[antifragile 4 🔥 - religion edition 🙏] the family church habits of an atheist, Siddhartha on seeking, Alan Watts on when religion can be fun, the medieval monk who changed the world

#29: a weekly 4-item newsletter created to inspire dads to use the challenges of fatherhood as fuel for building an incredible life & an antifragile mind.

God is a comedian playing to an audience too afraid to laugh. - Voltaire

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Welcome to the 29th edition of the antifragile 4 🔥.

It’s a weekly 4-item newsletter created to inspire dads to use the challenges of fatherhood as fuel for building an incredible life & an antifragile mind. Some weeks will have a theme, others will meander. Expect it every Friday.

This week we’re talking religion 🙏. I didn’t see this one coming either, but here we are!

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I used to be a religious person. But after going militant atheist for a few years in my mid-20’s (following a few too many Richard Dawkins books), I’ve settled into the spiritually homeless country of a non-religious agnostic with no particular leaning towards a higher power. This is happily where I’ve lived for half a decade.

It wasn’t until I had my first son that the topic started tickling the back of my mind again. And while religion deserves plenty of criticism, there’s also a lot that’s wonderful about it.

You have the community, the lessons, the history, the time set aside for reflection…but you also have the nastiness we all know too well. Committed in the name of God or using it as a veil.

NSFW warning on this one…but this conundrum reminds me of Dave Chappelle’s Superhero bit. You have good and you have terrible. What is a dad to do?

Well, I haven’t figured it out yet - so if you were expecting answers, sorry! But today’s four items are interesting clues I’ve found along my journey. Perhaps they’ll be of interest to you as well.

Here is this week’s antifragile 4 🔥 - religion edition 🙏:

1. the family church habits ⛪️ of an atheist

2. a passage from Siddhartha 🧘🏽 on seeking

3. philosophy from Alan Watts 😌 on enjoying religion after realizing you don’t need it

4. a biography of the medieval monk 🏰 who changed the modern world

+ AI Image of the Week 🤖 🎨

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1.) the family church habits ⛪️ of an atheist

This segment of an interview with Niall Ferguson opened the door to an idea I didn’t think was there.

The idea of participating in a religion with the explicit purpose of exposing your kids to the good parts while not believing the dogma, being very up-front with your kids about it, and letting them make their own decisions on what to believe.

Perhaps this philosophy could reap the good while keeping perspective on the bad.

2.) a passage from Siddhartha 🧘🏽 on seeking

“When someone is seeking,” said Siddhartha, “it happens quite easily that he only sees the thing that he is seeking; that he is unable to find anything, unable to absorb anything, because he is only thinking of the thing he is seeking, because he has a goal, because he is obsessed with his goal. Seeking means: to have a goal; but finding means: to be free, to be receptive, to have no goal. You, O worthy one, are perhaps indeed a seeker, for in striving towards your goal, you do not see many things that are under your nose.”

Hermann Hesse, Siddhartha

I’m not sure this passage counts as religion, but as the benevolent dictator of this newsletter - I’m putting it here 😌

Finding or being open to whatever comes into your life, rather than having a very explicit goal - say of “being enlightened” or “making it to heaven”, not to mention more worldly goals of “becoming rich” and the like - is a wonderful concept.

Viewing the world as a magical place where gifts are placed in your lap daily, is just about the loveliest and most antifragile mindset I can think of.

To be a finder and to accept whatever comes with open arms. That’s something I’d love to instill in myself and my kids.

3.) philosophy from Alan Watts 😌 on enjoying religion after realizing you don’t need it

I’ve always figured I could never go back to a religion, based on my abrupt departure. This part of a lecture from Alan Watts has me thinking otherwise.

While I wouldn’t be the same as I was when I left, I could return…but only because I know I don’t need it.

Buddhism is saying: you don’t need any gizmos to be in the know. You don’t need a religion. You don’t need any, even, Buddha statues. You don’t need any temples. You don’t need any Buddhist bondieuserie: rosaries and all that jazz. But when you get to the point that you know you don’t need any of those things, that you don’t need a religion at all, then it’s fun to have one.

Alan Watts

4.) a biography of the medieval monk 🏰 who changed the modern world

Martin Luther by Eric Metaxas.

We all know Martin Luther’s name - but most of us don’t know anything beyond the fact that he nailed a document to a church door (which he didn’t actually do btw).

I read this book on a whim and was blown away by just how revolutionary a figure this man was. And just how much of an impact he’s had not just on the modern church, but on the modern world.

For anyone with an interest in history + a past/present experience in the Christian faith, I’d strongly suggest this. The storytelling is also fantastic.

Thanks to my sister Caroline for the book recommendation!

AI Image of the Week 🤖 🎨

Siddhartha, Alan Watts, and Martin Luther discussing the Bible, Torah, and Quran in a serene field.

Two last things for you this week:

1. Don’t be afraid to laugh at the world. God is a comedian after all.

2. Be fire and wish for the wind 🔥

With love,
Chris

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