After a few weeks posting on this blog, I realize I’ve made a big mistake: I forgot to explain my motivation to write about God(s) and Religion(s). I did say I think these issues are irrationally overprotected, but then failed to specify why I think arguing against both concepts is worth my while. I skipped a very important step and went straight towards the protecting walls, frantically kicking and shouting at the guards. The corollary is that I may come across as an angry and ranting heretic, thus jeopardizing my chances of actually being heard. Allow me to present my apologies and let me try to right the wrong. Here’s the long explanation:
Pecking Order.
If I could choose the audience of this blog, the
following would be, in order of preference, my favorite readers:
1. Hardcore religious
fundamentalists: People who take scripture literally, including Noah’s Ark,
the Virgin Birth, the Creation of the Universe in 6 days, etc.
2. Old-school religious
believers: They study scripture, believe most of it, but have to compromise
in order to function in the real world, i.e. accept Evolution.
3. Plain-vanilla
believers: If pressed, most of them don’t even know what it is they’re
supposed to believe in.
4. Middle-of-the-roaders:
There are three types: the first one is torn with guilt, the second one has
never thought too much about the matter and the third one doesn’t care. They
are typically known as “Agnostics”.
5. Closet
non-believers: They accept a high degree of agnosticism but only to
themselves. They are (understandably) afraid of public discrimination.
6. Regular non-believers:
Will freely admit to a high degree of agnosticism.
7. Active
non-believers: Same as 6 but feel the urge to speak out. (I belong here if
you were wondering).
Disclaimer: You will notice I only talk about degrees of belief
and degrees of agnosticism. I did this to avoid the very annoying semantic
debate between the use of the terms agnosticism and atheism (Yes, I know the
difference between the two… but that is another topic).
One of the goals of this blog, besides keeping my mind
running during week-ends and breaks, is to make every reader jump down at least
one notch on the above list i.e. from 1 to 2 or from 3 to 6.Would you agree to say we were all born natural 6’s? You didn’t come up with the idea of God by yourself, someone told you about him! Most of us were, at some point, indoctrinated to become ones, twos or threes. For us, the indoctrinated folk, number 4 is a very important stepping stone; it is the point where we start to doubt what has been force-fed into our brains since the day we were born (think baptism).
If you were raised a 4 or have gotten there by your
own means, I’m hoping to present enough facts and evidence to help you make the
leap to 5 or 6. If you are a 5, I would encourage you to come out of the closet;
life is always easier when you have nothing to hide! And in the spirit of
full-disclosure, I’ll say I don’t have an agenda to turn sixes into sevens.
A
Secular Preacher?
From the above, you may be tempted to blame me for
doing what I vehemently criticize in others: preaching.
Well… Yes
and No. Yes because I’m trying to change something in you, but No because it’s your approach I’m trying
to change, not the end result (what you actually think or believe). There is a world of difference
between the former and the latter.
Unlike religious preachers, I promise not to use cheap
tricks like fear or guilt to make you read this blog or to believe in it (“sin” is the accepted religious synonym for that). I’ll never threaten
you if you don’t agree with me (excommunication, stoning, whipping and even the
death penalty are methods of enforcement still in use by certain religious
organizations). I’ll be damned if I ever ask you for money in return of my thoughts.
I don’t care what you eat and when you eat it, who you have sex with and in
which position. Those things are none of my business and what do they have to
do with anything, anyway?
You’ll get nothing of the sort from me. I’m simply asserting
that Truth, whatever that may be, is the right thing to pursue. No placebo is
half as good as a bit of the real deal.
For sure, sometimes I’ll use a little irony, a little sarcasm
or a bit of humor here and there, but never anything too serious to frighten
anybody. I’ll veer away from duress and will always stick to facts and simple logic.
I love facts, and logic, and sarcasm, and irony, and humor, and beauty, and
elegance. And if any of those things happen to feel like a threat to you or to your
belief system, I’m truly sorry, I didn’t mean them to. If so, I’d suggest you
rethink your beliefs to determine why such inoffensive things sound so harsh to
you.
It is my earnest conviction that once unchained from the
fear of indoctrination, anyone willing to have an honest look at the Universe will
find it very hard to take answers from Faith. If anything, I’m just saying you
should give freethinking a try; questioning everything you have ever been told,
without guilt, without remorse. I secretly hope you’ll use me as your lab rat: If
I don’t get struck by lightning or burn by spontaneous combustion for all this
heresy, you’ll probably feel pretty safe to do a little second guessing of your
own.
The Reason I Care.
Let me go back to the original point as I’m digressing
again. Everything I’ve said so far explains what
it is I am trying to achieve and how I will do it, but it doesn’t explain why I want to do it. So finally, here’s
my claim:
The
single most important change we can make as a species, in order to help us move
forward, is to have every one of us thinking by ourselves. History has proven,
time and again, that indulging in the alternative can be extremely dangerous.
