Religon

Hi Jake,

Religion is a touchy topic. For some reason it's more difficult to disagree with someone's religion that just about anything else. Disagree with their political views or which is the best football team and they may get into a heated debate with you; but disagree with their religion and they may end up not speaking to you ever again. So be careful who you discuss this topic with.

Let's get my views out up front. I am an atheist but even though I am an atheist, I think we need religion.

That may sound bizarre but let me explain.

Lets look at this logically. Pretend you're living in some ancient civilization - let's say you're a Viking living around the 9th century AD. You have no science to speak of, so things like thunder and lightning are so much more scary because you don't know what is making those awful sounds and scary flashes of light.  Human nature is such that if you know why something is happening, then it's suddenly not quite as scary. Thus for the Vikings they made up gods of thunder and lightning and told themselves that the noise and light was just Thor banging around up in the heavens and was no real threat to mere mortals down on earth. Now the guy who came up with this idea was held in awe by the Vikings as he was obviously much smarter than the rest of them. Either that or the Gods spoke to him directly so he was special in an altogether different way that meant that there was even more reason to treat him with respect. Thus a priest is now created. Now again, human nature being what it is, this priest likes this new respect and the fact that he no longer has to build ships, go to war or hunt for his own food so he is going to play it for all that it is worth.

Pretty soon everything that can't be explained with the science of the day becomes the act of god(s) - crops failing, bumper harvests, people getting sick, people recovering from illness, success in battle, failure in battle etc. Now there's even more reason to pay respect to the gods and their earthly representatives so the good things DO happen and the bad things DON'T happen.

This is basically the way EVERY religion out there began and is perpetuated.

Now, in modern times, science can explain thunder and lightening. In fact, science nowadays is explaining most things in our daily lives. Because of this, the "well designed" religions have a healthy dose of explaining what happens when we die. This is perfect, because it is one of people's greatest fears and it is something that science is never going to be able to explain or refute.

Now the really long lasting religions, Catholicism, Islam, Hindu, Buddhism - even Santa Claus - also have an element of "controlling the masses" built into them. The general theme of all of them is "even if no one else is watching, God(or Santa) is ALWAYS watching. And not only is he watching what you do, he knows what you're thinking!". The reason these religions have outlasted other religions is that this Big Brother aspect is actually a stabalising force in societies and helps them thrive.

It does this by counteracting another human condition which can be summed up as follows:

"Even though I live with all of these other people, I'm different and better and the rules of society don't really apply to me. So, if I want to do something that is forbidden and there is no way the powers-that-be will find out (i.e. no consequences)  then I will do it."

This goes for everything from misbehaving in school, to cheating on your income tax to killing your neighbours because they are pissing you off. The problem is, if everyone does this, then it is detrimental to society functioning and flourishing. So, if you can get the majority of people in your society to believe that someone is ALWAYS watching and there is ALWAYS consequences and that those consequences are REALLY BAD (e.g. eternal damnation, being reincarnated as a dung beetle or Santa not brining any presents this year) then that society will be more likely to flourish. And thats why the most successful societies on earth today are controlled by a well established and powerful religion.

Now an intelligent (and empathetic) person, can say to themselves "even though no one is watching, I live in a society that will only function if everybody contributes. So even though I don't want to pay income tax or I really want to punch that jerk in the face, I realise that if everybody behaved that way then all the good things about living in our society - hospitals and being able to walk the streets safely etc - would no longer be viable. So I will behave in such a way because it is the right thing to do not because I am scared that god or Santa will punish me".

So back to my original statement "Even though I am an atheist, I think we need religion". Intelligent people don't need religion to thrive but as per my previous post, most people out there are all kinds of stupid. This means that if we don't want society to crumble around us, the fact that most people believe in some sort of God who is watching their every move is actually beneficial to the rest of us - always assuming of course, that the same God doesn't promote, via some archaic text,  that unbelievers should all be stoned to death. This may sound glib but in some cultures this is actually something atheists have to worry about. You live in a pretty fantastic country but more on Australia in later blog entries.

Let me be clear on a couple of other things. Although stupid people believe in god, just because someone believes in god doesn't mean that they are stupid. There are some people who you will meet who seem quite smart in other aspects of their life but still seem to believe in God. Do not judge them.

Chances are this has been instilled in them since birth and overcoming this kind of social conditioning is very difficult. Admitting that God is not real in this situation is tantamount to admit that their parents or mentors were wrong and that they have all wasted many hours of their lives in worship - which takes a pretty big effort.

Also, there is the chance that they have had some kind of tragedy in their lives and believing in an all-caring God or an afterlife has helped them through this difficult time. Again, forsaking their belief in God would mean that they had to reassess this tragedy from a different point of view and that is also very difficult.

As long as they are not treating you disrespectfully because you are not a believer or not living by their moral code, and they are not trying to convert you, there is no reason people with strong religious beliefs can't be good and true friends to an atheist.

For more coherent and interesting views on Atheism, I suggest you read Richard Dawkins' book "The God Delusion" or if you just want a brief taste first, watch his TED talk on militant atheism

http://www.ted.com/talks/richard_dawkins_on_militant_atheism.html

in which he says:

"An atheist is just somebody who feels about Yahweh the way any decent Christian feels about Thor or Baal or the golden calf. We are all atheists about most of the gods that humanity has ever believed in. Some of us just go one god further.”

You are obviously able to do whatever you want with your life and your mother and I will still love you. It's just my opinion in these blogs. You're not obliged to believe what I believe (unlike the hundreds of millions of other kids in the world, who are forced to live by their parents religious, political and moral beliefs). However if you do decide to believe in a religion, expect some healthy debate from your old man as to the logic behind the tenets and "truths" of whatever it is you believe :)

love you

- Your Dad.