如果你觉得这个题目让你不舒服;如果你认为仅仅是这类的提法都是对你所拥有的宗教信仰的一种亵渎;或即使你自认没有宗教信仰,而这样的谈论仍会让你觉得不庄重的话,请不要继续看下去了。
而其他有兴趣看下去的读者,请不妨一听我选此文的因由。美国现在进入了他们的“后911时代”。“911”这个重创让美国人经历了一个愤怒、报复、受挫、困惑、不安而后到产生思考的过程,人们开始尝试对宗教信仰重新定位。本文的作者代表了如今美国很大一批的中产开明知识分子的想法。他们未必全盘抛弃了自己原有的信仰,而是开始用更科学理智的方式来解读自己的宗教和去了解其他人的宗教。
我认为这样的思考其实对宗教和幸福的体会只会不断加深。
我国著名哲学家周国平曾说:“(信仰并不是盲目的,)当一个人被信仰问题困扰—这当然只能发生在有精神追求勇气的人身上—的时候,他已经是一个有信仰的人了。”
发音：美式发音 语速：170词/分钟 使用方法：精听+跟读
I believe that there is no God. I’m beyond 1)atheism. Atheism is not believing in God. Not believing in God is easy—you can’t prove a negative, so there’s no work to do. You can’t prove that there isn’t an elephant inside the trunk of my car. You sure? How about now? Maybe he was just hiding before. Check again. Did I mention that my personal 2)heartfelt definition of the word “elephant” includes mystery, order, goodness, love and a spare tire?
我不相信有上帝存在这一说。我的观点超出了无神论的范畴。无神论是不相信上帝的存在。不相信上帝是容易的——因为你无法证伪,所以无需做什么。(就像)你不能够证明我汽车的后备箱里没有一头大象(一样)。你确定(你信仰上帝)吗?现在还这样确定吗?也许上帝以前一直藏在某个地方呢。再仔细思考一下吧。我提到过我自己内心对“大象”的定义包括了悬疑谜团、权利秩序、善良美德、真爱亲情,还有一只备胎吗?
So, anyone with a love for truth outside of herself has to start with no belief in God and then look for 3)evidence of God. She needs to search for some objective evidence of a 4)supernatural power. All the people I write e-mails to often are still stuck at this searching stage. The atheism part is easy.
因此,任何一个坚信身外真理的人必会先抛开对上帝的信仰,然后去追寻上帝存在的证据。她需要搜寻一些客观证据来证明这种超自然力的存在。我经常发电子邮件给朋友们,而他们都仍然处在这个寻找的阶段。所以说,无神论是不难被接受的。
①But, this “This I Believe” thing seems to demand something more personal, some leap of faith that helps one see life’s big picture, some rules to live by. So, I’m saying, “This I believe: I believe there is no God.” Having taken that step, it informs every moment of my life. I’m not 5)greedy. I have love, blue skies, rainbows and Hallmark cards, and that has to be enough. It has to be enough, but it’s everything in the world and everything in the world is plenty for me. It seems just rude to beg the invisible for more. Just the love of my family that raised me and the family I’m raising now is enough that I don’t need heaven. I won the huge 6)genetic lottery and I get joy every day. 
不过,“我的信仰”这种事似乎需要一些更私人化的方法,一种对有助于帮助个体审视生活全貌的信仰的超越,和一些依此践行的准则。因此,我要说的是,“我的信仰是:我相信上帝并不存在。” 跨过了这一步,这种“信仰”会喻示我生命中的每个时刻。我知足常乐。我有爱相随,有蓝天彩虹作伴,有(亲友的)贺卡相系,这些就足够了。这些已足够,因为这些就是世界的一切,而这世界的一切于我而言是富足的。(这样看来,)向一个看不见摸不着的“神”去祈求更多的东西似乎只能算作无礼。仅仅是养育我的父母的爱,以及我正在维持的家庭的爱已足以让我感觉大爱无言,我不会再需要上苍的恩怜。我赢得了厚重的血缘之爱的奖赏,我将终日受用不尽。
Believing there’s no God means I can’t really be forgiven except by kindness and 7)faulty memories. That’s good; it makes me want to be more thoughtful. I have to try to treat people right the first time around.
