Organized religion is not the only religion

When I was a child growing up in a small, conservative, overwhelmingly Christian town in southeast Michigan, I was a girl scout. One day another girl’s mother was driving me home from a scout meeting, and she asked me, “What religion are you?” I have no idea why she thought she had the right to ask me that. And I didn’t know I had the right to tell her it was none of her business. I knew I didn’t really believe in god, but I didn’t even know the word “atheist” at that age. My mother sent me to Sunday school a couple of times a year. What was it they said we were? Oh yeah. Christians. So I replied, “Christian.” She answered, “Well, everyone’s a Christian! Well...unless you’re Jewish.”

I’d like to think that years later, even in small, conservative, overwhelmingly Christian towns, people are more aware that there are more religions in this country than only Christianity and Judaism. But even in larger cities, where there are more likely to be people of various religious and ethnic backgrounds, “religion” is still interpreted as a set of beliefs associated with a religious leader and a building you go to. Organized religion.

For years I called myself an atheist because I did not believe in any gods or goddesses or angels or devils or any other supernatural beings. I still don’t. But that only says what I don’t believe in. It doesn’t say what I do believe in. I believe in Nature. More specifically, I believe Nature is sacred. Not because any god created it. Nature created itself. When I walk into a forest, it feels sacred. When I walk down to a river, it feels sacred. When I see turtles basking on a log, that feels sacred. I worship Nature.

For years I didn’t even know if there was a word for my religion. Technically I am an atheist, but that word is inadequate. I finally found a word. I am a pantheist. Having a word, I felt validated. But pantheism by its very nature is not an organized religion. Going to a building? The most sacred place I know is a forest. And I certainly don’t need someone to tell me how to feel. I know how I feel. Other pantheists might not feel the same way as I do. That’s ok.

Religions that aren’t organized religions aren’t viewed as valid though. When I was reading about men who were fired for violating their companies’ no-beard policies and sued for religious discrimination (see Shaving is Stupid), I found that the companies that did allow the men to keep their beards allowed only Muslim and Sikh men to have beards; all other men were required to shave. One company actually required the man to produce a note from a religious leader, and when he was unable to in time, he was fired. I found this deeply troubling. The message is clear. If you do not have a religious leader, your beliefs are invalid.

Who is anyone to tell me my beliefs are less valid than theirs because they have a religious leader and I do not? For me, because I believe Nature is sacred, I believe causing irreparable harm to the environment is morally wrong. I believe wasting resources, especially nonrenewable resources, is morally wrong. What I find most disturbing about Las Vegas is not the gambling, though I have issues with preying on the gullible, but the glitz -- the amount of electricity being wasted on all those lights! It’s just so wasteful, it’s obscene! I also see McMansions as a moral issue. My husband and I live in an 850 square foot townhouse. It’s enough room. There are other couples who live in 4000 square foot houses, trying to make lame excuses for why they need that much space. Oh please. No one needs that much space. That is just an obscene waste of resources. If I had that much space, I would feel morally obligated to invite 14 homeless people to move in with me.

One does not need religion to have morality. Before I realized I was a pantheist, before I even realized I considered Nature sacred, one of my biggest pet peeves was people who acted like since I was an atheist, I must not have any morals. These people, always Christian, seemed to think that the only reason a person would refrain from committing an immoral act would be the fear of getting caught in the act and punished by god. These people scare me. Do they figure if god’s not looking, it’s ok to kill someone? I don’t murder people because murder is wrong. It doesn’t matter to me whether anyone is watching. I have morals.

Now that I realize Nature is sacred to me though, I realize that the reason it upsets me so much when people waste resources or developers rip up forests or pave over a meadow is that these are acts of profanity. To me profanity is not about words. I don’t care at all if people swear. I swear all the time. That’s not profanity. Profanity is about acts. Destroying the Earth is profane. It’s obscene. It’s offensive. It upsets me horribly.

It goes against my religion.