“I’m not religious but…”

RE needs to widen its frontiers of inclusion particularly in the directions of agnosticism, atheism and those ‘spiritual but not religious’ How? [email protected]

Agnostic Acrostic Calvin Ross, 12. Am not sure about God Go and find him in heaven Never seen him before Only find out when I’m dead Some believe, some don’t Time to find out if he’s real Is he real or is he not Calvin doesn’t know

Spiritual agnostics ‘I like to explore these views about life and how we should make ourselves spiritually pure and free from the ego.’ (F, 16)

“I believe it is very unlikely there is any ‘divine’ power, however it is not something I can rule our entirely. We know too little about the world. Moreover I still see myself as a fairly spiritual person.” (school pupil, age and gender not given) ‘I am not sure whether there is an after-life, God and the devil but I do think there are spiritual forces constantly at work in balance with each other.’ (F, age not given)

Wistful Agnostics “I would like to think God is real but if he is why are there bad things and murders in the world, and why is there war and world hunger? God would surely make the world a safe place to live.” (F, 14) “I believe there is someone / something watching over us, guiding or helping us, there when we need them or want them or believe in them. I want to believe that there is someone / thing watching over every person and that we are not alone, there is some guidance and power.” (M, 17) ‘There have been points in my life where I have wanted to become & accept Christianity; however, my broken home makes it hard for me to accept it. I also lack in the usual self esteem to understand why God would love me as much as everyone else.’ (F, 17)

Conviction agnostics “God is like nothing. For “nothing” exists in an infinite universe, and with no proof he is just as much of a myth as the hydra or the horsemen of the apocalypse.” (M, 12) ‘It is the beauty of the natural world and the ironic twists of circumstance that affect our everyday lives, as well as the strength I feel I have gained from prayer, that convince me there is some ‘Force’ controlling our world; but how can we know? On a rational level, are we simply creating a sense of security for ourselves?’ (F, 17)

Flutter of gold Neilram Tanna, Age 12 Sunrise, daisies, foundations of blue, Sapphires, pearls and rubies too. Glittering gold, sensations of you? This is what I wonder. Sunset, roses, flutter from you. Diamonds, opals and emeralds too. Whispering, white sensations from you? This is what I wonder.

Some varieties of agnosticism • • • • • • •

Spiritual agnostics Wistful agnostics Agnostic on principle Ignorant agnostics Buddhist agnostics Drifting Christian agnostics Christian agnostics with tradition but no dogma How might RE meet the learning needs and the spiritual needs of these agnostics, who make up 50, 60, 70, 80% of many classes of pupils? This paper was first published by NATRE in their journal Resource, now incorporated into RE Today magazine www.natre.org.uk

“I find myself, a 38 year old married man with two children, loving my job, reasonably content most of the time, with periods of ecstasy and spells of gloom, and yet for reasons both explicable and inexplicable I wish I could find a God to believe in. It ought to be simple – decide to believe, stop being a smartarse, find a church, temple, mosque, woodland ritual, statue of a thing, special book or ritualistic dance, and get stuck in. I know a great number of people far cleverer than me who believe in God without any trouble at all. So why can’t I?” Copyright RE Today 2012

“Though I seek to express myself through comedy a lot of the time, there are some things I’m deadly serious about, and the desire for a workable and available Deity in my life is one of them... I wish there was a God. I wish for that God to exist now and for all time. I wish to be fully conscious of God and more importantly for Him to be fully conscious of me. I wish for God to be powerful, infinitely wise, kind, loving, fair....” How would God reply? Copyright RE Today 2012

Now you will have a chance to think for yourself... • Read the complete article from RE today magazine. • How do you think God (if God is real) would reply to Marcus? • You will see some examples of this ‘Reply to Marcus’ activity below, written by students aged 11-15. What do you like about each one you see? • Write your own reply to Marcus, as if from God.

Copyright RE Today 2012

Copyright RE Today 2012

Copyright RE Today 2012

What might make this good RE? • High quality real life stimulus • Driven by a big question • Open to pupils’ individual responses • Demanding and challenging of their intellectual skills • Fun Copyright RE Today 2012

British atheisms today – 2 streams Anti-religious atheism • “Religion is not just something I reject personally. I judge it does great harm to humanity, and we should work to eliminate it for the wellbeing of all. Those who are religious suffer a delusion, and need to be liberated.” • Christopher Hitchens, Prof Richard Dawkins, Stewart Lee

Pluralistic atheism • “I don’t find any evidence or any compelling arguments for God, but expect theism to continue in the lives of others, and without being tempted to join them, I value the diversity of ideas. I uphold the right to freedom of belief in the context of religion and belief.” • Julian Baggini, Alain De Botton, Marcus Brigstocke

12-23: Are you an uncompromising and militant atheist? Not only do you reject all forms of belief in god yourself, but you believe it is bad for anyone else to believe in god, and you would like to wipe religion out. To gather arguments for your views, try Friedrich Nietzsche, Richard Dawkins or Christopher Hitchens. Watch Stewart Lee’s comedy. Questions: can you be this sure you are right? Isn’t that what annoys you about religious people? Might you be a ‘fundamentalist atheist’? 24-30: Are you a god-negative atheist or agnostic? You are pretty sure that God is not real and religion is irrational. Maybe you would enjoy Bertrand Russell’s arguments about why religion is wrong. You are happy to ‘live and let live’: you don’t object to religion as such, but it is not for you. Questions: are you an agnostic, or an atheist? Can you prove your position? What evidence is your view based upon? 31-39: Are you a god-positive agnostic? You might like to believe that God is real, but you don’t quite feel the case adds up. Unsure of God, you still respect religious people, and allow that their faith may have some value and meaning, even when you don’t share it. Try Alain de Botton or Marcus Brigstocke for further reading. Questions: what would have to happen for you to become a believer or an atheist? 40-55: Are you a confident theist? You think there is good evidence (if not proof) for the real possibility of God, and the arguments against don’t seem compelling to you. You might like to read Christians like CS Lewis and Muslims like Al Ghazali. Questions: do you want to persuade others that your view is wise? How could you do this? Do you think religion makes a difference for good?

BBC Clip bank RE programming for KS4 A Question of faith: life after death, Humanist Funeral Lat Blaylock, consultant, 2014