Please correct me if I got any observations wrong, but this is what I understand has been going on for thousands of years on our planet:
PHASE ONE: We wish to know what life is, whether there is any deeper meaning to it and what happens after we die. Because there seems to be no way of knowing it (let’s face it, we can only come up with some interpretations, models, but not with the ultimate truth itself), we choose to believe in a story, a model, an interpretation. Sometimes it is a story about a Supreme Being – called God – which we read about or were told. So, we still don’t know, but we choose to believe in a story. In His-story.
TWO: We find it extremely important to state over and over again, to show it to the whole world, that we chose to believe in this very specific story about this specific Supreme Being, and not in any other stories. So we keep repeating it and seek communion with people that chose to believe in that same story about the same Supreme Being. In that community we feel safe, accepted, loved, connected. It is really nice and cosy.
PHASE THREE: We notice there are people around the world, in fact millions of them, who opted to believe in a different story, a story about another Supreme Being. At least they call him/her with a different name. And we notice also that there are many people around who don’t believe in any story. They just simply don’t believe. Their story is to not believe in stories. We don’t like it because we like to believe that our story is the correct representation of the Truth itself, and so other stories fill us with uneasy feelings. So we resent other stories and we call all these people the non-believers. Because they chose to not believe in “our” story but rather in another story. We believe our story is the only correct one and we believe other stories are wrong and so the non-believers are wrong. We feel they need to be corrected, because it is just wrong to be wrong.
PHASE FOUR: We find it hard to step into other people’s shoes and adopt their point of view, and so we fail to see that from their point of view we are the non-believers and they are the right-believers. We fail to see that from their perspective we are wrong and need to be corrected. We also fail to understand that none of us knows: we only chose to believe in different stories. We also fail to see that our holy books were written by people and so our holy books are just as holy as other holy books are. They were all written by people and are just part of different stories. In other words, this very blog is just as holy as any other holy or un-holy book. A person – inspired in his/her own way – writing his/her story.
PHASE FIVE: Believing that our story is the only right one and our Supreme Being is the only real one, and at the same time believing other stories are wrong and all the non-believers are wrong and thus less worthy, we start correcting them. They – of course – don’t like it. They would prefer correcting us, the non-believers. We don’t like it. We feel threatened. It is our story or theirs! There can only be one story! And it will be our story! Or no story! So it is time to take out the gun and protect our story. And protect our Supreme Being!
Humans are the most intelligent beings on this planet?
Comment by razzbuffnik — August 17, 2010 @ 10:00 am
Razz – indeed a very, very strong one!
Comment by Robert — August 18, 2010 @ 6:51 pm
My parents are both religious (my mother is a born-again Christian and my father is a follower of a New Age church). They believe in some pretty bizarre things, especially my father: nature spirits, soulless automatons, addiction entities (wandering spirits that hang around drunks and addicts).
So, as you can imagine, I’ve found refuge over the years in things like logic, science, history – basically anything that actually makes sense and can be verified in some way. Of course, I get some crap from my parents for my “doubting.” Apparently it’s a bad thing to only believe in things that make sense . . .
Anyway, I think Carl Sagan said it best: “In science it often happens that scientists say, ‘You know that’s a really good argument; my position is mistaken,’ and then they actually change their minds and you never hear that old view from them again. They really do it. It doesn’t happen as often as it should, because scientists are human and change is sometimes painful. But it happens every day. I cannot recall the last time something like that happened in politics or religion.”
Oh, and Douglas Adams: “Isn’t it enough to see that a garden is beautiful without having to believe there are fairies at the bottom of it, too?”
Comment by iheartfilm — October 1, 2010 @ 2:40 am
Ihearfilm – yeah, I guess it is rather easy to connect with what you are saying. Being overwhelmed, and probably even pushed into, spirituality, you took care of your need for autonomy, clarity, freedom… And yes, it does seem to be difficult for people if their child chooses another approach to life.
I love the quote of Carl Sagan. Never hear of it before, but will likely use it in the future. Thanks.
Comment by Robert — October 3, 2010 @ 1:12 pm