Tuesday, April 29, 2003
Religion: bah!
The spiritual / mystical impulse, the desire to know the unity of all things. Among the highest and best attributes of Man.
Or
A set of caveats expressed in metaphor utilized to keep vast populations in check.
One of the primary useful constructs is that of ‘original sin;’ convincing the true believer that he is tainted right out of the box, as it ‘twere. From that leverage point a person or, more easily a population, might well be convinced that almost any satisfaction of need is “sin.” Eg: the need to think for oneself.
Another useful construct is that of the “common enemy” which creates a stronger “us” needed to oppose the evil “them.” To prevent any individual of “us” from meeting and learning that an individual of “them” is just a regular Schmoe, the taint of “other” must be bigger than both of them. It must be not human, but super-human. What is wrong with “them” is their god(s). And if we attempt to ally with “them,” our god(s) will strike us down. “They” will corrupt “us” or, worse, kill us for our sneakers. A lot of that around lately.
How do "we” know all that?
Because < !--insert name here--! > said so. Many, many moons ago.
Hell, (oops, cultural artifact…) I don’t believe what my neighbor’s sister’s friend’s brother’s wife said happened at the Piggly Wiggly. And that was just last week. And I know ‘em. All of ‘em. But the telephone-game principle is a part of human reality.
So, even if < !--insert name here--! > did have an epipheny long, long ago, it was probably a personal matter and surely has been lost to the mists of time.
Which makes it no good reason for me to hate anyone. Or fear anyone. Or love anyone. I prefer to do that based on anyone’s own merits.
As to that first suggested definition of religion, I agree that the search for the numinous can be one of the highest aspirations of a Human. But to accomplish it, even begin to sneak up on it, a human must search alone. Sitting in rows, being told how things are: therein can, at best, be found the comfort of the herd.
Perhaps you can sense my frustration, nay, even disgust. You read me well. Living in the State of Toleration, here on the Left Coast, (but, really, the weather * is * beautiful…no shoveling – minor quaking, quivering, really) (did I say, no shoveling, no freezing?) one hardly sees the devoutly religious and rarely hears the justification for judgement of perfect strangers based on their < !--insert random reason--! >. It wouldn’t be polite. So my head has been somewhat sand-covered.
Recent events and random readings outside my chosen domain have brought it again to my attention why I chose to go into “Sonoma Coma.” It is - unpleasant – to be immersed in the random paranoid ravings of religious grandiosity. The very idea that one individual *knows* The *Truth* for all of humanity galls me beyond telling. I tell you…
Stop it. All of you. You’re making a mess.
This rant inspired by a quote of Francis Porretto on a comment on Horsefeathers. Thank you, gentlemen, for inspiring me to get that off my chest.
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{/if}
