The 29-Day Blogging Challenge: R is for Religion
I am not religious. I grew up in a church, but from a very young age started questioning what I was being told; and, more specifically, that I was being told just to believe what I was being told. There was little or no importance placed on scholarly investigation or dissection, no encouragement of analysis and truth seeking; it was written, and therefore it was truth. The stories had some no-brainer morals behind the narrative – be a good person, treat others well, take care of your neighbours, etc. – but I regarded these fanciful tales as little more than padding around otherwise logical recommendations for human conduct. I didn’t need a particular book or some old guy in a suit telling me these things – they made sense, as though pre-programmed in the hardwiring of my brain. It was the rest of the fables, the mythology, the concept of divine creation and control, that I just couldn’t buy.
I had friends in grade school that were Muslim, Sikh, Hindu, Jewish, Catholic, Lutheran, and a handful of other religious affiliations. And they were being taught the same basic morals, albeit with different illustrative stories wrapped around these lessons. My first question, the one that stated me on a path to questioning everything, was simple: If I was being taught one thing out of a particular book, and they were being taught other things out of other books, and we were all told our version was right because it was written in our respective books, which was correct? No one could give me a definitive answer – they just told me to ‘have faith’, as though blind obedience and a closed mind to alternative explanations and accounts was all it took to enter heaven. Not surprisingly, I called ‘bullshit’ early on, and while still a regular attendee at weekly services, would sit and critique everything I heard, everything I was told, searching for some element of ‘truth’ – not as I was told, but as I felt. Some things stuck – like lessons in basic human morality and conduct towards my fellow man – but the mythology and fanciful fabrications held no sway in my thinking.
I’ve studied religion all my life, with an element of fascination and historical critique at the development and growth of various belief systems. I realized fairly quickly that stripping out the stories, the places, the people, the mythology, left most religions saying basically the same things. They were guidelines for right conduct, affirmations of what was considered good in the world. In christian terms, most religions can be broken down to the Ten Commandments and the Golden Rule. That’s the basic plot to each one, and everything else is just context and character development. And in many cases, the stories and main characters aren’t all that different – for example, Jesus is a notable, revered figure in Christianity (obviously), but also in Islam, Judaism, and Hinduism. There are many theories, in fact, that he traveled throughout India (perhaps during his 18-year hiatus in the bible?) and learned morality and ethics from Buddhist, Hindu, and other local belief systems. He is one of the highest prophets in Islam, and accounts of his life and dealings are nearly identical in both the bible and the Qur’an. It is somewhat surprising, and saddening, that with so many similarities between religions, both literal and figurative, that there is such deep division and animosity among their respective followers. Johnathan Swift wrote, “We have just enough religion to make us hate, but not enough to make us love one another.” Unfortunately, this is all too true.
History is riddled with the destructive power of religion. More people have died due to religious conflict that for any other reason. Entire empires have been overthrown, decimated, eradicated, and tortured in the name of some particular god. No religion is faultless, although some have been far more active in their crusade for world domination than others. Even today, conflicts rage around the world in the name of religion. Georgia Harkness, one of the first female theologians, famously wrote that “The tendency to turn human judgments into divine commands makes religion one of the most dangerous forces in the world.” It has been said that religion is the worst thing to happen to humanity, and in many ways, I fully agree.
I don’t have a problem with religion per se. I can understand its attraction, and I fully respect the sense of purpose and fulfillment it gives the devout followers. I admire people who devote their lives to a particular belief system, who feel its life-affirming power every day, who live by a prescribed set of principles and traditions and tenets – not because they were told to, but because it is who they are, it is what they feel, it is truth to them. What I do have a problem with, however, is when those same people discount the possibility that another person can live a just-as-moral life while believing a different collection of stories and mythology; when there can be no other truth than their own, and anyone who says otherwise is a blasphemous lout who must be converted or destroyed; when these people take their religion which (in my opinion) is a personal affirmation of purpose, and make it a public banner under which to march forward, swords blazing, in the name of their supposedly benevolent god. Examples of religious colonialism are rife throughout history, and still go on to this day. People die every minute because they have the audacity to believe in – or even just be born into – a different house of worship. Religion can be the most dangerous force in the world, despite its main intentions otherwise. As Jon Stewart says, religion gives people hope in a world torn apart by religion.
George Carlin, a brilliant comic and one of my favourite humourist thinkers, is no stranger to controversial opinion. He was very politically minded, and had a critical eye towards society, humanity, government, and of course, religion. Brought up in Catholic school, he had an acerbic view of organized religion and its potential for ill on the world. One of his lesser-known but best routines looks at the Ten Commandments, and he in no uncertain terms calls ‘bullshit’ on the lot. Methodically, logically, and humourously he breaks them down to just a couple of universally acceptable guidelines, easier to follow and without all the ’spooky’ language from the original version. At the end of the clip he sums up his arguments beautifully: “Two is all you need; Moses could have carried them down the hill in his fucking pocket. And if they had a list like that I wouldn’t mind those folks in Alabama putting it up on the courthouse wall – as long as they included one additional commandment: Thou shalt keep thy religion to thyself.” If that last line were included in every religious text throughout history, the world would be a much better – and perhaps less religiously fanatical – place.
Previous posts: Introducing the 29-Day Blogging Challenge; A is for Anonymity; B is for Busses; C is for Canada; D is for Dogs;E is for Expatriate; F is for Failure;G is for Google; H is for Hedgehog; I is for Indian food; J is for Jill, obviously; K is for Kurt Cobain; L is for Listerine; M is for Mac&Cheez; N is for Night; O if for Olfactory Dysfunction; P is for Photography; Q if for Quest For Fire
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