A ride down the cul-de-sac of religion (Drama Queening - part 1)
brew yourselves some tea/coffee, read in complete darkness for effect, think flamboyant.
teacher: ... let's start with God, shall we? look at me - wrote it with a capital letter, as if He actually has a name. as if He actually IS. :)
hey, my voice of reason... react to this, will you :)
iris_was_here: … starting with God. interesting. because the moment the human kind started evolving into a religious primate, we somehow thought of a concept where God "started" with us. how did we do it? no one knows. but we do, for a fact know that we're the ones who started with God, just as we are now, it wasn't God who started with us.
God. the only true God among many other gods. and this one doesn't even have a specific name. how do they even tell them apart?
teacher: whoa. I've obviously touched a spot there. and brought out some resentment :) what seems to have triggered it? I do apologize for not being precise when mentioning Him and not stating with what aim. or for using sarcasm and not giving the background. but hasn't the background always been the same? humanity in pain and no-one to help us - does that even remotely address your thoughts? does that relate to the idea of us 'inventing God or gods' for our selfish needs?
iris_was_here: it is true that we have invented gods for our selfish needs - the masters invented them to keep the slaves in control. we have used gods as a threat, as a punishment, as a way of tricking people into doing what we wanted them to do. as a way of manipulating them. as a way of preventing them from asking too many questions. "because the gods said so" has always been a valid argument. but what I fail to understand is why we hold on to it even today. humans have accepted revolutions, technology, science. our world is not the same as it was 500 years ago. we have institutions which control the things that God used to control. and yet we still hold on to it. is it because we're still in pain and nothing, except for God, can change that? but we've been in pain since forever and God still hasn't changed anything. are His ways really so mysterious?
teacher: well, you being 'the voice of reason', you should know better than anyone else that not all of us are the same. that there's variety. a diversity of viewpoints, stemming from a variety of mindsets, stemming from a variety of circumstances and it's these that have been forming our personalities, our lifestyles, our minds - our outlooks on life. for centuries. so, while you take the idea of God as man-made, and raise the question of its necessity after it being so futile for centuries - I say, it may be something palpable, yet immeasurable that has been driving people in that direction, towards this concept of holding onto a deity; something visible and concrete, something that is very much present CALLED THE ACTUAL LIFE that has made people come up with an idea of god that they would belong to.
if you're the voice of reason, what on Earth am I? :)
iris_was_here: it's a fact that not all of us are the same. but how is that relevant? how could a diversity of our outlooks on life create something as unique as the concept of God? how is it possible that people with different backgrounds who have got nothing in common, except for the religion they all accidentally belong to, have the same views regarding deity? is it because God is something "inexplicable", or is it because religion is actually a concept that we must not question and which remains the same for all eternity?
the actual life has led us to God, you say. there are 7.5 billion people living their "actual lives". how come there are no 7.5 billion gods? if life as a concept were something that led us to God, all of us would get to know Him. sooner or later. and all of us would get to know a different god. because there are no two identical lives. and yet there's only one true God.
teacher: it's the concept of belief in a superior being that remains the same whatever the religion. and I believe that the underlying cause is the same - partly hidden in the circumstances of life, whether beneficial or detrimental, partly in our psyche. there simply HAS TO BE something in our mindset, in the human mind, that awakens our servile nature - our need to be servile towards someone superior to us.
yet, mind you, what it is, this thing in our psyche that connects most people regardless of where they come from, that is the real question - and whether it can be scientifically studied. detected. measured. sampled. eliminated.
iris_was_here: yes, the concept of belief in a superior being remains the same. but why is it the same if we are so different in everything else?
and there truly is something which connects all humans. all humans as a species. because, according to the evolution, we are more prone to understanding our own species than any other. that, however, does not explain why we cling to the idea of God and why it is always the same. because no other species shows the need to be servile towards something superior.
and if that thing cannot be scientifically studied, then it doesn't explain anything. so, I still believe that religion is a concept traditionally imposed upon us. there is no secret connection among humans which makes us believe in God. it's just the constant prohibition of questioning anything, which religion requires
teacher: ha ha, but PSYCHE, the HUMAN PSYCHE - don't you believe there is something on that level that connects us all? that makes us create endless variations of one and the same concept - a superior being that can explain our existence and serve as an excuse for the way 'things are with us'?
you do agree that the concept of God is a concoction of ours?
a make-believe story in which, I agree, you do not question what's good nor what's bad because it’s the way it is. how it's meant to be. and it can't be any other way.
iris_was_here: every human has a unique psyche. why would there be something which connects us on that level? the human psyche is the same as every other part of our body. if there's nothing which magically connects our lives, there shouldn't be something which connects our brains.
and, of course, all the gods are our fault. and every single one of them disproves all the other gods because it can't be any other way. and yet every single one of them manages to be "the one true God" in the eyes of His believers. so many contradictions. so many illogical hypotheses. so many paradoxes.
teacher: so, we do agree that people have invented this system of belief for their selfish purposes?
iris_was_here: yes, I guess we do
teacher: but we don't agree on another point - I believe there is an underlying cause for this in the human mind, or the psyche, an age-old, very primitive belief that there is SOMEONE IN CONTROL. while you, on the other hand, believe that there is nothing of the sort. to you - what's not in the body, doesn't exist?
iris_was_here: to me, what's not scientifically proven, doesn't exist. every feeling, emotion, thought, experience, can be explained by some biology. so, no, I don't believe in "souls", out-of-body experiences, anything spiritual. everything is in our brains. it's that simple. and that complicated.
teacher: :) still, it may be that if this idea bothers you so much and it has been present for centuries, you may have to accept that either science has failed poorly to determine its roots - or that science may not be the appropriate tool in explaining it.
iris_was_here: I don't think that science has failed at all. why would science have to answer unscientific questions? however, I still do think that the root of religion lies in the human need of being in control and somehow, people managed to impose religion unto others who then did the same to others. when you look at it, the history of religion is just a history of successful indoctrination. so, instead of examining where it came from, we should think of a way to reduce its influence. science could help us with that, and its origins should be left to philosophers :)
so, what do I call this pointless little philosophical outing - a ride down the cul-de-sac of religion? :)
and may I add, you have won this one - fair and square :)
iris_was_here: ha ha, religion truly is my area of expertise! and yes, call it that, the ‘cul-de-sac’ has a nice ring to it, ha ha
