| The Homestead Manifesto Page 4 The Hoax: Religion Religion is older than either capitalism or democracy, and more influential in the history of the world than the others, though maybe the least so today. It was the first of the three that I realized was hogwash, and it is also the least relevant to my disillusionment with western civilization, yet I include religion because it is the third leg of the stool that has crumbled upon my inspection. When I mention �religion� I am referring to all sects and denominations that prescribe worship of a divinity and fealty to a book, set of rules or principles, and/or a mortal representative of the divine on earth. Certainly I am not disparaging spirituality, which I see as more of an individual quest at finding inner peace. Well, some may ask, don�t people accept religion as a quenching of that extrasensory thirst? Yes, they do, but it is that point where the journey veers into the acceptance of some mystical presence that has a hierarchy on earth and a leader who claims that he speaks for the being, of which I am fearful. No one knows any of the answers that most religions claims to furnish to our spiritual side, yet people have been putting their trust in divinities and witch doctors since not long after homo sapiens had developed as a unique species. There is a need to answer the large, daunting questions regarding where we came from, what our purpose is, and what happens when we die. Humans have been creating narratives to answer these questions for many thousands of years. Most of those stories are now considered myths, legends and folk tales, but a few moved to the stature of religions. Strangely, along with the need to answer those questions is the common habit of accepting the explanations handed to us in a neat package. As I wrote earlier in this essay, there is a fear that probing too deeply will result in definitive conclusions that many people would rather not know, so a convenient, long-accepted story that cannot be disproved�a religion�is accepted and passed on to progeny. That the established religion�s texts and accounts are just as bogus as Roman myths, Native American legends, or European folk tales is rather obvious. Any rudimentary examination of, for example, Christianity�which I choose because it is the religious tradition in which I was raised, am most familiar with, and the predominant religion of the west�will demonstrate that all of its events and traditions were lifted from pagan religions of the Romans and other European peoples. (12) Sure, the Bible is wonderful literature and the teachings attributed to Christ are often wise and helpful, but Christianity probably started as just another Jewish cult that latched onto a prophet and may have disappeared into oblivion had not the Roman Emperor Constantine decided to convert to the religion and convene a meeting of its various sects to work out a single orthodoxy. There are two major problems with religion (or at least within the dominant religions of the Americas, Europe, Australia, the Middle East and parts of Asia). First is that the belief systems tend to see the real world, a complex and dynamic place, in simplistic terms of good and evil, sometimes even ascribing such evil to a malevolent force or being�the devil. To some degree this absolves human beings from blame. Concepts such as �fate� and �divine intervention� also remove will and choice from our hands. All of this renders us as toys in someone else�s game. The second problem is that, throughout history, religion has been helpful to those in power by encouraging the oppressed to accept their conditions. In the Bible, Christ says, �the last shall be first, and the first last� and, �Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.� Such dogma could not have been more perfect for the aims of kings and pharaohs if a Madison Avenue advertising agency were to dream it up. For thousands of years people who have faced poverty, injustice, and misery have been able to accept their lot because they believed that in the end the wrongs would be righted, and they would be in god�s favor while their oppressors and uncaring rulers suffered in hell. At first glance, one may offer the argument that religion�whether true or not�has offered people solace in terrible times, but I believe that religion has prolonged rather than eased suffering because without a scripture that says, �Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear� and �the last shall be first,� again and again the masses might have thrown off their shackles and fought more desperately against injustice. (13) In addition to the two problems I mention�each of which, of course, will be debated by some�is the uncontestable fact that violence, murder, and mayhem have been committed throughout history in the name of religion: the Crusades, the Inquisition, the conquering and subjugation of native peoples by zealous armies, witch trials, sectarian violence in Northern Ireland and the Middle East, and those who seized control of four airplanes on September 11, 2001. There is also the suppression of free thought and the rejection of birth control, both of which are still practiced today in some religions. If there is a divine presence that created the world and looks after us, he or she or it must be asleep on the job. Clearly there isn�t. People desire that there be some great plan to the universe, but the whole thing is just chemistry and physics. |