Comments on: Functional Atheism http://whatgodwantsforyourlife.com/wordpress/?p=113 Finding Answers to the Deepest Questions Thu, 29 May 2014 16:05:31 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=3.8.41 By: Mark Goode http://whatgodwantsforyourlife.com/wordpress/?p=113&cpage=1#comment-15 Wed, 03 Feb 2010 18:53:32 +0000 http://fwschmidt.wordpress.com/?p=37#comment-15 Oh, the wonders of a liberal arts education — and the horrors that afflict those without one. It seems that Professor Asma missed a few classes in biology and psychology. The guilt that he describes (“gee I could have killed that guy for jumping into line ahead of me”) is the natural outcome of a functioning Prefrontal Cortex! Without this marvelous piece of our brain (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/teenbrain/work/adolescent.html) we wouldn’t hesitate to kill that fellow! This guilt isn’t going to be assuaged by any religious experience either . . . it is our brain’s way of reinforcing a healthy boundary on our behavior.

And if he thinks that there is some parallel between his son’s concern over the environment and his childhood obsession with masturbation, I’d suggest he see a good therapist . . .

]]> By: Debbie Low-Skinner http://whatgodwantsforyourlife.com/wordpress/?p=113&cpage=1#comment-14 Tue, 02 Feb 2010 16:20:43 +0000 http://fwschmidt.wordpress.com/?p=37#comment-14 The term “functional atheism” reminds me of the term “functional hypoglycemia”. The latter meaning that even though you don’t medically have clinical hypoglycemia, in the presence of stree, your body’s metabolism acts as if it has hypoglycemia. Along those lines, functional atheism as you describe is like going through the motions and doing good as if you believed in God, though deep down, in the interior of your soul, you are not so sure. I think this same point was made in Mother Theresa’s diaries after her death. She had done so much exemplary charitable work among the dying and needy in Calcutta, but she confessed in her diary that struggled with her belief in God. I am also reminded of the depressed priest character in Gail Godwin’s novel “Father Melancholy’s Daughter”. He went through all the motions of prayer and pastoral work that a good priest should, but lost his faith a long while ago. He hoped that by going through the motions, his faith would somehow come back. And if what he did accomplished some good (though it did not restore his lost faith) at least someone else benefitted from it.

]]>