Religionophobia

I had an interesting Twitter conversation earlier in the week, with Blogger, Tim Newman. It was about religion; always an interesting topic
Unfortunately you can't wax lyrical about a never ending topic, within the limitations of Twitter. That's what blogs are for

Neither of us mentioned Islamic terrorism or the Spanish inquisition during our discussion, the topic was more tailored to your average common or garden Christian who goes to church on Sunday and volunteers at the local bake sale

I won't give you my reasons why I do not believe in God or Jesus or any other religious icon. That's another story. The topic was if any good can come from religion for those who do believe

Tim says that some good can come from religion, because the religious people he has spoken to have told about all they get from it
My position is that no good can come from religion at all, regardless of what religious people tell us

Tim was of the opinion that I am not in a position to decide for others, what is good for them. I would never demand that someone changes their beliefs to match mine, nor waste my time trying to convince a religious person that God does not exist, however I stand by my opinion that no good can come from religion, regardless of what people of faith may tell us. Here's why:

Hands up if you believe in God
When I was a primary school child, the school took us to regular church services. I remember during one of these services, that question was asked of us all. The church attendances and the sermons were a regular thing with our school. So were the RE lessons, when at the time, we just learned about Christianity. As with the morning school assemblies, with the Lords Prayer and bible readings.

I was still very young, but no longer believed in Father Christmas or the tooth fairy and to be honest, I found the idea of a supernatural being watching over us all, to be a bit baffling

However, Christianity was a big thing at my primary school, so when that question was asked, I dutifully raised my hand along with all the other children

Why, when it wasn't the truth? I raised my hand out of fear. Fear of getting into trouble off the teachers, fear of being singled out by the vicar and fear of being ridiculed by the other kids

Fear is an amazing weapon for controlling the masses, and it's one of the bigger ones in the arsenal of the religious elite

Why do the religious elite want to control people, you may ask. Just like all the other cons we see around us on a daily basis, Government, Public Health, Climate Change, Environmental activism, etc, the people in charge of the con have so much to get out of it. The usual benefits they reap are money, power over other people, a feeling of 'doing good' and a feeling that they are somehow better than other people when they are not

Religion is not so different to all the other cons, it's just the oldest one and the template for all the others

In order to keep reaping these benefits, the people in charge of the con need to make sure the masses remain obedient. If they don't, the whole thing falls apart and the power, the money and the feeling that you are not just like everybody else, disappears

Religious fear is used to ruthlessly cajole the masses, or 'flock' if you will, into conforming. Fear of Hell, fear of judgement, fear of disapproval, fear of sin, fear of the devil, fear of questioning the faith and fear of facing your own self and your own life

Every religious person lives by a set of detailed instructions about how they should live, given to them by the priests who were apparently handed them by God himself. If people do not live by these instructions, they are threatened with the fear of disapproval from god and ultimately, damnation and Hell fire

In an effort to instill the maximum amount of fear, religion has taken everything that we find pleasurable in life and turned it into a sin. enjoying sex is 'lust', enjoying different partners is 'infidelity', enjoying food and drink is 'gluttony', guilt free application of your talents and pride in your achievements is 'pride', and reaping the benefits of your talents and ambitions is 'greed'

All the things that bring pleasure to your existence, are ruined by religious doctrine. Religion demands that you sacrifice your life, money, time and effort to other people, on the lie of sacrificing them to God

Guilt is another great weapon of the religious elite. You are supposed to feel guilty about your sins. Feeling guilty about any action which gives you pleasure, keeps you miserable, obedient and subservient, but you do this in the hope that God will recognise your virtue and you will be guaranteed a place at his side in Heaven once you die

Which is another fear of the religious, the fear of death. A religious person will spend their life doing the will of others, in the hope of escaping death when the time comes. A free person will understand that death cannot be avoided, so will live their life as best then can, in the short time they understand they have

And you're not supposed to question any of it. Like the tooth fairy or Father Christmas, a belief in God should seem like arrant nonsense to a grown adult, however any attempt to question the dogma is met by the response that you 'must have faith'. You must have blind, unquestioning faith in the most ridiculous fantasises and the more faith in nonsense you have, the better a believer you are.