Belief of any sort builds solidly upon Faith. By the own admission of those who
profess it, Faith is the antonym of Reason. You cannot rationalize Faith.
Bad things
happen when people give up on the difficult process of freethinking only to rush
for the ready-to-use beliefs of others. The most common and widespread source of
belief is organized religion. Organized religion is, quite literally,
the largest ticking bomb I can think of. If we could only accept a Universe
without God(s), organized religion would become redundant and irrelevant. Away
with the threats of mass delusion, welcome to a better world for all.
“Nothing
to kill or die for, and no religion too. Imagine all the people, living life in
peace.”
Maybe he was a dreamer, and maybe I am too, but Mr.
Lennon knew what he was talking about…
With that said, I would like to make it very clear that
I don’t have a problem with God. I really don’t, how could I? I don’t even
believe in God! I’m guessing you don’t have visceral feelings towards dragons
or unicorns… It’s exactly the same here. My true enemy is organized religion. I
cannot stand the way they use honest belief to satisfy their greed for power
and relevance. I fear the lengths they will go (and have gone) to maintain
their senseless rule, showing absolutely no remorse for the consequences of
their selfishness.
The impasse arises -unlike many “new age” believers
and deists think- from God and religion being deeply and indissolubly
intertwined. Religion told us about God and not the other way around. The
concept of God is collateral damage in this war against religion. If you are
trying to discredit the practices of a psychedelic guru, you won’t hesitate to
sacrifice unicorns and dragons if it helps in the process.
Route of Administration.
Route of Administration.
I do not think that everything about religion is evil
or that every believer is wicked. There are great things done every day through
religious organizations and there is a majority of believers who happen to be
fabulous people. The catch is that good deeds are done through religious organizations by
human beings, who are, regardless of their religion, inherently good. In the
same line of thought, I’m sure these fabulous believers would continue to be
charming people even if they stopped believing tomorrow. The following is my
favorite quote from the great Christopher Hitchens: “Human decency is not
derived from religion. It precedes it.”
I don’t believe in God, but that doesn’t mean I don’t
know the feelings that religious people experience to be quite real. I have
myself experienced “supernatural elation” in the past. I was a believer,
remember? It so happens that those feelings are very much like the ones I
experience while discovering the Cosmos, or while having a good time with my
wife and friends. Many people have “religious experiences” while practicing
their favorite sport or activity, which is known as “being in the zone”. These
feelings are, if you think about it, very similar to being high on
mind-altering drugs (anything from alcohol to heroin). There is nothing wrong
with experiencing these wonderful “highs”; it’s the route of administration
that is questionable.
“So Why Don’t You Just Leave Us Alone?”
“So Why Don’t You Just Leave Us Alone?”
This has been a recurrent question… Short answer: you
may be part of the problem.
I could argue based on the simple axiom that there are
no religions without believers, but that would be way too simplistic. Digging a
little deeper, the problem emanates from the chameleonic link between God and religion;
sometimes ridiculously evident and sometimes almost invisible. That link is a
big problem because it takes God hostage and turns him into a protecting shield
for the dark side of religious organizations: “If you mess with religion, you
are messing with God”. The widespread overprotection of religious freedom
becomes the perfect cloak for religious libertinage.
Best case scenario: out of unjustified and exacerbated
“respect”, some believers will turn a blind eye to the shady deeds of religious
organizations.
Worst case scenario: otherwise good people will follow
religious doctrine by the book (where do you think the saying comes from?) with
disastrous consequences.
As long as we continue to give religion a moral
free-ride (either by passive or active reinforcement) its dark side will thrive
unchallenged and unchallengeable.
The Danger Within.
The Danger Within.
I’m also aware that, more often than not, my view may come across
as a bit over the top, as overly aggressive, overly exaggerated. I think I have an explanation for that: We are so accustomed at linking religious belief and virtue, that it is very hard for us to see and recognize the danger within. It takes a while to wash that out of the system. At times, even I will cringe at my own words. Indoctrination does that to you.
The following
are a few examples, dating from no more than 75-years ago, that have either changed
the course of recent history, have deeply affected the life of individuals or
both. Religion and dogma are at the core of each and one of them:
·
Northern
Ireland and “The Troubles”: A
country with two groups of people killing and discriminating each other for
decades. Ethnically indistinguishable, the northern Irish all eat the same
food, drink the same beer and fancy the same sports. The dividing line is
religious. They both belong to two of the closest subsets of Christianity
-Catholicism and Protestantism- and that simple fact has been enough for hatred
to flourish.
