Pessimistic Politics: Religion

Religion has been a taboo subject for far longer than anyone can count. People live and die for it. Governments have persecuted and praised it. Entire wars have started because of it, whether they are on the battlefield or in the classrooms and homes of modern society.

It would be appropriate to take a moment and point out that I am in no way a theologian. I haven’t studied far into any of the major religions of the world, and I’m positive hundreds of lesser-know religions and divisions have completely escaped me. I’m simply a person who has been exposed to a lesser degree of the effects of religion.

To a further testament to my theological ignorance, I live in eastern America, tucked away in a suburban community in northwest Ohio. There isn’t much in the way of out-in-the-open religious variety in the United States in general, as it was founded on Christianity in the first place. Ohio offers less in the way of religious choices than more culturally diverse regions of the country. The selection of possible organized religions basically fall into the range of Catholic, Lutheran, Baptist, Christianity Miscellaneous, Christianity Lite, The Right Religion, Judaism, and Various Others that Belong to Odd People.

In many ways, I wish that there were more in the way of non-Christian religions around the area so I could personally learn more about them. Sadly, this is not the case, and I must base most of my observation on what I grew up with. My focus will naturally divert more to Christianity, perhaps in a negative light, but I will attempt to be as broad as possible for the sake of this piece.

The point that must be established is that religion is an invention of man. However each person feels, man created religion based on what God told them, or what Allah decreed, or what Buddha explained, or what man’s own mind came up with that made all of the unknowns easier to cope with.

Humans are very insecure creatures. When faced with an unknown factor, most humans become scared of it because they aren’t entirely sure what the consequences of crossing this foreign entity is. Before man became snooty because he started figuring a few things out over the last couple hundred years, and knowledge became the power, there was little in the way of reason. That’s when man started rationalizing reality.

A good example of this phenomenon is man’s obsession with monsters and mysterious creatures. Long ago, there were stories of goblins, fairies, and other odd creations. People accepted this based on the fact that they didn’t know what sort of strange animal they caught a glimpse of, or why their boats were destroyed at sea. It had to have been a troll or a sea monster that did it.

To a modern human, this seems like a lousy way of taking comfort in the world. However, today’s people really aren’t all that different. Today, we see UFOs in the sky, witness strange occurrences as a result of “ghosts,” and even positive aspects of life, the miracles, are sometimes the best explanations for odd events that we can’t prove the origins of. While I’m not suggesting that these things, including the monsters from earlier centuries, exist, I’m also not suggesting that we don’t have goblins running around, causing mischief. We have evidence, but not definite proof.

Why is it that the ridiculous, as we judge it, is acceptable as long as there isn’t a more sensible alternative? The world is still a strange place to humans, and there are still countless unknowns that we, as an intelligent species, haven’t a clue about.

The phrase “I don’t know” is one of the most frightening of all human expressions. If someone doesn’t have the answer, even an answer to trivial questions, it causes a certain amount of panic. That’s when the human brain gets creative.

Say that a woman has a severe pain and goes to the doctor. She’s afraid because she doesn’t know what the problem is, but is confident that the doctor will. The doctor takes a look at her and is baffled. When it comes time to explain to the woman that there is no ready answer to her condition, he panics.

This is where the situation can go two ways. The doctor could be honest about his lack of knowledge, a trait that has developed over the course of time. This has its downside, however, as the woman would have nothing to hold on to, nothing to indicate what is happening to her. She is scared because she knows something is wrong with her, but there is nothing that can be done about it because no one knows what is wrong with her in the first place.

The other turn is that the doctor, too wrapped up in himself to admit that he doesn’t know, tells the woman that she has a condition that she really doesn’t. Whether the doctor claims that the condition is really nothing to worry about or will spell her death doesn’t matter as much as one would think. The woman now has an answer, even an incorrect one, and she can now cope with it. This is, of course, troubling if the opposite of what the doctor says actually happens, but for that comforting moment when the woman put a name with a face, the doctor is a saint.

Religion is much like this, expect that it tends to be more like the second outcome of the analogy. Religion fills in a lot of empty spaces for people. Many of the unknowns can be solved with the knowledge that there is something greater than we understand watching out for things. We may not know who, how or why, but at least it’s there.

In this sense, religion is not right, but isn’t wrong either. Every one of the religions of the world could easily be as right as they could be wrong, and all of them have their valid points and evidence supporting their case. It all comes down to faith, and that’s where the entire religious argument goes array.

To get an idea of what religion is like, picture a large ship that just sank in the middle of the ocean. There are many survivors, all of which are floating out on life rafts. The problem is, they have no idea how they’re going to get to the safety of land.

