Antiquated Religious Beliefs: A Significant Part of The Problem
My three companion books, SEVEN WORDS THAT CAN CHANGE THE WORLD; RELIGION, AN OBSTACLE TO HUMAN PROGRESS; and THE SKEPTIC’S BOOK OF RELIGIOUS QUOTES & ANECDOTES urge us, unequivocally, to abandon antiquated and fictitious beliefs and adopt a completely new way of thinking about reality. The rationale for these three books follows:
For many years, I have watched humanity evolve and devolve. I have written numerous books and spoken to many audiences publicly about the state of our world. We advance technologically with ease. Socially, politically, and intellectually, we don’t progress much. We continue to war with each other and our environment. Why is that?
We don’t drive around in vehicles that are thousands of years old. We don’t see chariots running down our streets. Yet, many of us cling to dysfunctional and problematic religious belief systems that are thousands of years old literally. These religions are mainstream, active, and destructive. Even though the stories that formed them are antiquated, inconsistent and discredited, these religions continue to control countless minds and complicate, often cause, many of the world’s wars, terrorist strikes, senseless killings, and social injustices.
The great majority of religious thought originated thousands of years ago in the infancy of our intelligence. These untested collections of dogmatic principles, antiquated and dysfunctional, were formed before the age of science. Traditional religions were built upon foundations of falsehood, fabrication, and superstition with the purpose of gaining power over the weak and to curry favor among the strong.
The mythical gods and fantasy worlds associated with these religions have countless people out of touch with the real world in which we exist. As a consequence, complicated political, economic and environmental problems gravitate toward horrific outcomes. Humanity faces grave challenges. These religions are a significant part of the problem.
On balance, despite whatever contributions religions may have made within the environments and time frames in which they were spawned, these old belief systems now are unequivocally an obstacle to human progress. We cannot sustain humanity and build a civilization on a base of fictitious stories. It is tantamount to attempting to construct a house on a disastrous foundation.
The effect of these flawed creeds has not been to bring us together but to separate us permanently. The violence in our world is due to too much religion rather than too little. We praise distant mythological gods as we exploit our neighbors. We dream of the “hereafter” as we destroy the “here.” The inconsistencies and incredibilities of traditional religions, derived typically from supernatural sources and that which is referred to as “divine revelation,” are nothing more than a fantasy and delusion left over from the ignorant and superstitious childhood of the human race.
Religious adherents allege problematically that their truths, derived from their particular deity, are inerrant and infallible. This results in incendiary claims to the exclusive possession of ‘truth’, fans the flames of tribalism, and has fomented bloody discord. Religion, with fallacious authority, often provides noble-sounding excuses for warfare. History shows there is no end to what people ginned up on their particular form of self-righteousness have done and will do.
Many who are so eager to invest themselves in the “hereafter” don’t have a clue about what we are doing to the “here.” Our planet is in dire straits. When we examine almost every measurable criteria by which we evaluate the health of the planet and our communities, things have gotten worse. Our world, driven by the relentless needs of a global population growing out of control, is in ecological overshoot. Humanity is now consuming twenty percent more resources than the planet can regenerate, causing ecological destruction and social tension.
You, me, and our beloved families and friends are passengers on a sinking ship. We are too many and our weapons too deadly for such a tiny planet with an extremely fragile ecological system. The dysfunctional belief systems that got us into this fix are out of step with reality. We must let go of the nonsensical religious thinking on which many of us were nurtured and cope with the demands of life as it is, not as we fantasize it to be.
Far too many of our ‘leaders’ view the world through distorted religious lenses. Narrow corporate and political worldviews in association with fundamentalist faiths result in an interpretation of reality based dangerously on dogma, not on fact. Many of our seemingly intractable political, economic and environmental problems can be traced to outdated religious belief systems that distance us from the real-life behavioral demands of the reality in which we exist.
America’s corporate and political elites – often in concert with ancient religious thought – have privatized democracy. Their only vision is to use elections as a path to more power for themselves and friends. Most benefits and rewards flow upwards. Our direction is toward a return to the three historic forms of tyranny: kings, theocrats, and noble feudal lords.
One would have to have his head deep in the sand and his mind intoxicated with dogma not to see the endless problems associated with these old religions. Religion, with all its elaborate rituals, costumes and falsehoods, is likely the world’s longest, most magnificent and pernicious charade. It’s time for humanity to travel on a new track: reality. Humanity must be weaned off of this dogmatic, delusional and divisive, war-causing form of intoxication.
To arrest and reverse our destructive and unsustainable momentum, end our needless suffering, prosper together, find peace, sustain humanity, and advance our civilization, we must enter into a completely new way of thinking about reality. Our window of opportunity to accomplish the necessary and monumental shift in thinking is small compared to the large obstacles within our belief systems that must be dissolved. Yet, we must do this if we and all the life forms that share this jewel of a planet are to survive.
The Solution: Seven Words That Can Change The World…the DVD
Filed under: religion
Joe,
This is thought provoking indeed. I agree that much of our hatred and war and self righteousness stems from the tendency to cling to such beliefs. I think some of my teachers like Joseph Campbell would say that the stories and mythology of ancient religions are rich and full of symbolic truth that can be reclaimed by modern people. But where we go way wrong is taking literally what was meant all along to be parables and mythology and turning it into my versus your dogma. Bravo for telling it as you see it. You may get hate mail for this but that would only demonstrate and confirm your thesis.
