Antoni P. Martín Lluís
Barcelona, Spain
DO WE REALLY BELIEVE IN GOD?
Nothing happens when we die. It’s my terror. The infinite nothingness. I don’t handle it too well.
Spirituality is something that has to be inside of yourself. It is inside the people. It is in the generosity and kindness of people. Sometimes, I think about Christianity and what they say—that faith is given you by God. This is bullshit. The day that information was given away, I wasn’t there. I would be happier if I thought there was something. My question is: “Do we really believe in God?” That belief may come from the necessity of achieving eternal life. It’s very complex. I’ve come to a point where I’m incapable of understanding.
I don’t care if you think completely oppositely from me, because if we are capable of speaking, I know that we will enrich ourselves. That is why I am enthusiastic about this project.
And I envy you. I’m not capable of believing that there is a greater energy, or presence, in the Universe. What I have observed in life is that if you do good, good is brought to you. And if you do wrong, bad things happen to you. My philosophy of life is that I don’t really know if there is something or not. But I don’t need to know that to be the way I am as a better person.
Daniel’s Reflection
I was excited to meet Antoni P. Martin Luis in Barcelona when I heard he was an atheist eager to participate in our Portraits in Faith project. By the end of the interview, he shared with me that he had shifted from being an atheist to being an agnostic! Like Antoni, I have had many conceptions of a Higher Power, even my own times of atheism and agnosticism. I am not bothered by it in the least. When I was in grade school I learned the concept that an empty set is a subset of all sets. Judaism encourages me to doubt and to question. I have come to see atheists and agnostics as an important part of the body of faith. We are all ultimately connected to each other in a way that defies human understanding, so who am I to demand everyone believe as I do or to even expect that my conception of a Higher Power is always the same? I am just happy to be in dialogue and in relationship with all of humanity, truly with all of creation.
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