Wednesday, April 08, 2009

Reading Czeslaw Milosz, looking for the keys to the Slavic soul, I find instead something more complicated. I find myself understanding for the first time that religion matters, and that the ferocious battles of the Enlightenment (science vs religion, God vs nature, empiricism vs metaphysics) have left their mark on my own mind. I have never bothered to consider religion in any way- I have always thought that the discussion is over and that it's entirely beside the point. The things which Christianity provided- a sense of the centrality of human beings in the universal scheme, a sense of wonder- seem to me to be perfectly possible without God.

It turns out that my atheism is not a straightforward inheritance from my parents, bolstered by my own adult tendency to empiricism. In fact I am heir to these ancient struggles, and my currents of thought have roots in a time long before my conception.

2 comments:

La Gi said...

Even in Jerusalem?

Get in touch Ms Moore or Mrs ... I'd like to come and see you!

La Gi said...

Even in Jerusalem?

Get in touch Ms Moore or Mrs ... I'd like to come and see you!