HealthCentral/On Faith: When you stop believing -- a Christian view

When you stop believing -- a Christian view

Q: I've recently come to realize that I no longer believe in God. Does this make me a bad person?

By Albert Scariato

I suppose a helpful way to respond to this question is to ask, "If I believe in God does that make me a good Person?" As someone who is around many people who claim to believe in God, the answer is, "No, belief in God--by itself--does not make someone a good person." That statement is a truism that transcends religious traditions and denominations.

Just think of what people who believe in God do: clerics abusing children, mismanaging congregational funds (heard about the priest who spent $80,000) on plastic surgery and a glamorous lifestyle?), ethnic cleansing, suicide bombers, vandalism (just this week a Russian Orthodox priest in Moldova destroyed aHanukkah menorah five-feet tall), and snide jokes about people of other faiths and people with no faith. Just consider what goes on in the life of most religious congregations: pride, arrogance, chronic complaints (mostly about other people of faith), lack of generous financial support to the needy and to their own house of worship, envy, strife, self-importance, and then, of course, there is always gossip--identified by my fist Bishop as "the greatest sin of the church."

Saint Paul wrote, "When Gentiles [i.e., non-believers], who do not possess the law, do instinctively what the law requires, these, though not having the law, are a law to themselves." This would imply that people who do not profess a belief can, by acting for the common welfare in a responsible and caring manner toward others, their communities, and their environment, accomplish as much good as those whose belief in God propels them to that same sort of action.

Indeed, I might posit that what constitutes a" bad person" is someone who, while claiming to believe in God, promotes evil, greed, self-indulgence, self-importance, and the belittling of others.

--The Rev. Dr. Albert Scariato, M.D, Rector, Saint John's Episcopal Church--Georgetown Parish.

By David Waters | December 21, 2009; 9:30 AM ET Save & Share:
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Not only does deciding you no longer believe in (the traditional) God not make you a bad person, it probably means you are reaching a more mature level of spiritual development. According to many experts, this stage of questioning our beliefs is necessary in becoming spiritually mature, even if it leads to a period of non-belief.

The next step is to begin exploring just what is meant by the word "God." If you cannot accept the traditional notion of God, you may find that there is a "small g" definition of "god" that you can accept.

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When you stop believing -- a Christian view

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