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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 oppressed, enslaved, or disadvantaged members of the society by providing them with hope of a better afterlife, which keeps them in their place and helps keep the society stable by preventing them from revolting. In large industrialized Western societies, though, I think it is much less useful, and can cause more discord than unity. In America, for example, education is easily handled without using religion to traumatize students; most Americans share beliefs in freedom and equality even if they don’t believe in the same god; there are enough common interest groups for people to have reasons to get along and work together outside of religion; and modern science has explained most of the occurrences explained by myths. The only thing not addressed is the supernatural, which, based on my observations, seems to be less important in our material society. If everyone is equal, then everyone has the ability and freedom to better his or her life on earth, and so doesn’t need to toil on earth in hopes of a better afterlife. Personally, I don’t believe in the supernatural, and feel little need for it. Also, in the U.S., there is such a variety of religious beliefs that if the government were to endorse any one, it would run the risk of alienating the majority of the population, and it would infringe on the freedoms that the country was founded on. As far as providing a moral code is concerned, most religions have similar enough basic rules (don’t kill each other, help your neighbor, don’t lie, etc.), that I think morals developed before religion, and religion just incorporated them. You don’t not kill people because some religious text says not to, you don’t kill people because you’ll be ostracized by the group if not killed by someone else. You help your neighbors because if you’re nice to them, they’ll probably reciprocate when you need it. You don’t lie or steal because it damages social...
read moreThe 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 delusion because the delusion is so hard to see. People will argue to the death about whether or not God is real. Churches use the words “real,” true,” and “we believe” all the time to foster the delusion. Why do they have to use such terms? We don’t use those terms for things that are actually real. Can’t you just let me live in my own delusion? Of course! But it will cost you plenty! It will cost you money and it will cost you time. Every hour you spend worshiping an imaginary being is an hour not spent doing something real. And the prayer thing–it really doesn’t work. Here’s a video about prayer: Here are a couple of other links about prayer: God is Imaginary – Prayer Friendly Atheist – Prayer If my car stops working, I can pray about it, but the car never gets fixed that way. It’s time to get...
read moreThe 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 pastors who really care and have the best interests of their sheep in mind, there are many more examples of authoritarian oligarchs who work tirelessly to control others. More importantly, religion is false, therefore those who propagate religion fall into one of two categories–those who intensely believe (they have been fooled) or those who know it is false but still continue. In the first case, no matter how nice he may be, we are following a fool. In the second case, we are following an intentional deceptor. Either way, we are the bigger fool! Why do the clergy work so hard to protect one another by moving wayward priests and supporting the denial of wrongdoing? It is very simple. It is in their collective best interest to do so. As an example, a bishop intervened in a local pastor problem (half of the congregation had left and the decline in contributions put the church in financial jeopardy). Though the details would lead any reasoning person to conclude that the pastor was narcissistic and most certainly out of line, the report from the bishop’s office was that there really wasn’t a problem. The pastor was subsequently moved (and created problems again in the new place). The needs of the congregation were dismissed in favor of the needs of the pastor. The bishop’s office in this case is an elected position. He was elected by other clergy! If his practice was to go after wayward pastors, they and those in their circle of influence would not re-elect the bishop. There is no penalty to the bishop if the needs of the people are not met. In addition, the clergy really do regard themselves as having a higher status than the people they serve. It is only when we begin to question that authority, and the basis for that authority, that we can stop being a sheep–and dismiss the Clergy Club. ...
read moreMasters 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 you and/or your children. They set themselves up as representatives of God with dictates of behavior that include sexual repression, financial obligation, and obligations of servitude toward the church. They reinforce these dictates by regular and frequent formal rituals of worship, baptisms, weddings, funerals; and less formal prayer, retreats, counseling opportunities, prison ministries, etc. Fundamentally, they are NOT representatives of God as God is imaginary. Once you realize this, the power these people wield over you vanishes....
read moreBelieve 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 stating a belief, you are really pretending to know something that you don’t know. Well, you might say, “My belief is true for me.” No, it isn’t. Actual truth is not relative. Something is either true or it isn’t. God exists or he doesn’t. Heaven and Hell are true places or they aren’t. Mankind began in the Garden of Eden or man evolved. Noah built the ark and put all the plants and animals of the earth on it or he didn’t. Perhaps we should consider the evidence… ...
read moreLooking for Great Ideas
Please let me know if you have a great idea for a page, category, or...
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