It's easier for an adult to believe in religion without question, than it is to believe in Father Christmas and the tooth fairy. We're told about all three things as children, but we're also told, as older children, when our minds are more malleable, that Father Christmas and the tooth fairy were just children's stories after all. If our parents are religious, then that religion stays with us from the moment we are old enough to talk, right through into adulthood, where it becomes one of our core beliefs and it much more difficult to change

Richard Dawkins said that there are no Christian children, only children of Christian parents. This is very true, as young children are not worldly wise enough to dismiss something that has been drummed into them by their parents, since birth. The choice to accept religion or not, should be an adult one, but by the time we turn adults, it's already too late and the brainwashing has done it's job

Every religious person I've ever known had parents with the same religion. Religious belief is not explored with an open mind when you're old enough to understand, it's indoctrinated into very young, very impressionable people, by adults who the child has no reason to question

But can any good come from a benign belief in God? Tim called me out during our discussion, when I compared religion to crystal meth. Admittedly is was a bit of a harsh analogy, but drug dependency is still a very good comparison

Religion is often used as a rock in times of crisis. there is definitely a certain comfort to religion, in fact that's probably why a lot of people become involved in it. There is also a comfort from taking Valium. Both are probably just as addictive

Like Valium, religion can be used to ease your way through times of personal and emotional crisis, but if someone became addicted to drugs, you would surely persuade them to wean themselves off as soon as they are able

The real answer to emotional problems is to comfort yourself for a while and then deal with your personal and emotional feelings. You cannot be in full and powerful control of your life while believing in a total fantasy

Sucking your thumb is also an emotional aid to people of a certain age. Religion is simply a security blanket for adults

So apart from illusory comfort, what do religious people get from their faith?
Smug feelings of being better than others, when you are no different
Believing that you are 'chosen' over other people
Believing you are virtuous when others are not
Believing you have a direct line to God and he will help when asked
Believing you will have another life after you die

To me, these don't seem like things that make good people. But let's say I'm wrong. Let's say that individuals on a micro scale get some good from religion. Does that make it right?

No. The horrors of religion on a worldwide macro scale, vastly outweigh any possible perceived good that might otherwise come from it

Religion has always been about division. There are countless different religions out there and each one is 'the one true religion', but once you join one, you are immediately set against the rest of humanity. Muslims hate Christians, Catholics hate Protestants, Baptists hate Methodists, Evangelicals hate the C of E and vice versa

Religion has always been deeply rooted in hate and intolerance, one religion against another and all religions against the unbeliever

The Inquisition was started by Ferdinand and Isobelle, the King and Queen of Spain, with the intention of punishing the Jews. The full horror of the mass murder and torture which ensued, was given the full blessing of Pope Sixtus IV, the most 'pious' person of the hierarchy

The Crusades, a horrendous orgy of bloodletting against the Muslims and Jews, guaranteed a place in Heaven for all those who took part and this was given by the highest authority of the church

Countless religious wars have been fought and countless people tortured and killed, all because of what some people thought God wanted

And it's still happening in the world today

Some historians speak of the wondrous art, brought to us by painters and sculptors of the past, which all had it's influence in religion. Without religion we would have none of these. Well what choice did the artists have? If their art did not reflect the religion of the time, they were persecuted or murdered

Religion also stifled science through the ages. Renowned scientists were routinely killed once they started to see through the veil of religion and understand the universe around us a little more

What progress would have been made in the arts and the sciences if religion had not been an over riding influence? How many wars would not have been fought? How many people not tortured and horribly killed because of their faith or lack of it?

Of course, people in the western world may now say that these terrible crimes of the past were nothing to do with true religion, were not the actions of their 'one true way', but the truth is, they were the embodiment of everything that religion is about

Read the Bible or the Koran. God is a very unforgiving entity

Of course, until only recent history, the flock was not allowed to read the bible. They were not permitted access to any written materials on their religion. Those in power had to keep the knowledge for themselves and only hand it out in small bites, just enough to maintain the control. They did not want people to start asking awkward questions

Which they would have done. This of course goes back to my 'other story', of why I don't believe in religion, but the bible does not even stand up to the most cursory examination. Only the slightest knowledge is required to understand that it's simple a collection of short stories, handed down by word of mouth, before finally being put into a print which has been translated through multiple languages, before becoming the gospel truth of God

If anyone is interested in the 'other story', I'll tell you at another time, why Jesus didn't exist

But for now, the question before us is, can any good come from religion? Does it do any good for those who believe. I'll give you this:

You cannot be in complete and powerful control of your own life, while believing in a complete fantasy

Ultimately, religion removes your control, so no. No good can come from it

Have a nice weekend