I find that I read a lot of books, or more aptly, I read some of a lot of books, and while I'm reading, there are things that jump out to me. So, I jot them down. Then, at some point, I end up misplacing the notes I've taken, or if it actually makes it onto on my computer, I eventually file it away, never to be heard from again. Well, this is my attempt to store my notes in a place where I can easily go back and find them when I need them.

It's also convenient that you can comment on the notes that I have taken because most of you are probably smarter than I am. So, I look forward to learning for you.

Does God really make a difference?

I really liked chapter one. I think the chapter can be summed up in the excerpt below. Paul is a young Jewish man, who only came to talk to Rabbi Kushner to please his father.

Paul, whose conversation with me years ago ultimately flowered into this book, assured me that while while he did not believe in religion, he believed in God. I asked him what he meant by that, and he told me that when he contemplates the beauty and intricacy of the world, he has to believe that God exists. That's very nice I told him, and I'm sure that God appreciates your vote of confidence. But for the religious mind and soul, the question has never been the existence of God but the importance of God, the difference that God makes in the way we live. To believe that God exists the way you believe that the South Pole exists, though you have never seen either one, to believe in the reality of God the way you believe in the Pythagorean theorem, as an accurate abstract statement that does not really affect your daily life, is not a religious stance. A God who exists but does not matter, who does not make a difference in the way you live, might as well not exist. He would be like a modern European king, a benevolent figurehead trotted out for ceremonial occasions and beloved by everyone because he never does anything. The issue is not what God is like. The issue is what kind of people we become when we attach ourselves to God.

This, then, is our question: In a world where atheists are often wonderful people and ostensibly religious people disappoint us, in a world where God is a remote presence even for people that claim to believe in Him, what promise does religion hold for us? What difference does it really make in our lives?

The statement the stuck out the most to me was, "To believe that God exists the way you believe that the South Pole exists, though you have never seen either one, ... is not a religious stance. A God who exists but does not matter, who does not make a difference in the way you live, might as well not exist."

Thoughts?

Labels: Harold Kushner, Who Needs God