How Good Is Good Enough for God?

The title of this book is a question, and the question concerns God and the afterlife. We depend on God to take us to the afterlife; to the good place. We can’t do that ourselves. The question asks us to consider how good we must be for God to accept us and to consequently take us, after our death, to heaven, where we will continue to live in perfection.
What about what the atheists say? They say once you die, you are just dead. That’s the end of you. There is a simplicity in that view, but the atheist formula leaves many questions about life unanswered. Questions such as, “What am I here for?”, or “Do I have any destiny in life, or am I just an incredible cosmic mistake?” Thinking you are an incredible cosmic mistake, a happenstance build-up of atomic collisions, could be hard on the psyche. You grapple with the realization that you do exist for a time, and there seems to be things to do during this lifetime, even if there is no greater hidden purpose. Huston Smith, the great student of many religions, says that all societies have religion and a long history of such. So, having religion to help people grapple with the, “Why am I here?” question seems to be a very common solution for humans of all stripes.
Many say that traditional religions are banal and sappy in today’s “high-tech” world. TV personality Bill Maher is an example of a person who thinks religious belief is “Religulous,” or, in plain English, ridiculous. If you want answers, google it, don’t pray to God. But religious beliefs still fill a pragmatic function in human lives, as people struggle each day to find meaning in their existence. Beyond such pragmatic considerations is the idea that a religious system of belief could be a truthful representation of transcendent knowledge that is out of reach of science’s scope. Science has many answers as to life’s conundrums, but it doesn’t have all the answers. Several philosophers of stature have concluded that major religions, and specifically Christianity, have some credibility in terms of logic. These philosophers include Karl Jaspers , Mortimer Adler , and Charles Taylor . So, consideration of religious views is not just ridiculous, but represents consideration of life’s meaningful possibilities.
It is not hard at all to find substitute religions that people adopt when they ditch traditional formats. Paul Tillich defined religious faith as the “ultimate concern.” If a person doesn’t give allegiance to a traditional faith, do they substitute some other ultimate concern to guide their lives? A case can be made that the answer to that question is yes, in most cases they do. What are some of these ultimate concerns that take the place of religion? Political affiliation seems to be a big one. Leftism, both socialist and Marxist, seems to be associated with acceptance of a belief set that has authority over traditional religious beliefs. Some leftists have religious beliefs, but those beliefs must be subsumed under the primacy of the political beliefs to find acceptance within their group. So, not surprisingly, acceptance of leftist stridency has come to be associated with a loss of traditional religious beliefs. It’s a substitute religion, complete with utopian vistas. But, is political affiliation an ultimate concern, or what Tillich would call a preliminary concern? Tillich’s view of preliminary concerns was, “Idolatry is the elevation of a preliminary concern to ultimacy.” Far right political groups also seem to insist on the primacy of political positions over religious considerations in their acceptance patterns.
Other substitutes for religion that are prevalent in society include careerism, substance abuse, scientism, artistic pursuits, athletics, hedonism, and that old favorite, self-elevation. Careerism seems to be headed for a state of crisis internationally. Charles Hugh-Smith points out that burnout is exploding in frequency in international finance, which is one of the last bastions of growing industries. Hugh-Smith lists the burnout rates for workers in financial hubs of the world: Hong Kong 87%, Singapore 81%, Australia 73%, U.K. 70%, and the U.S. 68%. The symptoms of job burnout are similar to those of clinical depression. Hugh-Smith opines, “In a culture where work can be a religion, burnout can be its crisis of faith.” Concerning careerism and other captivations, sometimes people live life by a combination of secular factors. They seek La Dolce Vita as opposed to seeking a life with God.