Thursday, November 15, 2007

The Delusion of Faith

The efficacy of religion lies precisely in what is not rational, philosophic, nor eternal; its efficacy lies in the unforeseen, the miraculous, the extraordinary. Thus religion attracts more devotion according as it demands more faith - that is to say, as it becomes more incredible to the profane mind. the philosopher aspires to explain away all mysteries, to dissolve them into light. Mystery on the other hand is demanded and pursued by the religious instinct; mystery constitutes the essence of worship. Amiel, Journal, 5 June, 1870
Humankind expresses its timidity, its lack of emotional security, its juvenile existential backwardness by its need to believe in a Supreme Ruler, one to whom we can look for protection and love. We are as children, unwilling to become responsible adults, comforted by the faith that a Great Spirit looks to our interests and expresses great compassion for His creatures.
Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the feelings of a heartless world, just as it is the spirit of unspiritual conditions. It is the opium of the people. Karl Marx, 1844
As an instrument of social control, for good or for ill, religion has no parallels. Humankind looks for inspiration in the spiritual side of what nature has conferred upon us. We dare not trust the gifts given us by our creation, seeking approval from the Great Giver, our own human construct of desperate faith - in a confused and confusing universe.
Reason is the enemy of Faith anon
We appear to instinctively search for an answer to the mysteries of life that we cannot ourselves divine through our intellect. A Heavenly Spirit becomes the answer; it instructs the universe and commands human performance. Fifteen percent of Americans believe that the bible is an ancient book of fables, legends, history and moral precepts recorded by man, whereas almost 50% claimed the bible to be the word of God.

A mere 29% of Canadians claim the bible to be a compilation of fables written by humans, and 50% feel the bible to be divinely inspired; another 17% that every word contained in the bible is sacred and must be understood literally. Our dependence runs deep. Yet our need to believe, to suspend rationality, to hold faith dear to our hearts also is capable of doing us great harm.

If everything that the bible relates is to be taken as the infallible word of God, then the examples of cruelty and hatred, of discrimination and pathological violence described in the bible must of necessity hold out another message for true believers. That a thunderously angry God can righteously command His flock to commit atrocities in His name. And that because that is so, believers are given permission to destroy.

Primeval urgings, locked deep in the recesses of our ancestral transmission instruct us to commit violence, to destroy, to exact tribal vengeance upon those outside our inner circles of trust. The unleashing of primitive savagery is forgivable and indeed for the faithful, an expression of one's adoration and response to God's urgings when passages of the bible or the Koran urge toward vengeance or jihad.
Whoso fighteth for the religion of God, whether he be slain or be victorious, we will give him a great reward. The Koran, Ch.4
For those who cling compulsively, fervently to their faith, believing implicitly in the direct message from God contained in the Holy Bible, or the Koran, belief and illusion pair to create a slippery slope of action and reaction, commitment and surrender to a message of sacrifice in the name of the Holy Spirit. Terrorists exemplify God's sternly demanding avenging angels of human descent.

We can consider ourselves fortunate that the great preponderance of humankind does not actually respond to the primitive compulsion residing deep within our subconscious, but rather exhibits other humanly attributes also ascribed to the character of God: compassion, trust, patience, kindness, diplomacy, helpfulness, a sense of justice, in our sweetness of disposition.
What excellent fools Religion makes of men. Ben Jonson, Sejanus, Act. v

Fanatic fools, that in those twilight times,
With wild religion cloaked the worst of crimes! John Langhorne, The Country Justice
Richard Dawkins, Oxford professor, biologist, science writer, atheist, on looking down at Ground Zero, the site of the 9-11 disaster stated "It was precisely for the greater glory of God that that terrible deed was done".
What damned error, but some sober brow
Will bless it, and approve it, with a text? William Shakespeare

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posted by Pieface @ Thursday, November 15, 2007

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