I’m revved up about the wonderful conversations that have resulted from a dialogue between Ken Ueda and myself regarding the nature of atheism, theism, and agnosticism. Our articles have made their way into coffee shop conversations, twitter messages, blogs, and other newspapers. You have responded with your cheers and jeers, and I cannot be anything but thankful to be a part of such a rich dialogue. But as many of you read in Friday’s edition of the Daily Campus, my perspective has invoked Ueda’s ire, and it seems that what was once an academic exchange has been leveled to something much less civil. For that reason, I will allow the presses to save their ink for something more productive and I will focus on other topics of interest.

But before I withdraw from this discussion, allow me to give some context for those who are thoughtfully considering my perspective and not just taking Ueda’s word for what I am articulating. I’ve been lucky enough to discuss God with a Mayan Shaman from Mexico, a Pentecostal prophetess from Nicaragua, a lesbian Rabbi from New York, and an atheist from Ukraine who fought in WWI at the age of fourteen. All of these people held passionately to their beliefs about God not out of sheer faith but because they were affected by powerful experiences that they would not ignore when it came to making a statement about the nature of being in this universe. None of these people are without doubts or questions. None of them ignore the evidence before them. And at times, they believe in a god and at other times they do not. If there is a god, I am sure She would accuse me and all of those people of being wafflers and a flip-floppers. I am far from faithful and even farther from being devout. We are all learning to become faithful.

I wear many hats. I am an active student in anthropology (including archeology) and religious studies. I am also a pastor of an emerging, New Monastic community in the United Methodist Church, and I spend much of my days listening to the stories, problems and questions of SMU students, faculty and staff. And just as Ueda bases his atheism on the evidence that is and is not before him, I must base my belief in God on what I know. And for me to be honest with myself, I can’t ignore the information that I have received when I am wearing my anthropology or religious studies hat. I know that my religious experiences and the ones of those I have listed above are inadmissible in the courtroom of scholarly discourse or even in the task of convincing someone about the existence of God, but how can it not be at least considered when I have to decide for myself whether God exists?

Students of SMU, you are lucky or perhaps blessed with the opportunity of a lifetime. You get to study in an institution that teaches you to think for yourself. You can learn the sort of skills that will help you separate the wheat from the chaff in the realm of experiences. You can learn from the experiences of people from all over the world. I share my experiences with you because I know there are those of you out there that have had religious experiences and don’t know how to make sense of them in light of what you are learning. I imagine that many of you find great comfort in Ueda’s thoughts, especially if religion and religious experiences are concepts that are completely foreign (or even non-existent) to you. Believe it or not, I find great comfort that there is one out there who is articulating my doubts as well.

SMU can really be a wonderful place. It is an environment for exploration and discovery. It is a laboratory to test ideas and a church for you to discuss your experiences. In all of these incarnations, I hope you choose to make the most of it. Though many of us may find ourselves in disagreement, may we all pursue truth in a critical and reflective way. Whether you are a theist, atheist, antitheist, agnostic or apathetic, make the most of this place. Its greatest strengths can be the world’s future.

Richard Newton is a student at the Perkins School of Theology. He can be reached for comment at [email protected].