Pura Vida may be the unofficial slogan of Costa Rica, but Vivir y Deja Vivir– Live and let live– would be equally fitting. Everywhere I have lived here, from urban San Jose barrio to remote rural areas accessible only by 4-wheel drive, my personal space has never been seriously invaded. What goes on inside my property lines is my business.
Sure, there is curiosity: I don’t know if people in the rural areas still do this but when I first lived here and was learning Spanish, many campesinos would ask me what religion I practiced. This question threw me for a loop, because I practice none. I learned early on to say “Es un asunto privado” – a private matter– and leave it at that.
I call myself an agnostic because while I am a non-believer, I am not confident enough to claim outright that there is no higher being, creator, supreme being, aka God. If I had the self-assurance and encyclopedic knowledge of history, religion and mythology that Christopher Hitchens for example had, I might make the final leap of non-faith.
This puts me at a distinct minority both worldwide (almost a quarter of the world professes no religious affiliation, with about seven percent calling themselves atheist or agnostic), and in Costa Rica, where we have an actual official religion, Catholicism. This is certified by Article 75 in the Costa Rican constitution, and makes us the only country in Central America with an official national religion.
Does this offend me? No– I am tolerant of all religions, just don’t subscribe to any. Invite me to a Candlelight Christmas Eve mass and I would likely accept. I would go for the atmosphere, the memories rekindled from childhood. A tear may come to my eye as the gathered believers fill the chapel with the majestic “Angels We Have Heard on High”. I might even sing along on the hymns, but my presence would be strictly as an observer.
The questions, Why are we here? How did we get here? Where did it all begin? – have been debated for centuries. Science says it is cosmic evolution– often called the Big Bang Theory– and biological development over billions of years. Religion opts for an omnipotent creator, with the universal existence measured in millenniums. Each side asks the other the same question– How can something come from nothing? My own philosophy is, we are here, life is short, and the world is full of unanswered mysteries.
Fortunately for non-believers here in Ticolandia we live in a time and place where apostates are no longer punished by burning at the stake, or hanging, or disemboweling or any of the other gruesome methods used by believers to dispose of disbelievers.
In a way, atheists and agnostics are actually always in the majority. While we are only about 7% of the world, we are always in the majority when a specific religion is measured. About 30% of the world identifies as Christian, which means that 70% of the world does not. I am on the 70% side. Same goes for Islam, Buddhism, Rastafarianism and any of the other religious groups out there. There have been thousands of gods throughout history, I just believe in one less than that 93% of the world who worship one.
As long as nobody randomly asks me what religion I practice, I will keep my beliefs, or non-beliefs to myself. So Sunday mornings, while the Catholic and Evangelical churches throughout Ticolandia are filled with devout believers, I will likely be found cycling through the countryside, hiking hills, swimming in the ocean, or seated in front of my laptop, reading and writing. Spirituality comes in all flavors; Mine does not require an all-powerful figurehead.
Vivir y deja vivir.
Read more of Don Mateo’s writing from his newly published ebook.
