Religion

We all want to believe the truth. Science and Religion both claim it, but they go about finding it in quite different ways. Religion is introspective, but often its tenets are dictated from authority. Dictated beliefs work particularly well for children, who can be imprinted for life with ideas that are unbelievable.

Science, on the other hand, painstakingly looks at evidence, discusses issues in peer-reviewed journals, tests repeatedly. The result is we have learned a lot in the last 2000 years. We are the first generations to see the earth photographs from space.

Now that we know that the earth is fragile, and that we have plundered it severely, we should be careful that it remains habitable. The 'religious' among us are mostly in denial and, with massive corporate backing, are keen to continue as usual.

Things that can't last, won't. We may go the way of the dinosaurs if we don't grow up and face facts.

Religion has gotten a free pass from the press. It has motivated political unrest, racism, terrorism, superstition, willful ignorance, war on science, genocide, and war, but no one seems to blame it for those things.

It denies death, promises reward in the afterlife or everlasting agony for non-believers. It indoctrinates children in a way that marks them for life.

It is not just Muslims who cling to medieval customs, other major religions have equally unsupportable, and often disgusting beliefs.

Congratulate the Swiss and the French for waking up to the problem by outlawing the burke.

Christian Right

Christian fundamentalists have something in common with the Taliban: they too would like to take over government so they can have it their way. They have become an adjunct of the Republican Party and are therefore complicit in the destruction of US prosperity, civil liberties, peace, security, and the well-being of the people.

We have a healthcare system that is a major cause of unnecessary deaths, bankruptcies, suffering, corruption, widespread insecurity, economic dislocation, but Christian supremacists demand that their objections to abortion (because the unborn are more important to them than the living) be written into law. They may be in the US, but they are no different than the Taliban. They condone violence. Their policy is made by excluding women, and it takes no account that the earth is unsustainably overpopulated now. Since mainstream religions do not preach or act in the public interest, their tax exempt status should be revoked.

There is a credible argument that the cold war, the wars in the Middle East, and other American wars have been substantially motivated by religion. (Bush's "Axis of Evil" explanation had religious overtones. Washington has had more than its share of Christian supremacists at the highest levels.)

Religion as Big Business

Catholics

It is a given that all institutions seek to expand their turf. The Catholic Church has always encouraged large families, indoctrinated children early, and defended primogeniture. Like other major religions, it also makes second class citizens of women. See Abortion.

Assuming the very altruistic become clergy, isn't it possible that the commitment to celibacy can breed that characteristic out of the population ?

Atheists

About the Bible

Religion has always been politically useful. It has been a pretext for war, and the destruction of the (political) opposition. Non believers are heathens and can, without guilt, be abused or slaughtered. This righteousness accompanied colonial exploitation, brutal treatment of indigenous populations, the genocides of the American Indians, and the Jews in Germany. That's the Christian tradition. Jews are in the process of ethnic cleansing against the Palestinians. Muslims have a long history of genocide also.

It keeps people in their place, promising a glorious next life in spite of misery they may be experiencing in this one. Thus it allows economic elites to ignore the poverty stricken even though biblical texts favor the poor. (About the Inquisition.) Women are treated as a lower class.

It provides a sense of exceptionalism. After all, religion promises to convey the ultimate truth and those who know it will be the chosen ones or the saved ones. It motivates the strong man dictator to megalomania, divinity, and it enables the spread of empire. It requires suspension of critical faculties, and demands unwavering belief on faith. That is why it is usually in conflict with science.

It confers legitimacy to rulers who are cloaked in it. George W Bush, for true believers, was chosen by God, and it was his right to declare war on his own initiative. Hitler also made such claims. Many empires have used it as justification for bloody expansion. (About the Donatists.) Many heads of state have declared themselves divine.

It indoctrinates and imprints children when they are very young so that they will absorb propaganda that is beyond reason. A thorough indoctrination makes them much less able to do serious scientific work. A country which is a theocracy is probably incapable of serious technological development, civilized behavior, or sensible policy.

As population pressure causes resource problems, the church simply ignores the situation until catastrophe occurs. Then it is regarded as the will of God. The unintended consequence may appear to be Armageddon. True conservatives would be very careful of this planet because it is the only one that can support humanity. Because the faithful think the end is near, they are oblivious to the condition of the environment.

People persuaded to believe based on faith will believe anything...even if it is apocalyptic.

Fundamentalist religion usually has as its unstated goal, a desire to take over the State, the better to expand and enforce their views on everyone. It is easy to see that it is a major cause of terrorism and war. People who believe in rich rewards in the 'afterlife' have an incentive to become suicide bombers, or, as seen at abortion clinics, murderers of people who disagree.

Considering that much war and terrorism are motivated by religion, should organized religion really be tax exempt ?

Bibliography

The God Strategy, How Religion Became A Political Weapon in America: David Domke and Kevin Coe

A moral reckoning : the role of the Catholic Church in the Holocaust and its unfulfilled duty of repair / Daniel Jonah Goldhagen.

Society Without God: What the Least Religious Nations Can Tell Us about Contentment: Phil Zuckerman

Film/Video

Constantine's Sword (a history of anti-Semitism in the Catholic Church based on James Carroll's book of the same name. Explores the link between the U.S. military and the Christian right.)