·
9/11: The terrorist attacks on the WTC do have an important
political component, but the political conflict between East and West has firm
roots in religious differences. Only religion and the false promises it offers
can push somebody to kill thousands of people for being “infidels”. In the case
of Islam, the heavenly reward for “martyrs” is 72 virgins waiting for them in
Jannah (paradise). I’m sure you can also appreciate the misogynistic touch in
the matter. I’m tempted to include the recent Boston attacks along this example
but it’s still too soon. Let’s wait and see what transpires to prove me right
or wrong…
·
2007
failed terrorist attack on the UK: A group of people planned an
attack with car bombs in London on June 29th, 2007. When their
mechanisms failed, they attempted to raise terror at Glasgow’s airport a day
later. Luckily they failed again. This particular example is not the most
spectacular but it is very enlightening: The leaders of the terrorist group
were Muslim doctors, one of them a neurosurgeon. It is hard to believe their
motivation came from economic hardship or a lack o education. How more educated
can a neurosurgeon be? It takes religion for good people to do evil things.
·
Herbert
and Catherine Schaible: Believers
of “Faith healing”, the Schaibles systematically refuse their children access
to medicine. A few years ago, their first son died from bacterial pneumonia.
Earlier this year, their 8-month old baby died from diarrhea. The Schaibles, who
now may face criminal prosecution, are not alone in their delusion: more than 300
children have died for the same reason in the past 25-years in the US alone.
I’m sure these people, ignorant and deluded as they may be, are probably decent
loving parents. I’m sure they believed they were doing the righteous thing by
not taking their suffering children to a doctor. How great the anguish and fear
from indoctrination must be, in order to let your children die from perfectly
curable causes? It’s inconceivable… Only religion can do that.
·
Pam
Stenzel on Abstinence: “If
you take birth control, your mother probably hates you”. That is the kind of
sex-ed provided by this Christian cuckoo with thousands of followers.
·
Fundamentalist Education: In the ACE program, one the the many fundamentalist schools in the UK,
education is solely based on scriptures. Please read the link below, I couldn’t
believe my eyes…To distance themselves from fundamentalists, certain believers
will often argue that fundies are
misinterpreting scripture. I’m sorry to say they are not. Fundamentalists are
simply taking what they believe to be the word of God at face value. And to be
honest, it does make sense; if it is the word of God, why shouldn't it be taken literally? The only interpreters of scripture are
non-fundamentalists; and they have to bend over backwards in order to force a
fit between their sacred texts, the real world, and basic intelligence. My
question to them is: Where exactly do you draw the line between what’s to be
taken literally and what is not?
·
The
Palestinian-Israeli Conflict: It
is very hard to summarize such a complex and painful conflict in a nutshell. If
nevertheless I were to try, and if I was pressed to find a single factor that
prevents a peaceful solution from coming to fruition, I’d have to say it is
religion. A big part of this conflict lies in the control of the City of
Jerusalem. The three Abrahamic Religions - Christianity, Islam and Judaism -
(in alphabetical order), claim the City as an important piece of real estate,
both for religious and historical reasons. Well of course they do! All three
religions are nothing but the same old
myth, twisted in different directions with a few distinguishing features. And what's the best solution their leaders find to this predicament? Killing each
other, naturally! If you think about it, there is a logical path to violence when each
group honestly believes they are the Chosen one. If you honestly believe to be
defending a holy cause, killing the infidel next door seems like the natural
thing to do. Religious belief is such a powerful but irrational force that
unwarranted violence is bound to happen.
·
Popes
John Paul II and Benedict XVI defense of pedophiles: The evidence is uncontestable: two consecutive Popes
of the Catholic Church tried as hard as they could to conceal the truth; their
priests, protected by the taboo of religion, sexually molested thousands of
children. When BXVI finally backpedaled, through washed-out excuses and
apologies, it was too late. This alone should be enough to enrage every person
with the slightest hint of human decency. And somehow, certain believers find
it offensive to criticize the Institution! What else, if not total and absolute
delusion, can blindfold people to this extreme?
·
The
Holocaust: The victims of the
gloomiest chapter in recent History were Jews, Gypsies, Jehovah’s Witnesses and
Homosexuals. In New Testament terms: heretics, witches, heretics and sodomites.
As hard as some people may try to label Hitler as a non-believer, they are bound to fail. He was a devout Catholic; baptized in April 1889 and confirmed in May 1904. The Catholic Church in
Rome celebrated his birthday from 1939 onwards by instruction of Pius XII
a.k.a. “Hitler’s Pope”. I’ll let you connect the dots.
This is only a limited selection of examples that
illustrate the width and depth of religion’s vices. I’m certain you can
effortlessly find thousands more if you are just willing to open your eyes.
Since we are able of doing good things on our own, why
do we insist on keeping a 'god-given' moral framework that is so evidently corrupt? For the sake of our kind, we need to grow out of it.
Once the above is taken into consideration, hopefully my ranting, my kicking and my shouting will no longer seem unjustified.
Once the above is taken into consideration, hopefully my ranting, my kicking and my shouting will no longer seem unjustified.
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