.jpg)
Religion is not something permanent or everlasting. While this is unsurprising, because nothing in this universe truly is, in the context of continuous human evolution, religion can be understood to be a tool developed by humans to facilitate its survival and growth as a species. In this respect, it's certainly played a monumental role in shaping our perception of reality today. It's irrevocably placed its stamp on our civilizations and cultures for a start, and we only need to look at our history as a species to see how we got here today. I've long said that the history of religion is written in blood, and I doubt anyone would ever be able to convince me otherwise.
But, just like the journey from stone tools to electron microscopes, traveling by horse-cart to flying rockets to the ISS, or wearing skins to mass-produced synthetic clothing - or, in the biological sense of growing then shedding baby teeth - religion was something humanity needed and even found indispensable for a time - all in order to develop to a particular point... by which time it then grew out of it.
Religion then, may be a necessary tool useful to a young developing child species still trying to get to grips with its own nature as sentient, thinking animals. That time however, is - or has, drawn to a close. Its demise is long overdue.
Religion has, through the last 10,000 years or so of recorded history, led us to various heights of civilization, it extols the value of compassion and understanding, exudes philosophy and apparent wisdom, and encourages us to appreciate the things we value most about ourselves, each other, and the world around us. So too, paradoxically, the very same religion has led us into the very darkest parts of our own nature, justifying and excusing all manner of unspeakable acts, countless wars, genocides, mass murders, slavery, cruelty and outright barbarity. Religion brought us to a place where it has become a tool whereby we can not only excuse any vile or monstrous act with far too vague and ambivalent scripture, but also conveniently salve our consciences with blame-shifting and the knowledge that anything we do can be "forgiven".
If the past century alone of human development has proved anything to us, it's the fact that most of humanity has outgrown the pre-school environment wherein the answers to the vital questions in life could ostensibly be found inside ancient books rather than on the far ends of telescopes or microscopes, or uncovered with tools like mathematics and quantum physics. It is both amusing and deeply troubling that while we as a species are dipping our toes into the ocean of space lapping at the shore of Earth's outer atmosphere, some regressive types still insist on waging war and killing others in the name of whatever fantasy religion they've built their understanding of reality upon.
Despite having more free access to the sum of human knowledge at our finger tips than we've EVER had before at any time in our history, many of us seem determined to ignore that knowledge and the promise it holds, in favor of clinging to the placebo of superstition and ignorance wrapped in the folds of mama's skirts.
Having outlived its original usefulness, religion has now brought us to a place where the fearful desperately cling to it, resolutely, defiantly, for fear of being stripped of their understanding of the world, which is childlike, naive, and demonstrably and conclusively at odds with reality - like parents admonishing their grown-up child that it's finally time to stop clinging to that dolly or teddy bear.
The reality is that, sooner or later, any tool becomes outdated, obsolete, no longer effective, unfit for purpose, and we update or replace it with something else that better fits our needs. Religion was perhaps our first attempt as a species to understand ourselves, the world and universe we live in, and to try to make sense of it all. As our minds and understanding matured, so too did our various flavors of religion grow and change with us, from worshiping nature, to worshiping ancestors or worshiping gods in the sky, to less gods in the sky, to adopting more philosophical viewpoints, until the point where religion reached the practical limits of its usefulness to us.
If the past century alone of human development has proved anything to us, it's the fact that most of humanity has outgrown the pre-school environment wherein the answers to the vital questions in life could ostensibly be found inside ancient books rather than on the far ends of telescopes or microscopes, or uncovered with tools like mathematics and quantum physics. It is both amusing and deeply troubling that while we as a species are dipping our toes into the ocean of space lapping at the shore of Earth's outer atmosphere, some regressive types still insist on waging war and killing others in the name of whatever fantasy religion they've built their understanding of reality upon.
Despite having more free access to the sum of human knowledge at our finger tips than we've EVER had before at any time in our history, many of us seem determined to ignore that knowledge and the promise it holds, in favor of clinging to the placebo of superstition and ignorance wrapped in the folds of mama's skirts.
Having outlived its original usefulness, religion has now brought us to a place where the fearful desperately cling to it, resolutely, defiantly, for fear of being stripped of their understanding of the world, which is childlike, naive, and demonstrably and conclusively at odds with reality - like parents admonishing their grown-up child that it's finally time to stop clinging to that dolly or teddy bear.
The reality is that, sooner or later, any tool becomes outdated, obsolete, no longer effective, unfit for purpose, and we update or replace it with something else that better fits our needs. Religion was perhaps our first attempt as a species to understand ourselves, the world and universe we live in, and to try to make sense of it all. As our minds and understanding matured, so too did our various flavors of religion grow and change with us, from worshiping nature, to worshiping ancestors or worshiping gods in the sky, to less gods in the sky, to adopting more philosophical viewpoints, until the point where religion reached the practical limits of its usefulness to us.
