Religion, Opiate of the Unquestioning

Have you ever wondered where you come from? Where you are going? What the point in all of this is?

Apparently people have been asking this question for quite some time, and while noone has been able to come up with one unfaltering explanation for all of it, it hasn't stopped some people from coming up with frameworks to eliminate the need for questioning, and to just accept things on faith.

Faith is a dangerous thing, because when you stop questioning, and start accepting, you run the risk of entering into the realm of ignorance (see previous posts). It is important to understand that not all faith is bad--some people use their faith to give them strength, motivation, creativity, and a reason for living. It can also be a crutch, which after putting too much weight on it, can allow an individuals entire world to come crashing down when doubt knocks out the foundation of their understanding.

There are obviously many different religions around the world, based on different kinds of faith. Each has its own beliefs, deities, explanations for creation, the meaning of life, and what happens after you die. All require that you accept certain 'truths' and work towards some kind of goal.

In Christianity, the 'truth' is that Jesus Christ (the Son of God) was born of a virgin, lived a perfect life, and was crucified, only to come back three days later. Somehow this allows him to keep you from being damned to hell by absolving you of your sins. The main tenets of Christianity are that all men are hopeless hellbound sinners, and only through the 'Blood of Jesus' can anyone enter into heaven, due to God (despite being all powerful) not being able to look upon sin. The goal of a Christian, after accepting Jesus Christ as their saviour, is to try to live a sin free life, and spread the message of Christ throughout the world.

On the surface, Christianity sounds like a pretty good deal. All you have to do is accept Jesus, and your soul won't be tortured for eternity in a lake of fire. This is an example of the typical fear based system which people seem to feel the need to inflict upon themselves. The history of the 'Christian' church (as well as many other major world religions) are filled with stories of people debasing themselves, turning themselves into martyrs for their beliefs, and punishing themselves for their normal human desires and actions. Christians blame a fallen angel 'Lucifer' otherwise known as 'Satan' for causing them to want to sin, deny God, and do all manner of evil things. It is pretty obvious, when looking at the actions of 'evil' people, that no such force is necessary to get them to do the things they do.

The main piece of evidence that Christians use to support their beliefs and faith, is a book called 'The Bible'. Perhaps you have heard of it? It is a compilation of books written over a span of thousands of years. It starts off with the 'Old Testament' cataloguing some pretty disturbing events. The second part of the Bible is called the 'New Testament' and talks about the life, death, and supposed resurrection of Jesus Christ, it also has some fun stuff about end times. There are many variations and translations of the Bible, including the 'King James Version', and the 'New International Version (NIV)' Some Christian churches are very specific about which Bible is 'correctly' translated.

There are many other religions around the world, including Judaism (which provided a foundation for Christianity and Islam), Budhhism, Taoism, Sikhism, Hinduism, and many others. Each have their own specific beliefs, rites, deities, and holy writings. Some believe in one God (monotheistic), and some have multiple Gods (polytheistic). Within any of these religions there are many variations, called sects.

For someone to claim any one of these relgions, or a specific sect as being more truthful, accurate, or complete than any of the others, they would have to do quite a bit of research, and would still be left having to accept whichever belief system they were left with on faith. This of course, does not stop some people from blindly accepting one particular religion (usually, conveniently the one they are brought up by their parents to believe in), and vehemently denying that there are any shortcomings in their own religion, or that any other religion has any basis in fact. Throughout history, there are repeated cases of violent and brutal clashes resulting from differences of religion. The strange part is, that the actions taken by the devoted followers usually differ greatly from what the religion itself teaches. The actions taken are usually justified by the individual, and the group as a whole as being necessary to keep naysayers from destroying their truth. They will even go so far as to twist the words of their holy writings to claim that they are doing what their 'God' wants them to do.

This has been evident throughout the history of the Christian religion, which while it preaches peace, love, and humanity, has been one of the bloodiest and most brutal defenders of its own faith. It has been used as the justification for mass murder, slavery, and just about every sick, disgusting act ever imagined. The individuals, of course, are to blame--as well as their leaders, both political and theological. Leaders have long known how to tap into their followers religious fervor, and with a few simple justifications, have been able to convince them to commit heinous acts, with little to no questioning.

An individual should never follow a religion, or any belief system, to the extent that most people seem to. Unquestioning acceptance, and blind obedience are among the main reasons for war, slavery, poverty, and intolerance. In order to transcend all of these things, mankind will have to throw off these chains of ignorance, accept that noone has all of the answers, and try to move forward.

Next Time: Lets Get Political!!!