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Does God work for you?

This is not to ask, of course, whether God is on your payroll – although if he is, now might be a good time to think about doubling up on your investment.

Rather: does belief in God work for you? Does it enrich your life, give substance to your daily routine, give you hope, inspire you with love, drive you to do good works for others, or help you in any other significant way? If so, God is working for you.

In the remaining two chapters of this essay, we will look at whether there are alternatives that might work for you as well. If you are reading this, though, then probably either God has never worked for you, or else he no longer works the way he used to. Later, we’ll deal with the question of whether you can fire him without being sued for age discrimination.[1]

If belief in God used to work for you, even a little, and now it doesn’t, this can be disturbing, and the transition can be difficult. For many people raised in a church tradition, giving up God is like giving up an old and steady friend. Should you let him go, or should you try to hang on?

If life were only about truth, then the best advice would probably be to let go, and good riddance. But if life is more about stories and styles and patterns of action that work or don’t work for you, then only you can decide whether God works for you or not.

Here are some reasons why God might work for you, even if you have strong doubts that any God is present – even, to some extent, if you are sure that he isn’t:

· The teachings that presumably derive from God may form the basis of your morality. If God is all-knowing, all-powerful, and all-benevolent, then it seems reasonable enough to accept his instructions as legitimate and morally binding. We have our marching orders, and except for details in their implementation, we don’t have to wonder what is the right way to live our lives. For that matter, religious belief can inspire us toward truly noble behavior: self-sacrifice, charity, devotion to duty, love. Why give that up?

· Belief in God may give you a sense of a unifying reality: perhaps God cannot be explained, but if you accept that one unexplained thing, other things (some other things, anyway) seem easier to explain.

· Religious belief is comforting. The idea that there is some kind of divine providence, perhaps even a guardian angel, out there can help us get through the day, especially if the day has been horrible. The idea that there is a heaven waiting to receive us when we die can make the travails of life more palatable.

· Religious belief gives meaning and value to our lives. We are here because someone stronger and smarter than us put us here, and even if we don’t entirely understand the meaning and the purpose, we can assume that one does exist. Our lives are important, if for no other reason, because God gives them importance.

· Religious belief binds us to a community. Particularly if you come from a religious household, holding onto your religion unites you with family and neighbors and friends, whereas renouncing your traditional belief may cause anguish for various parties, perhaps even some kind of split. Giving up one’s faith does not necessarily promise to replace any of this with something just as good.

· We often have, as mentioned before, a certain inertia in our beliefs. We tend to keep believing what we’ve always believed, unless there is a powerful reason to change. For some people, doubt alone is powerful enough, but oftentimes it isn’t. Even if you know in your heart that your traditional beliefs are suspect, probably wrong, or even definitely wrong, if there is nothing at least as attractive to replace them – and preferably more attractive – you maybe are just not going to let go.

Perhaps, depending on how strongly these factors affect you, you shouldn’t let go. Perhaps God is working for you in ways that are important to you, and that for you cannot be replaced in his absence.

The remainder of this essay is intended to help you think through whether living without God can be made to work for you as well as – or, ideally, better than – living with God. What I hope to show you is that the same kinds of benefits that come from traditional religious belief can be obtained and maintained without it – in general. Inevitably, of course, this remains a highly personal decision that only you will be able to make.

So read the rest, then decide.

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[1] This is a bald-faced lie. Watch for it in the movie version, though.