The various parties decide on different courses of action, even though not one survivor knows a thing about navigation. One boat decides to go where the wind is coming from, as this seems like it would be west, where they are sure they will find land. The other directions lead to nothing but more ocean and death.

Another raft decides to follow the stars. Sadly, this raft isn’t well-versed in using the stars for guidance, so they pick one that looks good and follow it to what they think it north, which should lead them home, if the star and land was actually to the north.

Yet another raft knows for sure where north is, because they have a compass. The problem is, they aren’t sure if land is actually north. The group agrees that they have nothing to lose and go for it.

The other rafts are a little less ambitious. One raft is convinced that they are doomed and it’s all over, so they kill each other to get it over with. Another group decides to just go wherever the ocean takes them, while another starts paddling like mad in any random direction and hopes for the best. A final, less convincing raft decides to heed the words of Bobo the Talking Flounder, who came to them in a dream, and heads southeast.

The point of this analogy was to demonstrate how humans really don’t know all that much about divine occurrences because we lack proof. We take the unknowns and try to patch together an answer that sounds good and accept that as truth. This is faith, and it is both a curse and a blessing.

Many will attempt to debunk this hypothesis and claim that their religious documents lay out the truth. The problem with this evidence is that, like the religions that these various documents are based on, they were created by man, which pretty much destroys that bit of credibility.

Oftentimes, the religious follows counter this theory by saying that these works are those of the divine ruler they are following, written down by man. This is all well and good, but let’s take an example of how this isn’t a solid fact. In America, the history books show that this nation was a strong presence in World War II. Take a look at a British history book, however, and the story is a little different; America was there, but not for much.

History, unfortunately, can be made to say whatever the recorder wants it to say. The same can be said about any piece of information, religious documents included.

Let’s use the Holy Bible as an example. Christians claim that this is the Word of God and is the truth. This may well be correct, but it’s also equally likely that it there were mistakes in the translation, misinterpretations, intentional alterations, or, all forces forbid, the entire thing was meant to be a work of fiction.

The major difference between religious history and factual is that most factual history is, for the most part, irrelevant to current society. Of course, we humans are blessed (and in other ways, cursed) with the gift of records and building on the past, which is important to our society as a whole. However, if you question whether or not George Washington actually existed, the worst you’re likely to be affected is a low score in American history class and the occasional ridicule.

However, most religions will require you to know of their histories and believe in them, or else (in the case of Christianity) you’re going to Hell. The information contained in religious history is allegedly much more important, but the facts are just as dependable as "normal" history, or arguably less so.

The central point is that one religion may well be as valid as the next. Religion is often entered lightly, without much thought as to what it means. By entering one religion, the practitioner is essential saying that every other religion that contradicts theirs is wrong.

Like in the raft analogy, saying that one way is right over the other based on partial information isn’t the most reliable way. One may not know where land is or have a solid evidence of knowing where they are heading, but by virtue of faith in that method, it is right. It can’t be proven that it’s right, but it certainly can’t be proven that it is wrong.

The ultimate reasoning for a person confused about religion is to remember that man created it, and man has just about as much idea where he is going as the survivors in the story. All religions are going on basically the same level of information about their way, so taking too much stock in any one religion unless you truly believe in it is very foolish.

Religion is also proof that people know that they’re just a bunch of smelly apes that can’t be trusted with anything important. Humans are logically capable of destroying the entire world, yet many bow down before a being that they never met. Humans know their limitations to some degree and they want nothing to do with figuring out the afterlife. People would rather leave it to a divine being and do what they ask when it comes to these matters.

Religion can be a terrible thing. It has started quite of few wars, whether directly or indirectly. The amount of tussles and fights resulting from religious disputes can’t even be fathomed. Besides this, some use religion as a means to an end; am intangible way to back up their ideals.

This entire piece could be taken as a condemnation to all religion, making it out to be a deceiving way of life meant for insecure losers. This is partially true, because, let’s face it mankind, we’re all insecure losers who need to take comfort in something. The faithful have something that protects them, something that comforts them into knowing that they are taken care of by a higher being. In a way, that’s better than the non-believers who distract themselves with daily life, trying not to think about the fact that they will die.

Despite statements that seem to be on the contrary, religion is a great thing to be involved in, so long as it isn’t used for destructive ends. Also, it is best to desist in using religious documents as basis for undisputable fact and instead partake of religion as it was meant to be partaken of: as a matter of faith. With that resolve, religion can prove to be the best thing that ever happened.