Faith and Misery

Ok, this one might make me a few enemies.  Faith is always a touchy subject, but I’ve been thinking about this for what seems like forever, and I’m in the right frame of mind to expound on some of my thoughts.  Feel free to comment, good or bad.  I’d like to hear your thoughts, because I’ve got a ton of questions, and definitely no answers.  I do have an idea though.  Get comfy, because this is going to be a long one…

Personally, I’ve always had an issue with religious faith.  I could never wrap my mind around something that had no proof.  The practice of religious faith seems to me to be having a belief in a greater being that is supposed to watch over you, and wishes you nothing but the best, but when things go horribly wrong for you, it is just part of his (and usually it’s a he for some reason) ultimate plan.  You’re not supposed to question it, you’re not supposed to lament it; you’re just supposed to accept it, appreciate that you have the life you have, and continue having faith that everything will work out, as long as you believe in the greater being.  For those of you who have great faith, that may have been an insulting summary, and I apologize if you took it that way, but that is honestly how I understand it.  I am just presenting my perspective on it, because that is what I have observed of this peculiar phenomenon called religious faith.

The thing that has always gotten me about this type of faith is that it almost seems that you are praised for not questioning.  As long as you follow all the rules, perform all the rituals, and never blaspheme against this higher power, you are considered a pious and faithful person, and fellow followers expect you to be rewarded for this behavior in the next life.  How is it possible that when bad things happen, these people are still able to keep such strong faith?  Losing a child, being disfigured, getting financially ruined, war, disease, crime, etc, etc.  All of these things exist in this world, and yet people are still capable of believing in a higher being that loves and cares for them.  I’m honestly confused.

Now, let me clarify something before I get any further, and before someone decides to call me a godless heathen.  I do not follow any organized religion, and I do not prescribe to any religious dogma or ritual.  However, this does not mean I am an atheist.  I do not believe that there is no god, or that there was no higher power that may have helped to begin everything.  I just honestly don’t know, and I’m not going to proclaim to have the answer one way or the other.  All I have are questions, ideas, and hypotheses.  As I have mentioned in prior entries, I am not arrogant enough to claim that I know the answers.  All I can do is keep an open mind, but that doesn’t mean I have to accept everything that is placed in front of me.  When there is a lack of consistency, or evidence of proof, I am inclined to ask questions, and dig around a bit in order to discover, if not the answer, then at least the reasons why the questions must exist in the first place.  This may of course just lead to more and more questions, but that’s just the kind of guy I am.  I warned you I’m kind of strange.

Having said that, this is my take on organized religion.  I believe that a long time ago, when people were first creating language and became truly self-aware, there was a need for something to unify them.  There is nothing quite as frightening as realizing that you’re going to die, and that there is nothing you can do about it.  In order to provide peace and comfort, someone put together a message that was presented to the masses in order to calm their fears.  “There is life after death, there is something beyond this life.”  When this was generally accepted, it’s possible that people became reckless and began to act as if there was nothing to lose.  In order to quell this rising tide of anarchy and chaos, they instilled fear into people with the threat of eternal torment in order to bring order.  When this proved to be effective, people found that you could use this power to their own advantage, and created rules and rituals that benefited the “leaders” of the religions. 

Why would I think this?  Well, because if there truly were a god that is all powerful, why would he or she or it (they really do need to come up with a pronoun that applies to an omnipotent being with no gender because “it” always feels like you’re referring to an inanimate object or a dumb animal) need to rely on a human in order to deliver its message?  Oh, I know the reasons that are given.  “Only the chosen ones can understand the message",” or “the common man would be unable to fathom the message,” or my favorite, “"if god talks to you, your head will explode.” ( That last one was from the movie “Dogma,” and may not be actual religious canon, but it’s still my favorite)  To all of these claims, I simply posit the question, “If god is so powerful… don’t you think he’d be able to get his message across to anyone and everyone that he wanted to?”  Oh, and for those who go “He’s always talking to us, there are those of us just not listening,” I point you to examples in the Bible where God decided to destroy the world with a flood, and Sodom and Gamorrah with meteors.  I’ve noticed any time I ever bring these questions or examples up to those who are highly religious, I am normally met with a look of disgust, and the comment “You just don’t understand faith.”  At which point, I want to yell, “EXACTLY! THAT’S WHY I”M ASKING!”

The biggest fault I can find with organized religion is the fact that everything is communicated by humans.  The same humans that throughout history have proven to be capable of lying, cheating, stealing, and manipulating others in order to reach their own ends.  Everyone knows the phrase “absolute power corrupts absolutely” (and if not, I’ve brought it up a handful of times myself") and when you have the ability to influence thousands, if not millions of people, then I would consider that about as close to absolute power as you can get.  How can anyone be sure that the originators of modern day religions were not simply really charismatic scam artists?

Modern day religions remind me of this little allegory I once heard.  There once was a cage of monkeys.  In one end of the cage was a banana, on the other end stood 6 monkeys.  Whenever a monkey would approach the banana, a hose would be turned on all of them.  Eventually, the monkeys were trained to associate approaching the banana with getting hosed.  This was then followed by replacing one fo the monkeys with a new monkey.  Inevitably, the new monkey would approach the banana, but the other 5 monkeys would grab at the monkey, possibly beating it or doing whatever they could to keep the monkey from approaching the banana.  Eventually, the new monkey would learn not to approach the banana for fear of being assaulted.  When this point has occurred, another of the original monkeys is replaced, and as with the first, it too would approach the banana.  However, now, the previous new monkey would attack the newer monkey along with the originals, because that had been what had happened to it.  This would continue until all the original monkeys were replaced.  Eventually, you would have 6 monkeys that were never hosed, who would still not approach the banana for fear of violent denial.  Why?  Because that’s how it’s always been done.

I’m not calling religious followers monkeys.  Far from it, because some of the most intelligent people I know are highly religious.  The only reason I bring up the story is because sometimes, people do things without finding out the reasons why they do it.  It almost feels like people are afraid to ask questions, because they are scared to find out that the things that they’ve been doing all along have no point.  They don’t want to feel as though they’ve wasted their life and their time, so they continue on in their behavior, because it’s easier than dealing with the possibility that things might not be what they appear to be.  This goes for more then just religious practices by the way.  It’s evident in any organization where practices have been in place for decades if not centuries.  You see it all the time, where people are wasteful, or do nonsensical things, and when you ask them why, they’ll tell you “Because that’s how it’s done.”

After reading this, or for the people who know me and are followers of religion, the question is inevitably posed, “So what do you have faith in?”  My faith lies within myself, and with the people I choose to have in my life.  I believe that through my own ability, and through the actions of my friends and family, that things will ultimately end up, if not great, then right.  I have faith that the people I have chosen to be in my life will always do what is best for themselves and for me, and that they would not willingly bring me any harm, as they believe that I will do no harm to them.  This faith has been rewarded time and time again, and I couldn’t be happier with the people that I have in my life. 

I figure this.  You wouldn’t trust or have faith in someone that has screwed you over several times, right?  So how can people believe in any god that would continually allow horrible things to happen to them, or allow bad things to happen in the world or general?  For those who bring up the concept of “free will” to explain away some of the issues, I’m applying my logic towards disease, natural disasters, or just horrible bad luck.  There has never been an explanation that has satisfied my curiosity towards that question.  So please, if you have a point of view that I may not have considered, share it.  I really want to know how it’s possible.