Replacing the Pope's God with Nature's God

by Raymond Fontaine, Ph.D. - May 2006

E-mail no. 35: Mary's Dilemma

    Mr. Fontaine, yesterday I confided a religious problem of mine to a friend. She suggested that I get in touch with you, a former priest, who wrote a book on that subject. So here I am seeking your guidance.

   I am Mary, mother of two children. One died at the age of two. The other, Virginia, is now sixteen years old and crippled, totally dependent upon me. I am a Catholic. 

    After my child died, I found comfort in the Church's teaching about heaven. According to the Church, my child is living in heaven awaiting my arrival there. In due time, if I go to heaven, I will embrace my child again.

    As regards my crippled daughter, every day I pray to God for her cure. According to the Church, such cures happened frequently in the past and continue to occur today. There's hope in the Church's teaching. 

    For years, I had no reason to question the Church. But when I began to practice birth control, a priest told me that the Church forbade all birth control devices. Their use was grievously sinful and, if not truly regretted before death, barring entrance into heaven.

    Several years ago, my husband divorced me. He had found solace elsewhere. Later I met someone who wants to marry me. He is a very good person. But the Church won't allow me to marry him until my former husband dies. There's no hope in those doctrines of the Church.

    I have reached an impasse. If there's a way out, please let me know. Mary. 

E-mail no. 36: My Experience and Persuasion 

    Today I received your e-mail which revived memories of my religious quandary years ago. When my younger brother joined the Navy in 1941, I begged God to protect him. But God let him die within weeks.

    When my mother fell ill, I prayed to God for her recovery. But God did not intervene to cure her. He let her die at 42 years old.

    Despite these disappointments I found comfort in the Church's teaching about the afterlife. According to the Church, God will resurrect the entire human race. In heaven, the just will see their families and friends, all of them alive and well. Their reunion and happiness will last forever. That's what the Church teaches.

    A few years later, however, I began to question the teaching authority of the Church. I carefully checked the Church's condemnation of the famous scientist, Galileo. He proposed that the earth rotates around the sun. The Church taught the opposite, simply quoting a phrase in the Bible which reads "As the sun rose". The Church silenced Galileo for the rest of his life. As everyone knows now, Galileo was right and the Church was wrong. 

    Another egregious error of the Church occurred in November 1950, when Pope Pius 12 declared that Mary was assumed body and soul into heaven. He pronounced that dogma without any quotation from the Bible nor any from the first 500 years of tradition. Then a solitary priest and his parishioners celebrated the Assumption of Mary into heaven. On that solitary incident, the Pope based his declaration of Mary's Assumption. 

    I uncovered dozens of other dogmas that lacked basis in Scripture and tradition. Today no one believes them except Catholics who learned them first at home and later in parochial schools and churches. 

    After many years of experience and reflection, let me summarize my persuasion. It may help you to choose a new way of facing reality, one that will give you peace of mind and satisfaction. 

    For many years now I have embraced and enjoyed the following philosophy of life based on nature. In nature humans observe designs such as DNA. Just as a painting presupposes a painter, so do the designs in nature require a Designer. Those designs reveal the existence of a Supreme Intelligence. But nature says nothing more about that Intelligent Agent. Humans would want to know more about Nature's Creator but his nature is beyond human ken. 

    Another truth, this one about human beings, is available: our dependence upon one another and upon all of nature. To survive on earth, each creature must exploit its innate potential while receiving from and giving help to its fellow creatures. That is a law imbedded in nature by its Designer. 

    I realized that fact years ago and acted accordingly. In Vietnam I assisted millions of refugees, providing shelter and food. Then in Africa, I helped to provide deep water wells to thousands of poor people. Then when my wife suffered a stroke, I helped her day and night during eleven years and will continue to do so until death.

    With this philosophy of life based on nature, I have enjoyed peace of mind. I face that, like every other organism on earth, I will die and stop to exist. There's no afterlife. There is only one life for humans - the one they enjoy on earth. During this life, I depend on other creatures while still others depend on me. Let's make the most of this life and embrace it wholeheartedly. Adjusting to life on earth, such as it is, provides peace of mind and satisfaction. It did for me. I hope it does the same for you. I wish you the very best. Ray. 

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