EXPRESSIONS OF FAITH
Believers not always religious

By Michael E. Tymn
Special to The Advertiser

When I joined the Marine Corps some 45 years ago, they gave me dog tags stamped "Catholic."

I wonder what I would show as religion identification now if required to do so. Outside of visiting many of the great cathedrals of Europe and attending a few weddings and funerals, I have not set foot inside a church for about 30 years.

Would the military accept "no religion"? Would that label me as an atheist?

A friend recently commented that he feels there must be a God, and therefore there must be an afterlife. My response was that I feel reasonably certain that there is an afterlife, and therefore there must be a God.

I added, however, that I don't see God as some elderly bearded man sitting on a throne. Rather, I feel God is beyond human comprehension and language. Based on that understanding, some of my Christian friends consider me an atheist.

When my Christian friends visit my home and see the some 300 books on various spiritual topics, including reincarnation, mediumship, near-death experiences and out-of-body experiences, they immediately label me a "New Ager." As such, I must be a disciple of Satan.

But then they see the large picture of Jesus hanging from the wall and become confused.Ê

I'm not into astrology, tarot cards, crystals, witchcraft, voodoo, paganism or many other things that are so conveniently lumped together by orthodoxy under the broad category of New Age or occult.Ê

I do lean toward a belief in reincarnation, although I don't see it is as simple as most people believing in it seem to think. It's another subject that is for the most part beyond human understanding.

I also believe that there are true mediums, just as there are fake ones.

During the early part of the last century, mediumship was thoroughly investigated by some of the greatest scientific minds in the world, including Sir Oliver Lodge, a physicist who was a pioneer in radio and the spark plug; Sir William Crookes, the discover of the element thalium and a pioneer in radioactivity; and Dr. Alfred Russel Wallace, co-originator with Charles Darwin of the natural selection theory of evolution. All concluded that there is spirit communication through some mediums and that most of it is good.

Much of the Bible came from mediums or occult messages.

I believe Buddha, Jesus, Mohammed and Moses were great prophets or spiritual leaders, but Jesus is my personal inspiration. Much of the spirit communication transmitted after the Bible indicates that he is something akin to chairman of the board on the other side.

I consider myself a Christian even if my dogmatic friends guffaw at such a suggestion.

If for some reason I get new dog tags, I will just have them put "believer."

Michael E. Tymn is the vice president of the Hawai'i Chapter of the International Association of Near-Death Studies and book review editor for the Journal of Religion and Psychical Research.