Readers may know I have a passing interest in the works of Terry Pratchett. Oh, okay then, I'm a fanboy. Have been for well over fifteen years, since a coworker shoved Good Omens into my hands and mind. So it was with some trepidation that I read that he had found God.
Actually, though, he hasn't:
There is a rumour going around that I have found God. I think this is unlikely because I have enough difficulty finding my keys, and there is empirical evidence that they exist.
But it is true that in an interview I gave recently I did describe a sudden, distinct feeling I had one hectic day that everything I was doing was right and things were happening as they should.
That's OK. We know there are parts and processes in the brain that give us that feeling of warm security. Most of the time it is triggered by being Very Young and in the bed of one's parents, but there must be other triggers too. But I liked this:
I don't believe. I never have, not in big beards in the sky.
But I was brought up traditionally Church of England, which is to say that while churchgoing did not figure in my family's plans for the Sabbath, practically all the Ten Commandments were obeyed by instinct and a general air of reason, and kindness and decency prevailed.
Belief was never mentioned at home, but right actions were taught by daily example.
Possibly because of this, I have never disliked religion. I think it has some purpose in our evolution.
Only those who have experience the CoE's ability to tie cosmic purpose up with a nice cup of tea can appreciate what Pratchett is saying here.
Brain & Behavior
Stumble It!
Comments
The CoE must be one of the few modern churches to find religion in apostasy ;-).
Posted by: Christopher Taylor | June 27, 2008 10:23 PM
I'd always wondered exactly what Pratchett's religious views were. I figured that anyone that cynical about the use of religion as a means of social control couldn't possibly be conventionally orthodox. Certainly The Bromeliad Trilogy is very much against organized religion and in favour of critical thought. But there's also a distinct sense of the sacred, the mythical-mystical, that pops out every now and then (The Hogfather being one that comes to mind).
Posted by: Eamon Knight | June 27, 2008 10:38 PM
@ Knight:
Yes, but he's always quick to write that they are personified and mystical BECAUSE humans give them that power. Gods become 'real' because people believe in them, like a shared delusion.
That being said, I think "small gods" is my favorite Pratchett book.
Posted by: Brine Queen | June 27, 2008 11:23 PM
Posted by: Bob O'H | June 28, 2008 1:08 AM
After about two hundred years of being tortured, murdered, beheaded, imprisoned, persecuted, discriminated against and warred over in the name of religion the English did the sensible thing and invented a religion that is so wishy washy that nobody could get uptight about it; the present day CoE.
Posted by: Thony C. | June 28, 2008 9:55 AM
I don't think Pratchett's feelings are far off base for a lot of Anglicans. I'm as atheistic as they come, and yet I feel very sad that so many "conservatives" (as with many who take this title, they're really reactionaries) are out to bust the Communion. The Anglican Church has since Elizabeth I been about compromise, even if, as the Non-comformists (Puritans for you American readers) figured out, there's something vaguely heretical about a Protestant church with bishops and high masses.
These reactionaries have missed the entire point of Church of England, and maybe it is better if the Communion is broken, so that the CofE can continue to represent... well, nobody has ever been quite sure what the CofE represents, but at least without the interference of people who would probably be better served by abandoning the Protestantism and signing up for courses in the Latin Rites.
Posted by: Aaron Clausen | June 28, 2008 6:33 PM
I been about compromise, even if, as the Non-comformists (Puritans for you American readers) figured out, there's something vaguely heretical about a Protestant church with bishops and high masses.
Posted by: ADSL Başvuru | June 29, 2008 9:15 AM
Actually the truth of the matter is that he has been recently diagnosed with Alzheimer's, kind of a shock to me (who may be genetically disposed to contract it.) He appears to be accepting, according to a BBC interview (http://radioarchive.cc/torrents-details.php?id=2682) that aired a month ago. This site, BTW, is a true find. All the material shared is recorded off the air or off of pod-casts, and is legal to share, so copyright considerations are not in play. They are careful about this. Very interesting stuff on that site.
Posted by: VJBinCT | June 29, 2008 6:04 PM
Dawkins had some kind things to say about the CoE in "The God Delusion," which is one of the things that leave me mystified (or thinking perhaps the commenters haven't actually read TGD) when folks comment about its stridency vis-a-vis religion.
Posted by: Jud | June 30, 2008 9:04 PM
=LOL= I'm another one who got hooked on Terry Pratchett via Good Omens! I think I've read it at least a half dozen times. It's an absolutely bust-a-gut hilarious book.
I hadn't read anything by Pratchett until I picked up Good Omens a couple of years ago, and I was DYING [gimme some] from the [oxygen!] ROFLz. My friend walked in and wanted to know what was so funny. It turned out he hadn't read Good Omens but was a rabid fanboy of Discworld. The rest is history.....
The entire Discworld series is being reissued in honor of the series's 25th anniversary. We've been drooling over them in Borders......... so many books, so little money.......... and there are a few titles even my friend hadn't heard of.
BTW, a British company has made a TV-movie adaptation of The Color of Magic (the first Discworld book, I think, although the setting of an earlier book, Strata, could be thought of as a sort of proto-Discworld). I'm trying to get my hands on the DVD.
(Oh, and rumor has it that Neil Gaiman, the co-author of Good Omens, will be doing some writing for Doctor Who next year.)
YIPPEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!1111!!!eleventyhundredeleventyeleven!!!
Posted by: themadlolscientist | July 3, 2008 1:19 AM
"... a sudden, distinct feeling I had one hectic day that everything I was doing was right and things were happening as they should."
This happens to me every once in a while when I play sports. Am I having a religious experience? Am I secretly Episcopalian?
Posted by: not completely useless | July 7, 2008 12:56 PM