Politics

The Right to Religion

Religion is both a great salve for individuals and a source of unimaginable cruelty and absurdity. No religion on the planet is immune, either today or at any time in history, from some of the basest of human acts. Unspeakable crimes have been commited in the name of religion. Wars still rage because of religion.

And what is religion? It is merely an expression by man of his own inablity to totally grasp the enormity of the earth and the universe, and his own place within it. Every religion has the same basic elements: a creation theory, a doctrine, a liturgy, a central text and a heirarchy. Every religion basically says the same thing: we are the true word of God(s) and all others are condemned to hell.

And all religions have had the same basic concept on dealing with other religions: unmitigated slaughter as fast as possible. Many a religion has been married to the state, so that there are in fact far more "theocracies" than might be imagined.

We like to say that Iran, and formerly Afganistan, are the only theocracies. But any Muslim Kingdom, from Jordan, to the Gulf Principalities, to Saudi Arabia, to even Sudan and Morocco, are in fact theocracies. The Divine Right of their ruling houses is based directly on religion. But church authority, whether the Orthodox Church in Russia and Greece, or the Catholics in Poland and South America, or the Muslims of North Africa, or the Hindus of India -- all are in league with the state to oppress the people in the name of the Glory of God and State. God created the Nation -- therefore anyone not for the religion is against the state. The state is the people, there for they are enemies of the people. How exactly people within the state, but who don't conform to the state, can possibly be against themselves is hard to fathom.

But it comes down to this: The State and The Church are merely ideas, fictious entities -- yet people are real individuals. It is statists who have the equation backwards. They believe that the State and the Church are real and individuals are merely passing through.

So Religion is right up there with Statists, but again, using different words for the same thing. Being denied the right to look at the internet becuase of the Word of God, or the Word of the Great Leader, or the Word of the Communist Party or the Word of the People's Party or the Word of the President for life is all the same: Denial. It makes not a whit of difference. Yet most of the statists like to say, "oh, no, they are all different and we must respect these differences in cultures." They are wrong.

Yet, Religion itselt is fine, if that is what makes individuals deal with the confusing world and its problems. But it is the American style of Religious Freedom and Diversity which has led to peace and harmony and prosperity. There is only one basic rule: So long as you do into interfere with other's rights to believe the religion of their own choosing. It is arrogance at it's worst for one religion to claim for the world what is best, only individuals know what's best for themselves. Yet most of the world has state established or state favored religions which then work diligently to prevent other people from practicing their religion, all for the Glory of the State and God's good religion.

Any government or religion which tries to impose on system of thought upon a people is doomed to poverty and failure and the continuous effort and expense of stamping out individual thought. Many poor countries are so busy spending time effort and money on repression and preventing individual effort that the countries are doomed to failure.

Without a knowledge of history no one can see how this encourages repression. Not knowing why some countries are freer prevents all countries from being free.

And which group of individuals will argue for its own oppression?

It is limited government with no rights that provides the best system to make people wealthy and free.