for clues to the answers to the big questions of God and meaning in life. Each topic discusses the facts and arguments believers and unbelievers use to support their viewpoint - a world of philosophy and ideas in just a few pages!
- clues
- Summary page: hints of another dimension
- truth
- Can we ever know that something is true?
- belief systems
- 4 types of belief systems.
- the universe
- Does there have to be a reason for everything?
- it looks like it was designed
- Fundamental universal laws which are finely tuned for life.
- a rare earth?
- How our Earth is just right for life.
- life
- Are we created or evolved, or both?
- science, faith and rnb
- How rnb has approached these questions.
- evolution and design
- Background information on evolution & intelligent design.
- people
- Are human beings special, or just advanced animals? (Is there anybody in there?)
- are our brains like computers?
- Neuroscience, human-ness & free will.
- right and wrong
- Are some things truly right or wrong?
- evil
- Does an evil world prove there can be no God?
- road tests
- How do different beliefs work out in practice?
- two stories
- Choosing between the two stories that explain everything.
tales from two faiths
a supreme lightness of being
B is a typical Aussie bloke who converted to Islam about six years ago, after deciding it was true. "It was like a weight that was lifted from my shoulders", he says, "Now I know why I am here. Islam is compassionate, it's merciful and it's got everything I need in a religion." His conversion led to a gradual loss of many friendships, but he says he now has 'a supreme lightness of being'.
it lasts
The first two decades of J's life were not easy - a violent and broken home, raped as a child and as a teenager, she left home at 15 and lived with a number of men, many of them violent, and she became addicted to drugs. Pregnant and abandoned by the father, she went to a church to get help. She decided to become a christian. Through a number of sessions of deep prayer, J has received healing from God from awful memories and low self esteem. Horrific nightmares have ceased, and she is now happily married to a christian man. When asked if her story could be included in a book, J replied "Yes. And tell them it lasts." (This story in slightly greater detail at finding hope.
shame!
Jesus would be ashamed of you shows the ugly, and sometimes funny (in an awful way), side of institutional christianity better than I can write about it.
two satisfied sceptics
no religion, but a spiritual person
X had an atheist father and little contact with religion. Christian friends tried to convert her, but it didn't last, and she is now an atheist. She is strongly motivated by compassion for others, and has found help in the writings of the Dalai Lama. "I want to do good in the world and I think that I can do far more without a binding set of commandments saying what is right and what is wrong" she says. "I have no religion, but I am a spiritual person. I believe that if a person is capable of doing a good thing in the world, then she has a responsibility to do so. No god tells me to do this, only my heart."
profiting from independence
S was a committed 'fundamentalist' christian until she went to college, where she studied the Bible and decided it wasn't true. She is now highly critical of the church in the US, especially its attitude to women and its money seeking. She rarely misses her former faith. "It sometimes saddens me when I need something to comfort me, and remember that I once had my faith, but in the end I always profit from my independence. But life is so-much more real, and fulfilling, when you live it for yourself, and not some imaginary, unseen patriarch."
what the world needs now .....
songs of disillusionment
In 2005, prolific songwriter, Burt Bacharach released 'At this time', his first album of songs with his own lyrics. The album has a political and social motivation, as he laments the safer and more loving world he once knew and believed in, and blames lying politicians and greed for breakdowns in society. "I keep hoping for a better day/ It's a long time coming but I wait anyway/ Life's a miracle or a foolish tale/ I don't know - go ask Shakespeare."
dying for want of a story
Sociologist John Carroll (author of "The Western Dreaming: the western world is dying for want of a story") believes that humanism has so far failed to provide a livable philosophy. "Nihilism .... is the inevitable end point of the humanist cultural experiment. Needless to say, humans cannot live with the ultimate conclusion that this is all there is." He says we desperately need "persuasive answers to the central metaphysical questions. Without such answers we humans cannot live." He suggests that an increase in various forms of fundamentalism is likely to result from this lack.
the world is an iron cage
Max Weber agrees (see quote in you are not supposed to grin!), arguing that with the progress of science and technology, we have lost our sense of the sacred, and the world has become an 'iron cage'.
make the world a better place
If you feel inspired to make the world a better place, and work against the bad and ugly examples outlined in "road tests", here are some places you may like to start. If you have other suggestions, please let us know.
overseas aid
care for a third world child
volunteer to serve overseas
other overseas aid
world justice
care for the world
rnb recommends you see the movie an inconvenient truth if you have missed it so far.
links
- Return to the page you came from.
- Go to clues (to the meaning of life) or road tests (how different beliefs work out in practice).