Thursday 27 February 2003

Pic of the day: Sometimes it seems like a bleak land and we do not know what road to take. But as we travel, we learn. (Screenshot from Morrowind, not that it has anything to do with anything, I just liked the atmosphere.)

Thoughts on religion

Religion is a wide land indeed. It reaches from the dry dusty flats of boredom, all the way to the ragged cliffs of madness where foaming waves rip themselves to shreds again and again, over and over. In between are swamps where the unwary sink deeper and deeper into despair, but also orchards full of tasty fruit and the smell of flowers on the mild winds. All this and much more is religion to the different people who live there. Some are born there, some immigrate there, and others flee for their life from there.

***

Would we not be better off without organized religion? It is organized religion that persecutes those who think differently. It is organized religion that supports the strong and tramples on the weak. It is organized religion that build large houses but fail to fill them with spirit. Would we not all be better of if faith was within each of our hearts, and only there?

I do believe that organized religion must exist in order to preserve the traditions of the past, even if it often misunderstands them. If not for organized religion, we would not have the Bible, the Quoran, the Vedas or the Mahabharata, the Dhammapada and many other sources of wisdom and strength and comfort for various people at various times. (You probably already know that they are not all equal to me, but I feel like being less specific tonight.)

I also do believe that for most of those who live and thrive in organized religion, it is a thing of the soul rather than the spirit. They flock together with friends and relatives, and the comfort they feel is being comforted by the flock rather than by the shepherd. It is a life of togetherness rather than passion. It is a framework for life rather than their life itself. They will never know what the mystic feels, who touches the divine radiance like a young lover reaches out to his love, trembling with apprehension as well as excitement. To the hands of those who know only the form, it is the touch of a tool.

***

Yes, people use religion to justify what they would have done anyway. Still, it often brings some restraint and some strength to the conscience. If nothing else, people will restrain themselves to not destroy their reputation. "I cannot let them see me angry or lustful, since I am supposed to be a believer." Better yet is it when people feel ashamed of their evil inclinations even when no one sees them. This too can be caused by religion.

On the other hand, religion can impose on people restraints that do them little or no good, and that keeps them from being happy or making others happy. Understand me right: To make people happy right now is not the highest goal in life. Sometimes a little happiness now can lead to much sorrow later, or a little sorrow now can lead to much happiness later. Especially when we are young, we do not see at a glance which fruit grows on which tree, and we may overrule the wisdom handed down to us, because we think we know better. But often we don't know better, and we need to learn over again a lesson that was learned by others before us. Yet not all traditions of the past are worth carrying on: For they will only accumulate, more and more for each generation, until it is too much for anyone to bear.

***

It is a sad fact of life that many people with mental illnesses experience these in the form of religion. They believe themselves to be important in a religious context. They think they are conversing with gods or demons, and unimportant things become very important to them. It is hard to tell these people to stop it: Do not the Holy Scriptures tell about such people who broke out of everyday life and experienced great things that others could not understand?

But we should keep this firmly in mind: We may not always know the will of God, but we know he does not want us to be evil. If we can keep away from evil, from hate and envy and bitterness, then we have achieved much in life. The next step is of course to be active in good, and we can certainly need all the divine help that is available to do that. But the beginning must be to turn away from bitterness. Bitterness is darkness, there can be none of it in the Light. Whenever we wish something bad to happen to others, we hurt ourselves. For hate is a weapon with no handle. It has only blade all the way, so you cannot grab it without cutting yourself. And the harder you swing it, the deeper your own hurt.

Actually I guess that would be true even without religion. But what I mean to say is, we can test our religion against this. If it brings bitterness or hate, then it is false. No good can come from it.