How the Internet Helped Me Find My Faith

This was originally written as a response to a post in /r/religion asking “How has ubiquitous access to the sum of human knowledge (aka the Internet) affected your faith (or lack thereof)?”

I wouldn’t say that the Internet caused me to lose my faith. More that it helped me discover that I didn’t really have it in the first place. Reading and learning from the Internet for many years led me to a point where I was an “agnostic Catholic” (though many object to equating “agnostic” to “weak”, it was pretty much true then). I then discovered deism, which defines God as only the Supreme Architect, the non-intervening creator of the universe. Reading the definition made me recall sitting in church one afternoon and trying to figure out how I could make the Big Bang theory and God work together at a young age. For that reason, I embraced deism readily. The Internet also encouraged me later to realize that I was only a deist because I didn’t want to let go of God, even if my “God” would be more recognizable to Epicurus or Spinoza than Aquinas. I decided I was an atheist and later started reading a lot about Humanism. My readings on Humanism, at first mostly on the Internet but later in a couple of physical books as well, has profoundly influenced the way I view the world and humanity; to steal a phrase from Douglas Adams, Life, the Universe, and Everything. So though my faith in God was never strong (and when it was, only because I was convinced by a scientific apologetic book), my faith in humanity as a Humanist is stronger than ever, and I have the Internet to thank for it.

The Class That Changed My Life: A Letter to My Speech Teacher

Subject: Out of the night that covers me, black as the Pit from pole to pole…

…I thank whatever gods may be for my unconquerable soul.

The opening lines of “Invictus”, the poem that I had never heard before taking your class, a poem that I’ve had almost memorized since then, until I made efforts to memorize the parts I had missing a few weeks ago. Yesterday I decided to look at the manilla folder sitting on a shelf on my desk; as I suspected, it was the folder from my summer Speech class. Luckily, I hadn’t lost it. It would be tragic to lose the contents of that folder. At some point, I decided to think more seriously about an impulsive idea I’d had a couple of months ago, to send you an email, at the time settling with copying “Invictus” into a Facebook status and tagging the people I had bonded with the most over those few weeks. Perhaps I’m a bit late, emailing you at a school address just as we’ve been released for mid-winter break, but better late than never, right? I owe a lot to your class. Perhaps the most memorable happening of those few weeks in the summer was the interestingly arranged pseudo-debate between Christian and myself, our persuasive presentations taking opposing stances on more or less the same issue. That presentation was a large part of the impetus to become more active in my Humanism. Though I still tend to awkwardly stumble through a carefully worded definition of Humanism when asked, trying desperately to skirt around the ‘no God’ part, I’m largely “out”, much more confident than I was when announcing the words I’m an atheist to the room during the very interesting Q&A session following my presentation led to a catch in my throat. I’ve led the effort to start a chapter of the Secular Student Alliance, a national organization that advocates for the rights of young non-believers like myself and helps provide a supportive community for them, at West Brook. An article about the club was published in the school newspaper today and we’re having the first public meeting on the first week after we return from the break. Inspired in part by my relatively recent discovery of my role model and occasional Twitter conversation partner, atheist interfaith activist Chris Stedman (who recently wrote a book, Faitheist: How an Atheist Found Common Ground with the Religious), I’m helping a Muslim friend, Eraj, who from my understanding has also had you, start an interfaith club called Coexist. It doesn’t have the outpouring of support that the SSA has (Eraj, the sponsor, and myself are pretty much the only people working on it), nor the Secular Student Alliance’s extensive library of resources, so it hasn’t quite materialized yet. But it will. So to conclude this veritable wall of text, thank you for giving me the opportunity to discover my voice and use it to promote causes I believe in. Your class was extremely helpful; you could even say it changed my life.

Keith Favre

The Triad

With my recent discovery of the existence of Desiderata, the texts that I use for inspiration works out into a triad. For anyone interested, here are the texts.

The Serenity Prayer by Reinhold Niebhur

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

“Invictus” by William Ernest Henley

Into the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance,
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance,
My head is bloody but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll.
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

Desiderata by Max Ehrmann

Go placidly amidst the noise and haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible without surrender
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even the dull and ignorant;
they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons,
they are vexations to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain and bitter;
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.

Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs;
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals;
and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself.
Especially, do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love;
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment
it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.

You are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be,
and whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful.
Strive to be happy. 

The Case for Thanksgiving, or the Problem with Holidays

In which I explain why I actually rather like Thanksgiving, and then proceed to shamelessly participate in the clichéd practice of listing what I’m thankful for. Fair warning: what follows is a full 1000+ word essay.

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