Political Campaigns: An Exercise in Functional Atheism?

This afternoon I was reading Dark Night of the Soul by Gerald May and ran across a definition of functional atheism: "the belief that ultimate responsibility for everything rests with me." For an extended discussion of its impact on leadership go here.

This presidential campaign is making functional atheists out of most of us. Here is how it happens.

We care about our country. We want our side to win the election. Since the election is close, we think that our vote and our ability to campaign may determine the outcome. We work harder and harder, risking burnout and losing our serenity.

A message friends and family on both sides of this miserable campaign: Relax! The only things that we control are our vote and our ability to state our opinions. Let's take a tip from Lincoln who reminded us that the Almighty has his own purposes. We should act "with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right". Having done that, we can practice functional theism: the ultimate responsibility rests with God.