At a certain point, religion and its nonsensical "just because" answers and gas-lighting can no longer satisfy humanity, and we moved on, to science. Through science we have only just begun to realize how little we truly still know about ourselves or the universe we exist in - but unlike religion, science encourages us to investigate mysteries, to question the state of things we observe, and provides logical answers and solid facts to pave a road for us leading to knowledge and understanding that can be traveled by those with the determination and curiosity to learn what's out there, rather than to stumble along a dirt track of childish superstition in shady twilight, laden with "no entry" signs to forbid dissent, challenge or questioning, and which offers us nothing more than vague fantasy, shallow platitudes, placebos and sentimental imagery with which to line mental prisons built from comfortable lies.
Losing our religion is a fundamental, inevitable part of growing up - both as individuals and one day as a species. It's like the day when you suddenly realized there is no Easter Bunny, no tooth fairy or tooth mouse, no Santa Claus, that it's really your mom or dad or weird uncle dressing up, and that those gifts under the tree were really from your parents. There was that moment where you realized there was no going back to that fantasy, because now you knew the truth, and those myths suddenly looked glaringly like the deceptions they are. Like all childhood myths and fairy tales, religion too must eventually fade from our understanding of reality and our place in it, and we need to put the old toys of self-deception away and take both full ownership of and responsibility for our own lives.
In childhood, we play with toys - and then one day, suddenly, we reach a point where we no longer play with those toys as we used to - we outgrow them and we move to other, slightly more mature toys or entertainments suitable to our level of development, and then one day, we move on to other interests. We change as we grow, while dogma does not. We change because we grow - we're supposed to. The old toys move to a display shelf in our bedrooms, or eventually, into boxes in the garage or basement or attic. It's the same with religion once we've grown up sufficiently, mentally and spiritually - and if we look back at our religious pasts as both individuals - and one day as a species - it will feel just like that.
Losing our religion is a fundamental, inevitable part of growing up - both as individuals and one day as a species. It's like the day when you suddenly realized there is no Easter Bunny, no tooth fairy or tooth mouse, no Santa Claus, that it's really your mom or dad or weird uncle dressing up, and that those gifts under the tree were really from your parents. There was that moment where you realized there was no going back to that fantasy, because now you knew the truth, and those myths suddenly looked glaringly like the deceptions they are. Like all childhood myths and fairy tales, religion too must eventually fade from our understanding of reality and our place in it, and we need to put the old toys of self-deception away and take both full ownership of and responsibility for our own lives.
In childhood, we play with toys - and then one day, suddenly, we reach a point where we no longer play with those toys as we used to - we outgrow them and we move to other, slightly more mature toys or entertainments suitable to our level of development, and then one day, we move on to other interests. We change as we grow, while dogma does not. We change because we grow - we're supposed to. The old toys move to a display shelf in our bedrooms, or eventually, into boxes in the garage or basement or attic. It's the same with religion once we've grown up sufficiently, mentally and spiritually - and if we look back at our religious pasts as both individuals - and one day as a species - it will feel just like that.
We'll remember the joy or sorrow those toys brought us as children, and even the shame brought by things we did under their influence, and we'll also remember how we've grown since then - but no matter how much we may romanticize or indulge those fond sentiments, we'll never quite be able to play with or enjoy those toys again as we did before, as the children we were then. To employ a different analogy, once we've outgrown our religious past, contemplating a return to its limited, controlled and restrictive methods of thinking would be like a 45 year old man contemplating trying on old clothes he wore as a toddler. And although he might remember them fondly or how comforted he felt by their embrace, or keep them in a box in his cupboard, he just wouldn't fit into them anymore.
To use another analogy, religion is to humanity like baby teeth are to a growing child, it's a necessary stage tool for a developing child species, but like a toddler losing baby teeth and replacing them with adult teeth, losing religion and replacing it with rational, logical reasoning is part of our growing up. Even if you save your baby teeth in a bottle, you can never go back to using them again the way you did before. We can't stay in the nursery forever - it's time we put the old obsolete tools and childish toys and mentality aside, and it's time to accept growing up.
It's time to let it go.
To use another analogy, religion is to humanity like baby teeth are to a growing child, it's a necessary stage tool for a developing child species, but like a toddler losing baby teeth and replacing them with adult teeth, losing religion and replacing it with rational, logical reasoning is part of our growing up. Even if you save your baby teeth in a bottle, you can never go back to using them again the way you did before. We can't stay in the nursery forever - it's time we put the old obsolete tools and childish toys and mentality aside, and it's time to accept growing up.
It's time to let it go.
No comments:
Post a Comment