EARNING A SPOT IN HEAVEN IS NOT ABOUT THEISM OR ATHEISM
by Jose Rizal M. Reyes / poet-philosopher, Philippines / December 28, 2015
I concur with Pope Francis: Atheists who follow their consciences are welcome in Heaven. That’s a bold statement coming from the top leader of a large and ancient religion that once claimed to be the one true way to God’s salvation.
But I would like to add: Provided those consciences — or what Quakers and some other Christian and non-Christian groups would call the Inner Light — can be perceived clearly enough by those atheists rather than just being followed. Otherwise, if the vision of the Light is dim or distorted, that could be problematic.
God weighs the heart, not our outer action and appearance. God examines the soul, not our earthly success nor what others say of us. God can read the mind and cannot be fooled by insincere words and false declaration.
When the time comes, we face the Court of Heaven naked, figuratively speaking. Our profession of faith and religious affiliation cannot save us nor provide us cover. Our connections and resources cannot bail us out from accountability. Lying and falsehood have no effect whatsoever in the higher realms where a person’s qualities can be weighed and measured as if they are like fish and vegetables in the market. Up there, our true character is known and revealed as though by Kirlian photography. We cannot bluff our way out. If necessary, all that we ever said and did can be viewed and reviewed in the same way we play back and forth a Youtube video.
Let us examine how the pope’s controversial statement on atheists started. Below is a news report that has been quoted in many blogs.
Pope Francis has written a long, open letter to the founder of La Repubblica newspaper, Eugenio Scalfari, stating that non-believers would be forgiven by God if they followed their consciences.
Responding to a list of questions published in the paper by Mr Scalfari, who is not a Roman Catholic, Francis wrote: “You ask me if the God of the Christians forgives those who don’t believe and who don’t seek the faith. I start by saying — and this is the fundamental thing — that God’s mercy has no limits if you go to him with a sincere and contrite heart. The issue for those who do not believe in God is to obey their conscience.
“Sin, even for those who have no faith, exists when people disobey their conscience.”
During the Feast Day of Santa Rita last May, Pope Francis delivered a sermon that further revealed and elucidated his thoughts about doing good by people, including atheists.
“The root of this possibility of doing good — that we all have — is in creation”:
“The Lord created us in His image and likeness, and we are the image of the Lord, and He does good and all of us have this commandment at heart: do good and do not do evil. All of us. ‘But, Father, this is not Catholic! He cannot do good.’ Yes, he can. He must. Not can: must! Because he has this commandment within him. Instead, this ‘closing off’ that imagines that those outside, everyone, cannot do good is a wall that leads to war and also to what some people throughout history have conceived of: killing in the name of God. That we can kill in the name of God. And that, simply, is blasphemy. To say that you can kill in the name of God is blasphemy.”
“Instead, the Lord has created us in His image and likeness, and has given us this commandment in the depths of our heart: do good and do not do evil”:
“The Lord has redeemed all of us, all of us, with the Blood of Christ: all of us, not just Catholics. Everyone! ‘Father, the atheists?’ Even the atheists.Everyone! And this Blood makes us children of God of the first class! We are created children in the likeness of God and the Blood of Christ has redeemed us all! And we all have a duty to do good. And this commandment for everyone to do good, I think, is a beautiful path towards peace. If we, each doing our own part, if we do good to others, if we meet there, doing good, and we go slowly, gently, little by little, we will make that culture of encounter: we need that so much. We must meet one another doing good. ‘But I don’t believe, Father, I am an atheist!’ But do good: we will meet one another there.”
“Doing good is not a matter of faith: It is a duty, it is an identity card that our Father has given to all of us, because He has made us in His image and likeness. And He does good, always.”
The pope’s theological concept on why man — be believer or atheist — has the capacity to do good is sharp and inspired. It is rooted he said on creation, on man being created in the image and likeness of God. To that we may add that a person’s decision or inclination to be atheist cannot nullify that divine image and likeness because it was fashioned not only wonderfully but also powerfully. It is there inside, unaffected by outer circumstances and by what the person themself might think, feel, say or do.
Nevertheless, it’s one thing to be declared being welcome in Heaven and it’s entirely another thing to be up there, knocking at its very gate. It’s like somebody saying you are welcome in America. Oh yeah, but you need to get your visa, secure a plane ticket, and prepare other necessary things.
