Philosophy of Religion
Religion, politics, morals, these are all creations of the ruling class, of those in power. It is there system of laws, morals and dogma that will dictate the actions of those over which they rule. So when one is asked whether there is danger in a society, any society, of its citizens acting irrationally based on religious convictions, the answer is undoubtedly yes. Humans as individuals, if presented with logical and rational argument will not, in most cases, be pushed into an act that willfully hurts another. However, place that same man in a group, fire them with words from religious texts, or from an orator of a belief that he holds dear and watch him and those around him become a frenzied mass. Man alone is sane and a being of peace, man en masse is a violent, chaotic being that must be controlled. It is that very reason that we have governments and laws, for the common man cannot govern and rule himself, therefore he is guided by higher ideals, those placed before him by those in power, politicians and priests, parents and employers. Laws and morals and religious text are created by the elite not the common man, “Rather it was ‘the good’ themselves, that is to say, the noble, powerful, high-stationed and high-minded, who felt and established themselves and their actions as good” (1).
Religion subjugates and rules the many, relieving them of the responsibility of moral conduct. They are told by those that rule, whether via political stance or religious dogma, how they are to behave. What is good and what is bad. Individuality has been replaced by the fear of displeasing our God. The question of true morality is no longer raised; humanity follows blindly at the trail dogma leaves for him. There is no responsibility to seek truth, to seek out the divine, to ask if the God in which we believe is real and therefore one to serve. We are raised from infancy to believe and many never question whether that belief is valid or in fact true. We believe in our shepherds the ones we trust have made the right decisions. “So we are necessarily strangers to ourselves, we do not comprehend ourselves, we have to misunderstand ourselves, for us the law ‘Each is furthest from himself’ applies to all eternity – we are not ‘men of knowledge’ with respect to ourselves”(2). How easy it is to lead man down a path of destruction by simply telling him that the words are right and true, the actions just. The moment man stops to think for himself he will pause, step back and question. But one man in a flood of believers does not keep the tide of religious zeal from destroying those around them.
A simple glance through history shows us how evil has been done in the name of God. In our current world we see it and we are supposed to be an enlightened generation. We are supposed to live in a world of tolerance and we see nothing but hate based on religious belief. It is not merely the religion that guides us to these prejudices, because the religion itself, the words and teachings of the beliefs that spread the globe are things of beauty, which teach love and tolerance, it is the corruption of man’s ambitions and translations to those words. It is his desire to control and use the control that religion has upon mankind to further his cause. The true believer desecrates the words of his religion, twists them to fit his need for power. “In some cases, religious believers may not have a clear and self-conscious understanding of their own beliefs, or may not be particularly adept at articulating them. However this does not alter that religious faith rests on beliefs about the kind of object in which one has faith”(3) The power may not be for lands, or wealth, but it is still a power struggle that is fueled by holy texts and justified by the words of God.
In current history we have seen people sacrifice their lives for their beliefs, not just the suicide bombers aboard the planes that crashed into the Twin Towers and the Pentagon on 9-11, but also the Jonestown Massacre of 1978. These events have forever changed the way we look at religious zealots. The citizens of Jonestown, Guyana chose to take their lives because they believed Reverend Jim Jones “to be a living god and to have raised some forty-three people from the dead” (4). The terrorists aboard the planes believed they were doing God’s holy work, why else would they have so willingly given up their lives? Man does not die for any cause greater than that of his God.
We look across the sea toward the Middle East and fear Muslims because of 9-11 and the terrorist’s attacks, but it is not the faith that we should fear, but the men behind it, controlling its believers. The teachings of Mohammad are beautiful, so are the teachings of the Bible but that did not keep Jim Jones from encouraging almost a thousand people to drink cyanide laced Kool-Aid. If we are to fear Muslims because of the actions of a few, shouldn’t we also fear Christians? What about Catholics, they were the ones who initiated the Inquisition in the twelfth century.
The current war in the Middle East is not the first time that religion has been the inspiration, that the true followers of God have been encouraged to shed blood in the name of the divine. We can follow that path of destruction that religion has created since before the Crusades led by European Kings to regain the Holy Land. It was the church that fanned the fears of the world and gave their blessing to the Inquisition that ended the lives of thousands of heretics. The Christian Inquisition was created by the church to eliminate heretics, thereby insuring obedience to Canon Law. The four Inquisitions throughout history were set up as Tribunals to discover and eradicate heretics, but they were at the basest core, political power plays, most demonstrably portrayed by the Spanish Inquisition in which the Royalty incited the Inquisition with the blessing of the Church. It is not faith and spirituality that inspires men to destruction and horrors, it is the guiding hand of government and politics, which twist and use the words of God, no matter in what form, to spur men on to evil in the name of God. It was the words of the Pope himself in 1252 that allowed the church elders to accuse and incarcerate whomever they chose. “The bishop of a given diocese, omnipotent by this decree, can, without violating either its spirit or its letter, arrest and incarcerate anyone in his jurisdiction.”(5) How can we not fear the destruction that man can create at behest of his faith?
It is not faith however that should be questioned, but the manner in which it is pursued. It is not the religion that should be denounced, but the ignorance with which it is viewed. Man must choose reason over blind faith. Man must find a balance between spirituality and religion. Religion is the dogma to which man must conform, but he must find the faith within himself to follow his spirituality and not allow himself to be ruled by manmade dogma. The end to religious strife may never come, but it is only through the ignorance of man that it will continue.
Resources:
Quote 1: On the Genealogy of Morals and Ecce Homo by Friedrich Nietzsche
Quote 2: On the Genealogy of Morals and Ecce Homo by Friedrich Nietzsche
Quote 3: Reason & Religious Belief by Peterson, Hasker, Rechenbach, Basinger
Quote 4: Reason & Religious Belief by Peterson, Hasker, Rechenbach, Basinger
Quote 5: Ad extirpanda a papal bull by Pope Innocent IV May 15, 1252,