Imagine... (Religion)

Member Name: Daisybelle

Product:	Religion
Date:	30/03/01 (115 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good on a small scale

Disadvantages: Read a history book

After considering some of the comments that were made about this op, I decided to make some alterations, as I felt I failed in some ways to make my point. “Let us know what you think of religion here” is exactly what I've tried to do, but in general terms - the downsides of religion I'm going to cover are exhibited by various religions to varying degrees. It doesn't mean I'm accusing your chosen faith of anything, though if the cap fits.... There certainly is no intention to single out particular religions, in the context of the UK I've had to be specific though.

So what do I actually think of religion? It drives me round the bend is the honest answer. My lack of belief began when I was about 7 years old and has developed into a combination of incredulity that so many others thrive on it, and intense dislike of the way it has been used to manipulate society. Many an hour has been whiled away on Usenet groups such as alt.atheism, trying to understand what makes it all tick, but the truth is I just don’t get it. I fail to grasp faith, and as such have no intention of attempting to criticise it.

One of the big puzzlers about religion is how can they all say they are right? There are countless different religions claiming a myriad of truths. The leaders and followers of each all seem to have one thing in common – their religion is the true one. How can this be though? Generally speaking, the practitioners of religions must have either been indocrinated, or have genuine faith. They can’t all be right though, so as far as I can see there isn’t an argument to be made in favour of religion on this point.

Again generalising, many of these religions push forward the truth that only they are going to live happily ever after. I have never seen any proof of an afterlife. This of course doesn't mean it isn't possible, but surely counts against religion again. If one sect is correct,
and they are the chosen ones, then all of the others are wrong - a bit of a bummer for their followers - so religion in general scores low. My own position is that it’s reasonable to assume the complete lack of evidence indicates they probably aren’t correct. I’d go a bit further and propose that the founders of most religions were charlatans. They must have been, else all religions would be true.

Religion in the UK has a history of periodically terrorising people into submission – although we’ve been extremely tolerant theologically, compared with our European cousins. Given the choice, there aren’t many non-believers who’re keen to lose their heads on principle, so this has been more the province of those with differing religious beliefs. I fail totally to understand why people would die for hearsay, but more importantly this is evidence of the nasty side of religion.

It’s often claimed that religion is responsible for most wars (I won’t bother listing examples, as most of you will know exactly what I’m referring to). The counter attack to this is that it isn’t the religions that cause the wars, but bad people within them. This could be looked on as something of a cop-out, bearing in mind that entire populations will rise up to fight for their religion. To me this indicates an inherently not nice religion, rather than a few bad individuals, but hey, I don't have a degree in sociology.

So can different religions live in harmony? Sporadically yes, but looking at the way, for example, the Jews have been treated in Britain over the past millennium, I believe it is unrealistic to believe this is a sustainable situation.

Religions also have a history of promoting inequality, something I loathe and detest. Many have male dominated hierarchies, others actually denigrate women. The intolerance shown, nay, promoted, by a number of religions in our country towar
ds homosexuals disgusts me, to the point that I really get mad. What’s the point of it? My amateur psychology suggests that if there weren’t anyone set up as the communal whipping boy, the religious leaders would see further erosion of their power base.

So what is happening to the religious power base in the UK? Recent polls have shown only 20% of the population claiming to be religious, and Islam to be the only growth religion. I did a small piece of research 3 years ago that suggested by 2003, going with the then current trends, there would be more Muslims than Christians in the UK. Would that mean the Queen should become a Muslim, as she’s our religious Head of State? Oh no, she couldn’t, could she, because their misogynism takes things a step further than our tried and testeds’, barring women from the place of worship.

There would appear to be a correlation between the decline of religion and the decline of society in Britain. It’s indubitable that both have been greatly eroded over the last 50 years – is there any correlation though? I believe there is, but don’t see promoting religion as the only possible cure.

An alternative is stronger government and education based around social justice. Embracing consumerism certainly isn't the answer. People need to be offered the opportunities to live happily, without harming others and preferably helping others. Ok, so that sounds a bit happy clappy, but why shouldn’t we be nice without religion? After all, John Lennons’ “Imagine” espouses exactly that, and was voted best no 1 single of the last century by the British public, so maybe there’s hope for us yet.

I’d be unfair if I failed to mention the good things that religions do. Many people gain a great deal from their faith, especially in times of crisis. I wouldn’t like to see this option removed from people, as it seems to be so ben
eficial. I’ve recently seen the rest of my family supported through an extremely painful bereavement, and can’t deny that many of them were helped a great deal by the minister. I, on the other hand, couldn’t even speak to him, as I found the explanations of “Gods purpose” unbearable. I bit my lip though, for once.

Religions also do lots of good charity work, though all too often it’s tainted with the desire to recruit and spread the word. Counter to this, there are plenty of secular organisations carrying out voluntary work as well, so this doesn’t indicate that religions stand apart from the rest of us. I say "us" as I've done a reasonable amount of voluntary work in my time, but without the carrot of redemption.

I can’t finish up without mentioning God(s) , even though this category is about religion. I’m well aware of the various arguments regarding the existence or otherwise of God. Nothing has convinced me God exists, au contraire God seems an unlikely character. To be honest, gut instinct tells me there is no way this is possible. I’m not arrogant enough to take that to prove Gods’ non-existence though, as that would make me no different from any other fundamentalist. And believe me, having been exposed to both, the similarities between religious fundamentalists and atheistic fundamentalists are frightening. Even if I was to take a leap of faith for some reason, and become a believer in God, I don’t think I could possibly become religious. The reasons I’ve outlined weigh too overwhelmingly against organised religion for me.

Well that’s that. I’ve tried to be as brief as possible as this is a huge subject, that truly epic ops could be written on, boring everyone to tears. My views on religion have been born out of the oppression I felt at school and church as a child, observations on my surroundings, and later on reading natur
al philosophy by the likes of David Hume, who questions even our belief in ourselves. The truth is that none of us know the answers regarding God, and to claim otherwise is false.

Summary: