Ramblings on Religion

OK, so that's not the only two reasons, by any stretch of the imagination. But the study is an interesting one because it demonstrates that religion is not what most of us seem to think it is: a set of beliefs that we adhere to that are, for the most part, unchanging (unless we consciously change our religious/spiritual path) and that these beliefs hold a steady, relatively constant role in our lives. Yes, most of us, when faced with a crisis, will become more religious/spiritual. Until the crisis passes, at least. But this study seems to indicate that the importance of religion in our lives is much more fluid than we think. And nuch more subconscious.

Religion has been a part of human development for time out of mind. We have no historical documents that describe the intent of Stonehenge, but we know it was intricately tied to nature, and that, at that point in time, nature was intricately tied to our ideas about the Divine. There are those who claim Stonehenge is nothing more than an astronomical calendar and there are those who claim it is a sacred site.

The October 25, 2004 issue of "Time" magazine was entitled "The God Gene". The article inside probed whether or not there was a genetic component to our ability to believe in a divine being. And surprisingly, scientists did find a genetic link to one's ability/willingness to accept/seek a connection to the Divine. Of course, a link does not mean that the gene is the cause of one's religious tendencies. Our experiences can and do alter our genetic make-up. And, of course, a genetic predisposition to something does not mean that one is fated to experience that something, whatever it may be. But what the study does show is that religion and science are not mutually exclusive.

I tend to think of religion/spirituality as a climb up the mountain. This mountain is huge. On the north, it's bordered by tundras and icebergs and arctic seas. On the east, it's bordered by vast plains of grass and meadows and forests and gently rising hills that take one higher and higher up the side of the mountain. On the south, it's bordered by arid deserts and steep rock faces that jut out of the earth like walls impeding your forward progress. On the west, it's bordered by a large ocean, the sides rising out of the churning waters below, eroded by the salty sea air, slimed by the algae and seaweeds that have been tossed onto the sharpened rocks by storms. Now, let's say you and I are friends and one day we decide to talk about our spiritual/religious path. I say "It's a really hard climb because the rocks are so sharp and slippery." But you're on the other side of the mountain and your path is a gently sloping meandering path through a shaded grove of trees and wildflowers. We can either agree that we're both walking different paths and that each of our paths are true or one of us can say "You're on the wrong path! Here's where you should be."

This latter attitude is one that varies in its intensity. Some might say "I think you might be on the wrong path." Others will say "You're definitely on the wrong path and if you don't walk my path, you're stupid!" (Or some variation of that, like "you're going to hell" or "you're an infidel and I am required to kill you.") Those who express the more extreme attitudes are known as fundamentalists. And in my personal experience, percentage-wise, I have found far more fundamentalist atheists than I have fundamentalist Christians.

My biggest issue with fundamentalist atheists is their demand for scientific proof of the existence of God/dess. Such proof will, in my beliefs, never be found because then we would no longer have the free will to decide whether to believe in God/dess or not. If there were scientific proof that God/dess existed, to say you didn't believe in God/dess would be the equivalent of saying you didn't believe in gravity.

Faith is, by definition, belief in that which is beyond proof. And like it or not, anyone who says "God does not exist" is making a statement of faith because it cannot be proven. Yes, I know that you can't ever prove something does not exist so the same argument could be applied to Santa Claus and the tooth fairy and dragons and unicorns. And so it can. So what? How does my belief in a divine being or even in unicorns hurt anyone else? Some will say "What if your belief tells you to kill those of differing beliefs?" My usual response is "Then you aren't really following your beliefs because one of the core teachings of virtually every religion/spiritual practice is the Golden Rule." The Golden Rule, which has been phrased many different ways, says "Treat others as you would want them to treat you." But there are two very important things to note about this rule that most people overlook.

First, it's unilateral and unconditional. It doesn't say "treat others as you want to be treated by them only if you like them" or "only if they're the same skin color/religion/orientation/gender/etc" or "only if they treat you that way first". And it doesn't say "Make them treat you the way you want to be treated" either. It's about you and your actions, not them and their actions.

Second, and most importantly, we all want to be treated the same exact way. We all want to live our lives as we see fit according to the beliefs we hold dear without unwanted outside interference.

And here is where most people really screw up applying the Golden Rule. Because in order for everyone to be able to live their lives as they see fit, we each have to first make sure that our actions will not interfere with someone else's life without their consent. So it means we have to think of others before we act instead of thinking of ourselves first. And this runs contrary to our instinct, which is that our survival is of paramount importance. The old "fight or flight" instinct. The instinct that leads animals to mate as much as they can and to even kill the progeny of others to insure the survival of their own genetic line.

So where does all this rambling take us? Depends on whether you realize you're climbing a mountain or not. If you don't realize that there are other sides to the mountain and other scenes to be seen, then you're gonna think these ramblings are useless. If you understand that just because I can see what I can see doesn't mean I can see everything and that others can see things that may contradict what I see, then maybe it will get you to say "Hmmm..." Maybe it will get you to think in ways you haven't before or maybe it won't. It's not my intent to change your beliefs. Just to help you understand them a little bit better.