Guest book review: “Walking Without God - In Search of a Humanist Spirituality” by Ben Whitney

[This is a new (but hopefully to-be-repeated) feature from CJCA - a guest book review. This review is from Simon Clare, the author of the marvellous blog "Faithless Eye". Simon has blogged his experiences as an atheist attending an Alpha Course, and you'll be surprised and enlightened by how he got on.]

“Walking Without God - In Search of a Humanist Spirituality” by Ben Whitney

Ben Whitney

http://www.ypdbooks.com/religion-and-spirituality/476-walking-without-god-YPD00424.html

http://www.ben-whitney.org.uk/

Review by Simon Clare Tw: @FaithlessEye : http://lookthroughmyfaithlesseye.blogspot.com/

Alain de Botton’s “Religion for Atheists” is receiving a lot of well-deserved attention in the mainstream media as he is a very well-known writer and the cogs of the publisher’s promotional machine are whirring away. His book - or at least the headlines it has spawned - has also come under the scrutiny of surprisingly indignant atheists who resent the very idea that someone can be secure in their atheism at the same time as recognising the fact that many aspects of religion are worth reclaiming for humanity.

Perhaps de Botton’s book is too big a step for such atheists. To get someone to move from a position where they see all religions as fundamentally evil to one where they can objectively recognise their positive qualities is a little like asking somebody whose life has been ruined by alcoholism to try to appreciate the marvellous flavours of fine whiskeys - and marvellous they truly are.

I would recommend “Walking Without God” as a stepping-stone between militant atheism and a more absorbent humanism. Specifically I would suggest that grumpy, die-hard atheists read it just before they start “Religion for Atheists”. One of the unique things about this book is that it is also my first choice recommendation to Christians who might want to understand how it is possible for non-believers to have a sense of morality. I used to recommend A.C. Grayling’s “The Meaning of Things” but Ben Whitney’s book would be far more effective.

In “Walking Without God” former Baptist minister Ben Whitney manages to describe - in brilliantly simple language - a completely humanist basis for his own morality and ethics, set against a background of the Christianity that he was brought up in. Without renouncing his past or dismissing the views of believers, he shows that you can move seamlessly from being a Christian to being a non-religious, good person.

This book is self-published by Ben Whitney so does not have a vast marketing infrastructure working in the background to promote it. Many critics of de Botton’s book have benefited from the publicity associated with it, they just link their blog with the right hashtag and thousands of de Botton supporters or detractors flow to their websites. Such opportunist critics deserve none of this exposure and writers such as Whitney deserve it all. Books like “Walking Without God” are rare and they have paved the way for de Botton’s work; supplying us atheists who do not dismiss every aspect of the church out of hand with literature to fuel and inspire us.

The book consists of nine chapters; each one a response to one of the psalms. When I first saw the list of chapters, I admit that I feared I had been suckered into buying a Christian book that was masquerading as humanist one. I was not used to seeing atheists dallying this closely with the enemy - with scripture. However, my fears were shown up as the petty prejudices they were within a few pages, when Whitney assured me that he no longer believes in a supernatural ‘God’. “It just does not make any sense to me.”

Whitney writes with a secure, humble certainty that there is no God but does not labour this point. He does not mince his words and says that the idea of

“..salvation through Jesus to secure our eternal future, but only for those who believe certain things about him, is particularly impossible to believe.”

He states clearly what he doesn’t believe without then making inferences about the mental abilities of those who do believe such things, which is what so often happens when atheists write about their beliefs. Whitney demonstrates that there is simply no need to do that.

One of the refreshing characteristics of Whitney’s approach is that he writes only of his own thoughts and conclusions. At no point does he suggest that this is what we ought to think, or that the way he thinks is the best way. He has no need to call attention to his own authority on any matter either, as he is not trying to change the reader’s mind. This is an essential part of why this book is such a joy to read and to read again.

Whether a writer is atheist or Christian, when they attempt to bring us around to their way of thinking they can’t help but be coercive to some degree. Ben Whitney simply lays his thoughts out in plain view and the reader is free to take them or leave them, to agree or to disagree. The mind of the reader is left to do its own thinking in its own way. In reading this review, you will have noticed that I am trying to convince you that my thoughts about this book are the right thoughts and that you ought to have this opinion too. You may well resent this, and maybe you should. My point is that there is a very subtle distinction between a writer who is only writing about their own thoughts and a writer who is also trying to influence the reader’s mind on some level. Perhaps it was a reaction to having read a couple of evangelical Christian books prior to reading this, but I really appreciated someone talking to me without trying to subliminally change my mind.

One of many fine examples of Whitney’s ability to convey fundamental and powerful concepts is in Chapter 7, where Whitney talks about the existence of evil in the world and how it is often seen as an external force. In typically straightforward language he mentions the idea of life being a battle between the forces of good (God) and evil (the Devil) and how this is the way the existence of evil in the world is characterised by many. He then reminds us that this is not what the bible says at all - the serpent was part of the creation too, so whether you believe in God or not, evil is just part of reality. The manifestation of evil, he says, is something that we are responsible for. Blaming the devil for it or trying to hide from it will simply not make it go away and neither will belief in God. Evil is happening to real people right now and only us humans have the power to stop it. God might be content with having set up a planet where evil happens, but Whitney wants it to stop, here and now.

This book is short and concise. You can read it all on a Saturday morning if you like and I’d bet that for the rest of the day you would be a slightly more excellent human being for having done so. You might even be inspired to read the psalms, secure in the knowledge that they won’t infect you with faith because you will know you can just read them as critically as you would any other literature, free to discard the silly bits, but free also to indulge fully in the parts that resonate with your own perspective on the universe.

“Walking With God” shows us what it actually looks like when humanity outshines the religions it created.

-Simon Clare