Trying to figure out the reasoning behind what people do is both a fascinating and somewhat unnerving enterprise. While my observations are not professional in any manner, they nevertheless represent what I believe to be true. Of course, many observations simply show what I think to be right, and since this is mere opinion, it of course may be entirely wrong. But at least I can admit this, and this admission alone seems to separate me from a great many people. No where is this more evident than in religion.
While religion is a fascinating glimpse into what may be the true wishes of an unseen creator, it is difficult for me to see any one religion as being the only correct one. There seems to be plenty of evidence that shows that people of different faiths seem to all believe that their religion is the right one, but there is no evidence other than the follower’s unwavering faith that any particular religion is any more or less true than the others. How on earth people can say with any conviction whatsoever that their religion is the one true faith is beyond me. They seem completely unaware that every other faith makes this same claim, and even more bizarre is when they here another faith claiming to be the only true one, they know this claim is false, because only their religion is the true one. I keep expecting them to all admit they are all drunk, because when you’re drunk, it is so much easier to say and believe things like that. At least, that’s what I hear.
Add to this the fact that thousands of years ago(though there still are some polytheistic religions today), people believed in multiple gods and goddesses, but these are quaintly referred to as mythology. I mean, it’s not like those people thousands of years ago were saying “You know, I don’t really believe in all of these deities, but since Christianity isn’t here yet, I’ll just have to keep praying to Zeus, Poseidon and Hades, or whichever deity is closest.” No, these people believed with all their hearts that their religion was unquestionably right.
But people do not believe in such things without reason. This reason is known as death. We all fear dying, and will fight to stay alive. It doesn’t seem to matter that heaven awaits, we all want to stay as long as possible. There are notable exceptions, like suicide bombers, but lets face it, they’re nuts. The suicide bombers are fascinating in a way, since they are promised a place in paradise by those that are using them, yet most mullahs keep saying that this is entirely wrong, and not in any way in keeping with the religion of Islam. And the suicide bombers seem not to notice that whoever is sending them out on these missions are not accompanying them, as if for some reason they do not want to go to paradise themselves. Oh well, someone has to stay behind and turn out the lights. But as for the rest of us, no matter how strongly people proclaim their faith, death is the ultimate unknown.
And we all fear the unknown, at least those of us with any sense do. And as for anyone that says they do not fear the unknown, they are either lying or a complete imbecile. Possibly both. I mean, how many of us drive our cars at 100 miles per hour at night with no headlights? Very few of us do this because without the lights, the road is unknown. I guess the question is this: Is religion truly lighting the way, or are we just following it because we are afraid to be without it? We all fear dying, and religion is essentially an insurance plan. We all want to know that when our bodies die, that our soul will go on existing. I know I want to believe that, but simply wanting it to be so does not make it so. I don’t want to die, and have that just be the end, but this is the problem with faith. We are in no way a neutral party to this, because either faith is correct and we live on after the body withers, or we die, and that’s it. It is impossible to remain detached from the fear of death being the end, and do it is not really possible to examine faith(unless you’re examining someone else’s faith, of course) in an unbiased manner.
Some are so bold as to say that all religions are correct as long as they teach love and acceptance of others, but these people are usually killed. And it is so difficult to gain any sort of a following with such a wishy-washy doctrine. People are living in fear of the day that they will die, and they need to know that a deity awaits them, and this deity may be angry at them for whatever choices they have made. This is something that people can understand, and they cling to their faith because of the promises made by religion. It doesn’t seem to matter that religion is wrong a lot of the time, because people need to believe. Many people think the bible is completely literal, and these people seem completely unaware of the history of the bible itself, and the church councils that decided what would stay in the bible and what wouldn’t. Many people are ignorant to how both today and in the past, governments have used religion, and vice versa.
But trying to talk dispassionately about religion to people that need to believe in whatever religion they belong to is an exercise in futility, because questioning their faith is essentially messing up their plan to live forever, and no one wants to give that up. Not even an agnostic like me wants that one hope to be lost forever, and this is the main reason that religion will always be a good business. Because we are all afraid. But also, because we need to belong, because even though we all want to be individuals, we still want to be accepted by society. Belonging to a group is a definite survival tool, but we hardly notice it for what it is. But religion sure knows how to talk to us as a group, the lucky few that know whatever “truth” they are peddling is the one and only way to God.
