When and Where Religion is Useful
I wrote this for an online discussion for one of my classes. The prompt was about how religion helps maintain stability in societies. I think in small, non-literate societies, religion is useful for stabilizing the society and perpetuating the culture. Some of its institutions can facilitate education by traumatizing children enough that they remember everything they’re taught. It puts a name on shared beliefs and values and gives people something in common and a reason to gather and work together. It also incorporates myths about how and why the natural world works for people who don’t know or understand the scientific explanations, and addresses the supernatural, which natural science can not explain or prove even exists. It can also placate...
The Grand Delusion
“Remember we’re in the presence of God.” “I will pray for you.” “God will help us.” “Thank God we made it out alive.” We credit God with everything good in our lives. We implore God to help us with everything that is bad in our lives. We praise God. Well here’s a dose of reality. If God is worthy of thanks for the person who survived the car crash, then God is also responsible for NOT saving the life of the one who died. If God has blessed us with an abundance of food, he is to be blamed for the lack of food in other parts of the world where people are dying of starvation. So should we be angry at God then? No, of course not. God is a figment; its all a delusion. God is our delusion. It’s a grand...
The Clergy Club
As a former church lay leader (elder, Sunday school teacher, youth leader, church president), I have had occasion to deal with pastors with serious personal problems who have literally torn the congregation apart. An interesting observation for me was that members of the clergy tend to have an unwritten code to protect one another. Akin to the code of silence that police officers often have, the clergy staunchly protect one another from their congregations, even when they are absolutely wrong. As naive sheep, we often defer to the wisdom of the clergy in many matters. Interestingly, even those who have no religious affiliation whatsoever, confer a profound respect toward the clergy. This is not warranted or deserved. While there are many good examples of loving...
Masters and Minions
Are you a master or a minion? In the Despicable Me world, minions are “naive and impulsive with little self control.” In the real world, minions are also naive and are controlled by others. In the real world, people who are in control (of themselves and/or others), I will call masters. As you can guess, I would recommend you not be a minion! You are a minion if you allow others to dominate you. If others compel you by an unverifiable belief system or by religious guilt, or by lording power over you in some other way, then I am here to help you make the shift from minion to master. Priests, pastors, and religious (brothers, sisters) all consider themselves to be masters. They are in charge of their minions and exercise power over them –possibly...
Believe it or Not
What do y0u believe? Why do you believe? Is it necessary to believe? Is it wise to believe? Do you believe the sun will appear on the eastern horizon tomorrow morning? No! You know the sun will appear. It has appeared there every single day of your life. So you see, it is completely unnecessary to believe the sun will appear. It is only necessary to believe things that you do not know to be true. What a paradox–because, when stated that way, it seems a bit silly–to believe things that you do not know to be true. Believing is a bit like telling yourself that something is true even if you’re not sure about it; even if there is no evidence for it; even if there is evidence contradictory to it. Believing is really wanting something to be true. When...
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