相信没有上帝这一说,意味着除了因为仁爱善良和记忆上的暇疵带来的错误,其他情况下我犯的错误都不能被宽恕。这样想是有益的。它使我能够更加善解人意。我必须学着在第一时间用正确的方式待人接物。
Believing there’s no God stops me from being 8)solipsistic. I can read ideas from all different people from all different cultures. Without God, we can agree on reality, and I can keep learning where I’m wrong. We can all keep adjusting, so we can really communicate. ②I don’t travel in circles where people say, “I have faith, I believe this in my heart and nothing you can say or do can shake my faith.” That’s just a 9)long-winded religious way to say, “shut up,” or another two words that the FCC likes less. But all 10)obscenity is less insulting than, “How I was brought up and my imaginary friend means more to me than anything you can ever say or do.” So, believing there is no God lets me be proven wrong and that’s always fun. It means I’m learning something.
相信没有上帝这一说,使我免于陷入唯我独尊的境况。我能够听取来自不同文化、不同立场的人们的观点。没有了上帝,我们可以就现实达成共识,而我也能够知错就改。当我们都能不断自省、不断改进的时候,我们才能够和谐地沟通。我不会和那些会说“我有信仰,我从心底里笃信它,你所说的任何话,你所做的任何事都不能撼动我的信仰”的人打交道的。这就像是“你给我闭嘴”,或者是“美国联邦基督教协进会”更加厌恶的另外一个 “骂人”的词的隐晦曲折的宗教式的说法。但是这些猥亵的言语侮辱人的效果比不上这句“我从小接受的教育和我臆想中的朋友比你说过的任何话或做过的任何事对我来说都更有意义”。所以,相信没有上帝这一说让我的错误(不断)被确证,这个过程是非常有意思的。这意味着我在学习新事物。
【注】Believing there is no God means the suffering I’ve seen in my family, and indeed all the suffering in the world, isn’t caused by an 11)omniscient, 12)omnipresent, 13)omnipotent force that isn’t bothered to help or is just testing us, but rather something we all may be able to help others with in the future. No God means the possibility of less suffering in the future.
相信没有上帝这一说,意味着我所亲见的家庭的苦难,还有更甚者,世界的所有苦难,都不是由这么一位无所不知、无所不在、无所不能的伟大力量带来的(按照宗教的说法,这种伟大力量会不厌其烦地伸出援手,或者仅仅是在考验我们),而是要相信,有朝一日我们大家都能够同舟共济,共渡难关。没有了上帝,将来也就有可能少受一些苦难。
Believing there is no God gives me more room for belief in family, people, love, truth, beauty, sex, 14)Jell-O and all the other things I can prove and that make this life the best life I will ever have.
相信没有上帝这一说,给了我更多的空间,让我来“信仰”家庭的亲切、人们的友善、爱情的甜蜜,还有真理的伟大、万物的美丽、性的美妙和果冻的美味,还有所有其他我能证明的一切。所有这一切让我的这一世变成最为宝贵、幸福的人生体验。
Smart Sentences
① But, this “This I Believe” thing seems to demand something more personal, some leap of faith that helps one see life’s big picture, some rules to live by. 不过,“我的信仰”这种事似乎需要一些更私人化的方法,一种对有助于帮助个体审视生活全貌的信仰的超越,和一些依此践行的准则。
leap of faith: blind trust(盲目信任)。例如:
Without educated information, we sometimes have to take a leap of faith on what the doctors tell us.
没有专业知识,我们有时只能盲目相信医生的话。
big picture: an overall situation or event(全局,大局)。例如:
My father prides himself for being able to look at the big picture. 我父亲一直以能够顾全大局而自豪。
live by: behave according to a particular rule or belief(遵循某种准则)。例如:
All reporters should live by the principle that the truth is the foundation of news reporting.
所有记者都必须必须遵循这样的原则:真实是新闻报道的基础。
② I don’t travel in circles where people say, “I have faith...” 我不会和那些会说:“我有信仰……”的人打交道的。
travel in circles: spend time with a specific social class or group(跟某些团体的人打交道)。例如:
Because we have such a different level of income, we don’t usually travel in the same circles.
因为收入的层次的不同,我们通常不会在一个圈里玩。
【注】Grammar Point
Believing there is no God means the suffering I’ve seen in my family, and indeed all the suffering in the world, isn’t caused by an omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent force that isn’t bothered to help or is just testing us, but rather something we all may be able to help others with in the future.
这个句子很长,结构也比较复杂,从句套从句。它的主语是一个动名词结构Believing there is no God,在谓语means后跟着一个很长的宾语从句,从句的主语是the suffering和all the suffering in the world,从句的谓语isn’t caused后跟一个很长的由by引导的介词结构,而介词结构里还套有一个定语从句(that isn’t bothered to help or is just testing us)。