Musings: The Problem With Faith

The Problem With Faith: 11 Ways Religion Is Destroying Humanity

http://churchandstate.org.uk/2015/10/the-problem-with-faith-11-ways-religion-is-destroying-humanity/

NOTE: I have posted only part of each point to keep the post short enough to maintain interest. The article adds much more to each concept for those so inclined.

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"Religion has been a part of humanity since the first astronomers peered into the sky and created elaborate stories to define the movements of our universe. It made its way into our minds as we fearfully created devils and demons to explain the danger lurking in the darkness of night. It has both enchanted and burdened us as we attempt to define our world with the information available to us as we work our way through history.

However, things are quickly changing. For a growing number of us worldwide, what was once indescribable is now easily explained by the vast data we have gathered as we work towards refining our understanding. We are becoming painfully aware that, although our religions gave us a starting place for thinking about how our world functions, they no longer serve us in that process; and in fact, have left a trail of destruction in their historic path.

1.) The assumption of truth.

Most of our world’s major religions each assume that it is their faith alone that is the “absolute truth” and refuse to concede that those traditions may be mistaken. Instead, they discover ways to force conflicting information to adapt to their own doctrine; no matter how effective the evidence is at actually disproving the rationality of that particular religion.

Many religious adherents have no problem understanding the irrationality of others beliefs, but are unable to apply the same logic when observing their own doctrine. Instead, every effort is made to justify why it is their – and only their – religion that is void of any fault...

2.) The promise of reward.

The faith of many followers hinges on the idea that there is some reward for devotion to their deity. For the Islamic gentleman, it is a promise of virgins after death. For the Christian, it is a perfect place of infinite peace and comfort. For Hindus, it is escaping the grueling task of reincarnation; and for the Buddhist it is reaching Nirvana. 

How many of these same enthusiasts would subscribe to their religion if there were not a reward for their commitment? Without a reward, the faith does not carry the same power to control its congregate. There must be a conclusion to every religious story – a reason for carrying the belief to its completion.

It’s not difficult to understand why this is necessary for the ongoing functioning of a religion. Human beings are rarely motivated to commit to anything without a reward for their commitment...

3.) The superiority complex.

Religion enables people to act callously and inflict mental punishment on those they label “evil” without consequence to their hatred; and then permits them to honestly believe that their hatred is defensible as “good moral conduct”.

4.) The usefulness of control.

Most religious supporters are not mindful of the fear that has been instilled in them, often from birth. It is a fear that is so subtle that it goes undetected for much of the follower’s life. It is so deeply embedded that it is not even recognized as fear, but as truth; when in reality, it is a most destructive form of control.

5.) The distraction of division.

As most propagandists understand, by separating individuals from their peers, they are usually able to think more clearly and logically about the information being presented to them. However, when consistently surrounded by their peers, if they are not cautious, they may likely fall prey to being persuaded into believing a “truth” that is not true at all. Religion depends on this human herd mentality in order to maintain its stronghold. When you keep a person within a specific religion, reinforce the ideas of that group and then make everyone else outside of the group somehow immoral, maintaining control of hatred towards others is effortless. The best way to do this is by teaching followers the religion’s concepts from birth; and then reinforcing those ideas throughout the entirety of their life.

6.) The threat of theocracy.

Many individuals who support religious leaders and concepts do not realize the impact that a theocracy will have on their own lives and freedoms. Some people simply follow certain political and religious leaders and trust that they have their best interest in mind; but, in reality, the agenda they support will both further corrupt and further oppress their own country and its people.

7.) The illusion of love.

Is it? There may be some parts that describe love and encourage positive relationships amongst members of the human race; but, what about all the other parts? Are we to ignore some things and only identify with the good?

Here is the problem: Many of our most revered religious texts have hundreds of verses where the deity of the story literally instructs people to abduct and rape young girls whose family members they have just murdered, kill disobedient children, kill disobedient women, commit genocide and infanticide, subdue and silence women, commit incest, oppress mass communities, force marriage on rape victims, torture people, enslave people and loot and pillage entire societies. All by the instruction of or in the name of their god.

Here is the bigger problem: It’s one thing that these words are written, but it is a terrifying thought that many people in this world actually excuse this behavior simply because a god they worship did it or authorized it.

8.) Justification for inequality.

A simple and honest study of our world’s theocracies (and countries such as America where those issues are being debated) reveals how our holy texts are used to discriminate against women, LGBTs, and foreigners. Our top three world religions’ texts are full of discrimination against these groups. In fact, it is openly used as justification for that discrimination.

Religion facilitates erroneous rationalization of the attempts to remove basic rights from others. It prevents people from living in peace as a community and within their own lives. It forces entire groups of people to work tirelessly to create and preserve rights that should be available to them already.

9.) The subjugation of advancement.

We are moving towards a time where we no longer need to base our ideas on things that we cannot see or explain (faith). We can explain much more than ever and our ability to explain our world is expanding rapidly.

Now that science can explain our world, we no longer need mythology to do it for us.

We have a plethora of information available to us today. Information that enables us to become aware of the origins of our religions, the origins and functionings of our planet and of our universe. We understand how weather works and that it is not simply the anger of our gods being poured upon us as our early ancestors believed. We can interpret weather patterns, send people into space, and predict future atmospheric, economic, planetary and biological disruptions and much much more.

Unfortunately, religion has never been much a friend to human knowledge and advancement. Even now we are plagued by leaders who seek to oppress our access to and progression of our knowledge. Religion is known for insisting that it is not humankind’s place to understand things – to seek knowledge of our world. In fact, it makes seeking that understanding wrong and it’s not difficult to find followers who will even quote text supporting why we should not explore our world, ask questions and look for answers.

This is a religious tactic that keeps people in ignorance; and it has worked for thousands of years.

10.) The fear of “end times”.

For thousands of years, religion has used the fear of “end times” to control the masses. What began as mythology that told gruesome stories of a horrific end to our world has evolved into periodic religious mania over an impending doom lurking above the future of humanity.

Fortunately, we have grown enough in our understanding to realize that prophesies of war, famine, atmospheric disruptions, pandemics and expulsion of redundant belief structures are effortless formulations when one comprehends that these occurrences have been and will remain a repetitive element of the human experience. In other words – it is not difficult to predict the future when you understand how human beings think and how nature functions. Anyone who understands the natural world and the mind of human beings can make a fairly accurate prediction of what will occur 10, 20, 100 or even 5,000 years from now. History does repeat itself. Nature repeats itself. This is the cyclical part of life – when you understand the cycle, you are never shocked by the result.

The problem is, we are still living amongst an assortment of end times theories and religious fables that insist we are living in that time

11.) The oppression of terror.

It would be easy for some to look at the violence in religion today and point fingers at one specific religion. The propagandist that dominate many of our mainstream news outlets ensure this. But, the truth is, many of our religions have already asserted themselves through force and violence in the past. This is not merely a modern problem."

Humanity’s most vicious ambitions have been carried out in the name of gods no one has ever seen and beliefs followers are not willing to question and investigate. Until humankind learns to more closely examine their beliefs, wars waged in ignorance will continue to plague our species and prevent lasting peace.