Religion, The High Ground, and Fantasy

I’m revisiting an issue today. This stays on my mind. It monopolizes my thoughts as I watch corporate ‘news’ and listen to the bullshit that spews forth from so many politicians and pundits. It sears through my brain as I scroll through the news feeds on my Facebook page. It is an old issue. It is an issue of man’s invention.

Yesterday a friend posted this:

I’ve quoted Douglas Adams often. His humor and fantasy was nothing less than genius. From what I’ve read, his worldview was brilliantly captured in his fiction. Pearls of wisdom seem evident in all of his writings. He has amused me, entertained me, and educated me. What more could one ask from an author? Of course I may be way off in my assessment. I am human.

Today I ask myself again; what is the need we humans have to look outside ourselves for some confirmation that we are of value and worth, for some belief that we exist for a purpose, for some indication that there is more beyond this life?

Belief is not equal to knowledge. Belief is a state that cannot be proven by any scientific method. Belief, or faith if you will, is usually immutable to the one who holds the belief.

Knowledge grows and changes as time passes. It evolves as new discoveries are made. Knowledge. I think we can all agree that knowing a thing is much different from believing a thing.

Here, on this Earth, we find everything we need to create a beautiful life. We have sustenance. We have medicines should we need them. We have beauty. We have the resources to make our spiritual lives sing. How lovely to know that we can transform wood and create a string that becomes a musical instrument and then create sounds that speak to the soul. Most importantly we have the intelligence to use that which is in abundance.

Yet humans are not content with what is. We fear that which is not known. And so we have religion. Men created explanations for that which cannot be explained. Religion,  in particular the two dominating our world today, was created to explain with limited knowledge the Earth, its origins, man, his origins, and the evolution of the whole, and to explain the most feared of unknowns, the status of humans after life.

These ancient texts, of both major religions in practice today, written by men under divine influence are suspect in my opinion. Men lie. Men manipulate.  Men fantasize. Perhaps the original intention of the texts was benign, but has since been rendered by others as a vehicle used to acquire power and wealth, and to frighten masses of people into obedience.

Is this my belief? Or is it my knowing?

Perhaps both.

Am I a skeptic? Most definitely.

Religious dogma, in my opinion, is not flexible, does not seem to be evolving to meet the needs of a civilization that is becoming more and more technologically advanced. Our knowledge increases daily and yet religious leaders decry the heresy of it. More and more, science answers our questions reasonably and rationally without the need for emotional bias. Yet emotional bias drives our politics, influences our government, our laws, and our human rights.

This really has to stop. There was a reason the framers of the constitution included a separation of church and state. Standing on moral high ground is not a good place for our lawmakers. A vast number of people are left without access to the same rights and privileges as those who presume their morality is the only one. I find this stand to be particular reprehensible as it speaks of arrogance, egotism, and self-proclaimed superiority.

What if we chose to enjoy the beauty and perfection of the planet made so perfectly for us? What if we chose to take care of it, to take care of each other? What if we chose to ignore centuries old dogma and embrace what IS?

I imagine that life would truly be amazing.

If you made it this far and haven’t fallen over in a dead faint from sheer boredom,  thank you for humoring me.