Wayne
Thanks, Wayne.
I wish it were as innocent and enlightened as you so kindly make it sound. I suspect these were all the best efforts of people in their time who were trying to understand, the cause, purpsose and nature of life and the universe…with very limited knowledge. Hence, the need to create gods, creation stories and religions. Institutional inertia has carried it all forward. It has not served us well. It’s way past time to move on and get grounded in reality.
Joe
I have never been a fan of religion. The Bible as we know it today, is missing many of the “book” that originally was part of the early Christian message. There were originally many sects of Christians. One bishop, choose the writings that would be included in the Bible and called the rest heresy. His choices reflected his desire to centralize power in the official church clergy, eliminate women from their role as teachers and leaders in the early Christian movement, and crush any competing Christian sects.
Not an especially Christian beginning if one truly views Christianity as following the teaching of Christ.
Yes, religion has become a weapon that threatens to destroy us.
But we must take care that we refrain from throwing the baby out with the bath water. Every spiritual teacher, from every religion has taught the same basic concepts.
Treat others and yourself with love, give respect and dignity to the earth and its creatures.
God and heaven are within. Truth is withing.
Even particle psychics and astrophysics are beginning to discover that everything in the universe is connected, and consciousness affects matter and energy.
Amazingly love energy and hate energy has a very distinct effect on the molecular arrangement of water molecules. The former a positive effect and the latter a negative one.
In the end, tolerance, dignity, integrity, equality, compassion, love and being true to oneself (the inner self as opposed to the “ego”) is the original message of all spiritual teachers and truly great individuals (great has little to do with external power, control, wealth or success).
Others have misunderstood, did not believe or deliberately twisted the message. And the majority of humanity accepted these lies.
It seemed easier than taking the initiative and the responsibility themselves.
And look at the mess we have created. We have made great advancements in technology and information, but little in expanding our perceptions, consciousness, and tolerance.
Unless we focus on progressing in perception, consciousness and tolerance, we will destroy ourselves with our technological advancements.
We will have no one to blame but ourselves. Not even God. I remember something about free will. We can’t have it both ways.
We must choose the course we wish to pursue. The gift of free will comes with the responsibility of consequence.
You see? The universe really is fair after all.
As Houston Smith, in his book “The World’s Religions” wrote, most religions advised adherence to some form of the Golden Rule and avoidance of self-centeredness. This is a very secular and easy to understand reality. It is not necessary for us to form into competing tribes to live this way.
What we know today about just human (and environmental) relationships far exceeds what was known at the inception of these ancient belief systems. It is time that we honor what we know if we are to sustain humanity and advance our civilization.
You know, you make some interesting points about religion and such, but you leave out a couple of Big things. For one – Aetheism is worse. I lean aetheist and my argument isn’t that religion is necessarily good (though is certainly is in certain areas,) but that the problems you point out aren’t caused by religion, as such.
The horrors of religious courts in the medieval world is well documented, but the secular courts were worse. (Now there’s a scary thought.) Christianity and most religions are, by the book, certainly peaceful things. Joseph and Lauren (above) are certainly right-on with their remarks.
Stalin and Mao and their associates slaughtered people in numbers far beyond the fantasies of Al Queada. The wonders of the non-religious state. Makes a theocracy look downright pleasant.
Various eco types have suggested eradicating most of the world’s poplulation to save the Earth. I suggest that this idea is far beyond, and far more horrible, than any excesses of religion or communism.
So maybe it’s not religion that causes the issue. Maybe it’s the Religion/State/Earth Worship that are excuses to indulge our inner tyrant.
So maybe it’s time to figure out how to actually follow the teachings of these religions, the good will parts, rather than using them as excuses to destroy. Do any of us really have an issue with any of the Ten Commandments?
We do have free will and we have the ability to choose which path we take. That said, most of us will follow the authority figure(s,) whether they be religious or atheist.
So the beliefs aren’t so much antiquated as our inability to follow them, or our ability to be too easily lead astray.
You note that “atheism” is worse. Please understand that atheism is a very limited concept. It means disbelief in or denial of the existence of God. It’s simply a reaction to all the gods humanity has created. It states what one does not believe in (gods) but does not begin to communicate what people do believe in. That’s what Seven Words That Can Change the World is about: a belief system grounded in reality.
You ask, “Do any of us really have an issue with any of the the Ten Commandments?” Well, yes of course we do beginning with you. You note that you lean toward being an atheist. If you don’t believe in Gods, you would certainly have issues with the first four of the Ten Commandments. They all have to do with God and the sabbath.
As for the horrors of the secular world, you are correct. They exist and have always existed. All horrors whether of a secular or relgious nature must be considered and addressed. Seven Words That Can Change the World (book or DVD) cuts through it all.
I have never been able to believe in the existence of god. I guess it started when I was in Catholic training. I kept asking questions they wouldn’t answer.
On the other hand, I am totally tolerant of people who do believe, unlike many athiests. On the whole, I think religion does give people who need it, structure and a sense of belonging.
I shudder to think what the world would be like if we didn’t have the more strict Baptists and the Catholics providing people a creed of right and wrong.
Your questions could not be answered because these stories were contrived, they are fiction. The fallback ‘answer’ is usually “faith”. This does not satisfy a rational person. For others, “faith” alone is adequate.
We don’t need antiquated religions, with all their problematic baggage, to tell us what is right or wrong. The secular world provides this guidance in abundance.