So sticking with the theme of writing about things I think about a lot, I might as well write a post about religion. I'll just say right up front, that I'm agnostic. And this post is likely to include a lot of stuff the a highly religious person might find bothersome. Just a fair warning.
I've noticed in various discussions I've had with people about religion, that religion can mean lots of different things to different people. Seems obvious, but what do you think about when someone says that word? Do you think about "God", or a belief in something of all power? Do you think about church and the organization? Do you think about the philosphical tenets? The moral lessons? Do you actively think about many aspects of what religion can refer to?
I've taken to thinking about religion in three somewhat vague ways. I consider the individual's beliefs, the community's form, and the religious corporation it would be associated with. That last one is my way of referring to big religious organizations like those associated with the Vatican. Oh... damn... and I guess I have to add a fourth category... televangelism.
The Individual
This is really the most important aspect of religion. What does a given individual believe? Does that individual believe in Heaven and Hell? Enlightenment? Reincarnation? The Greek Pantheon? Redemption? God and the Devil? In this case... religion is simply "what the person believes" to me. This is where my agnosticism really comes out. Every time I talk to someone who says they believe there is a God, I wonder why. What thing in life made them begin to believe? What confirmed it for them? And the truth is that there is no proof for the existence of God (I'm using God now as a focus and example of any belief in some power so great that it has some bearing on the universe's existence).
Can you prove to me that God exists? Can you prove to me that God does not exist? What I'm left with is the knowledge that God is unprovable. But for some reason billions of people around the world believe whole-heartedly that there is something there based solely on the word of other people... and perhaps a desire to believe.
This takes us to faith. It comes up in almost every religion discussion I'm part of. I'm told it's not about proof. Some might argue that faith and happiness as a result is preferable to skepticism and misery. People that have faith can get emotional support in life from their faith. They can find happiness in "knowing" they will go to Heaven when they die. They can believe that all the bad events of their lives have a reason and that God has a plan for them. It can bring a sense of comfort and belonging. And all of that is true. It can do wonderful things for a person. But the thing that confuses the hell out of me is that people are capable of genuinely believing... as if God were the truth (like those stupid car decals)... as if God were a fact. But I already know... as should everyone of rational mind... that God is unprovable. How can these religious people believe in something without proof? Just because it's comforting they're unwilling to consider that their beliefs have no support except what some guy at a podium told them or what's written in a book... that again... was written by a human?
Why is one religion right and another one is false? Just because billions of people have believed it for a couple thousand years? Because one makes more sense to you than another? How do we know that the Flying Spaghetti Monster isn't the true creator of all things? Please... read the wikipedia article about it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_Spaghetti_Monster. How is it any less valid than Christianity? Buddism? Taoism? Judaism? Sure, you can say it's silly, but how can you prove it isn't true? All faith in a God or power gets you is a false sense of comfort. And I refuse to comfort myself with something unprovable.
This stance of mine makes it hard for me to interact with other people sometimes. But fortunately I have managed to save my ponderings for the internet of late, and I avoid the topic when I can with friends. I have several highly intelligent friends who are also highly religious... and it confuses the heck out of me. Maybe a random person from the internet can shed some light on it.
Religious Community
The next aspect I wanted to look at (man this is getting long, and I'm probably already skipping thoughts in my attempt at getting through it all) is the community of religious people. By this I mean the group of people who belong to a church or equivalent group locally... people that get together and hold picnics, fundraisers, do charity work, and so on. This is the one aspect of religion that I really like a lot. Sure... these things brainwash the kids that get dragged in to the sermons into the same unprovable belief system, but while I hate that unprovable assertions are made, I can't deny some of the beneficial effects. Morals can be taught this way. And so I bite my tongue a bit. The really good part of this though is the fact that it becomes a community. People getting together with commonality, sharing their burdens, helping each other, meeting each other, and developing a sense of belonging to a healthy community. These small churches that can accomplish that... I like them... even though I'm not fond of the belief system.
With that said, I've considered joining a church just for the social aspect. That might be insulting to people who actually believe what the church is teaching, but I'm trying to convey how much I admire the community aspect of the church. But... as I mentioned before... I can't believe in something just because it might be comforting or afford me a bond with people I didn't know before. I can't choose to believe in something so obviously unprovable. So I'm stuck with a chasm between me and religious people. Unfortunately for me, I don't enjoy watching professional sports either, so I'm right out of luck on what to talk about in social situations.
The Overgrown Religious Institutions...
The Vatican is horrifying to me. Any religious institution that can affect people on that scale scares the hell out of me (yes... I keep using the word "hell" on purpose). When they try to insinuate themselves into government decisions, I begin to believe that society is headed for a huge collapse. This is the level of religion that I hate. I don't understand individual belief. I admire community bonds. I hate when people try to use religion to justify legal actions. The church saying that gay marriage is wrong and therefore should be illegal... that's a load of crap. Sure... a gay couple couldn't get the religious ceremony in a church that doesn't agree with gay marriage, but who cares about that? Marriage at this point is a legal definition that any two people should have the right to. There are tax benefits and so forth that makes it so we can't use gender to discriminate here. Anyway... that's just an example of where big religious institutions try to throw their weight around.
Let's not forget how many wars have been fought over big religion. It is my conclusion that big religious institutions are detrimental to society. I am open though to the possibility of examples that don't fall into this category. But no one can deny the negative effects of so many religious institutions... no can deny the wars, the persecution, and the divisive influence it can have on that scale.
Televangelism... ugh...
My thoughts on this are best described as disgust and pity. Those guys that get up on stage and preach to the world on television are some of the most evil people I've ever been exposed to. Maybe some of them actually believe the crap they're spewing, and yes... their devoted followers may receive that comfort benefit I mentioned earlier... but really... the televangelist is asking for money. Send them money for redemption. Have you ever watched one of these shows? It's sick. In a financial way you kind of have to admire them. They're milking gullible people who are desperate for comfort. In every other way, they're deplorable.
Then comes the followers. Them I feel pity for. I'm not sure I have to describe that further. How do you go from rational human being to a sheep that depends on a televangelist for emotional life support?
Wrap Up
Perhaps this was too big a topic for me to squish into a blog post. I guess what I was hoping to convey was a rational look at why religion should go away. And I always hope that someone who is suffering with the unprovable beliefs of a religion might wake up and realize that there's a really strong probability that their religion is wrong. And now this post is devolving into me ranting. Unfortunately for those of strong religious belief... they still can't prove their religion is right.
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