The inclusive thrust of the pope’s views notwithstanding, there are requirements before one can enter the gates of Heaven. You should be qualified to be there. Your spiritual attainment, behavior and character should be suitable to the higher realms of Light. The material/spiritual Universe is just and fair. You go where you are most suited and none would hinder you if you are worthy.
Among the basic requirements for earning celestial citizenship is learning all we need to know about our current plane of existence and passing all our tests on Earth. Passing earthly tests is not necessarily a single-shot affair. You can go take 2 or take 3 or as many takes as needed. As the saying goes, “If at first you don’t succeed, try and try again.”
Then you have to balance the ledger of Life. You should be majority good — meaning, you should have done more good than harm. You should have used the energies, talents, knowledge and opportunities entrusted to your care the right way most of the time. And you should correct your mistakes and make amends for all the wrongs that you have ever done.
And most of all, during your stay here below, you must have already nurtured those values, patterns, sentiments, thoughts, feelings and way of doing things that are compatible with celestial existence. You cannot be out of place there. Certainly, you cannot be allowed to disrupt much less destroy the tranquility, harmony and way of life in the higher spheres.
Heaven is like a habitat. It should be conformable to your lifestyle and to your level of spiritual attainment otherwise you wouldn’t like it. Besides, if Heaven doesn’t suit you, you wouldn’t fit in. Unsuitable candidates for celestial citizenship are like harmful species newly introduced in a locality that are regarded as biological pollution.
Perfection is attainable. But you should define and understand perfection properly. Say, you do problem solving in arithmetic or you prepare a financial statement. Your teacher noticed mistakes in your computations. You corrected them. That perfected your computation; your previous mistakes have been erased and corrected and they aren’t counted anymore.
It’s the same thing with sins and with mistakes you committed in life. Once you have corrected or balanced or make amends, Heaven wouldn’t count them anymore. You have perfected yourself, in a manner of speaking.
Perfection then is not having never committed any mistake at all. Rather, perfection is having corrected all the mistakes that you have done.
In the end, if everything goes well and provided you don’t go over to the Dark Side, ascending to Heaven is just a matter of time — in the same way that going through elementary, high school and college is all a matter of time before you can earn your diploma and enter the world of professionals.
As for theism or atheism, it’s basically a matter of perspective. As one of the sharpest and deepest spiritual teachings goes: Perspective is all. Most of the time, when we speak of theism and atheism, we are using one earthly perspective or another. When using the term “atheists”, for instance, Pope Francis is obviously talking from the Christian perspective, from the Roman Catholic perspective, from the Western perspective.
But humans are not agreed on how to define belief in God. For instance, if you ask Christians, Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Freemasons, philosophers and scientists to define God, they would most likely give you different answers. When people do not have a common definition of terms, there cannot be a sensible discussion or debate, strictly or seriously speaking, because they would be using the same terms but ascribe to them different meanings.
Humans too aren’t agreed on how to define atheism. For example, both Communists and Buddhists by definition and self-description are atheists. But surely, there is a world of difference between the atheism of Communists and the atheism of Buddhists, right? So beware of being too enamored with terminologies because terms can mislead, trap and idiotize.
At this point, allow me to share with you my 1,041st sonnet:
1041. types of atheists
some atheists are not true atheists
but mere agnostics labeled by mistake;
some atheists are but idealists
who think this crazy world we should remake.
some atheists are merely modernists,
so young in mind and needs to soon awake.
some atheists are good religionists:
say, Buddhists with their own religious take.
but worst are those just atheists in name
yet actually believe that there is God
whom they regard as their sworn enemy.
they are aggressive, good in blaming game;
and always vie to take the royal rod:
traits rooted in an ancient enmity.
Jose Rizal M. Reyes
September 12, 2008 5:50 AM
rhyming pattern: abab abab cde cde
sonnet type: Sicilian Classic
In any case, Heaven thinks differently from humans. Earthly perspective has its own logic and Heaven does put such perspective into consideration when gauging a person. But it’s not the only consideration there is, nor the most important one. Heaven has its own rules and procedures. How Heaven operates is none of your business. To say that yours is the official view of God is to say you are equal or superior in understanding to celestial inhabitants. That’s funny.
In simple language, no matter how hot or fanatic you might be with your religion or philosophy, the thing is, your ideas and beliefs — even your own interpretation of some sacred Scripture — are most likely not so precise or not so correct as to guarantee your entry to Heaven. I just hope — nay, I trust — that it doesn’t mean you would go to Hell.
