BY CHUCK LEDDY
HENRY LOUIS GATES JR., THE ALPHONSE FLETCHER UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR AND DIRECTOR OF THE HUTCHINS CENTER FOR AFRICAN AND AFRICAN AMERICAN RESEARCH, MODERATED AN OPEN, FREE-FLOWING, AND AT TIMES AMUSING 90-MINUTE INTERFAITH DIALOGUE AMONG "THREE REMARKABLE AMERICAN LEADERS": RABBI ANGELA W. BUCHDAHL, SENIOR RABBI-DESIGNATE AT NEW YORK CITY'S CENTRAL SYNAGOGUE; SHEIK YASIR QADHI, DEAN OF ACADEMIC AFFAIRS AT THE AL-MAGHRIB INSTITUTE; AND THE REV. J. BRENT WALKER, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE BAPTIST JOINT COMMITTEE FOR RELIGIOUS LIBERTY. THE PANEL DISCUSSED, AMONG OTHER THINGS, THE ROLE OF RELIGION IN PUBLIC LIFE, THE CHALLENGES OF INTERFAITH DIALOGUE, AND THE CRITICAL NATURE OF RELIGION IN MAKING THE WORLD BETTER.THE AMBASSADOR JOHN L. LOEB JR. INITIATIVE ON RELIGIOUS FREEDOM AND ITS IMPLICATIONS, WHICH SPONSORED THE EVENT, IS A JOINT PROGRAM OF HARVARD'S CENTER FOR AMERICAN POLITICAL STUDIES (CAPS) AND THE GEORGE WASHINGTON INSTITUTE FOR RELIGIOUS FREEDOM. IT WAS ESTABLISHED TO EXPLORE THE CAUSES, PROCESSES, AND EFFECTS OF RELIGIOUS FREEDOM IN CULTURES AND COUNTRIES BY SUPPORTING HARVARD RESEARCH ON THE TOPIC, AS WELL AS ACADEMIC CONFERENCES AND WORKSHOPS.
"THIS INSPIRING SYMPOSIUM IS PART OF A LARGER AND LONGER CONVERSATION ON RELIGIOUS FREEDOM, PLURALISM, AND TOLERATION, AND I'M BOTH DEEPLY GRATEFUL TO AMBASSADOR LOEB FOR SUPPORTING THIS VISION AND THRILLED THAT HARVARD IS LAUNCHING THIS DIALOGUE," ADDED PROFESSOR DANIEL CARPENTER, DIRECTOR OF CAPS.
GATES BEGAN THE INAUGURAL SYMPOSIUM ON MAY 1 BY ASKING THE PANELISTS HOW THEY VIEWED FAITH-BASED POLITICAL ACTIVISM IN A CLIMATE OF SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE.
WALKER ANSWERED FIRST: "SEPARATION DOESN'T MEAN WE NEED TO GO AND HIDE AND NOT TRY TO MAKE THE WORLD BETTER. WE BAPTISTS ROLL UP OUR SLEEVES AND GET INVOLVED, MOTIVATED BY OUR RELIGIOUS CONVICTIONS. MARTIN LUTHER KING AND MANY OTHERS LIVED ACCORDING TO THIS TRADITION, AND THE COUNTRY IS FAR BETTER OFF FOR IT."
QADHI ADDED THAT THE SEPT. 11, 2001, TERRORIST ATTACKS MOBILIZED AMERICAN MUSLIMS MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE. "TO BE AMERICAN MEANS TO FIGHT FOR YOUR RIGHTS AND BE INTEGRATED INTO SOCIETY. AFTER 9/11, WE'RE STILL BATTLING, AND WE WILL CLAIM OUR RIGHTFUL PLACE" DESPITE ONGOING WAVES OF ISLAMOPHOBIA, HE SAID.
BUCHDAHL SAID SHE'S BEEN MOBILIZING FAITH-BASED ACTIVISM AROUND ANTI-VIOLENCE AND EQUAL OPPORTUNITY: "WE ARE BUILDING COALITIONS AROUND GUN CONTROL AND VIOLENCE, AS WELL AS QUALITY EDUCATION AND PROBLEMS OF INCOME INEQUALITY. EACH OF THESE ARE MORAL ISSUES THAT ARE ROOTED IN OUR FAITH TRADITIONS. IF OUR FAITH-BASED COMMUNITIES AREN'T TALKING ABOUT THESE ISSUES, THEN WE DON'T HAVE ANY REASON FOR BEING."
GATES' NEXT QUESTION WAS: "HOW DO YOU GO ABOUT BUILDING BRIDGES AMONG DIVERSE RELIGIOUS FAITHS AND NONRELIGIOUS GROUPS?"
WALKER SAID FINDING AREAS OF COMMON INTEREST IS KEY, AS IS MUTUAL RESPECT, ESPECIALLY FOR RELIGIOUS DIFFERENCES: "WE DON'T NEED TO AGREE ON EVERYTHING TO WORK TOGETHER."
QADHI EMPHASIZED THE NEED TO AIR RELIGIOUS DIFFERENCES. "WE NEED TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE ELEPHANTS IN THE ROOM, TO MOVE BEYOND PLATITUDES IN ORDER TO CONCENTRATE ON THE VERY REAL DIFFERENCES AMONG US." QADHI OFFERED THE EXAMPLE OF A LARGE INTERFAITH SERVICE HE'D PARTICIPATED IN AT A MEMPHIS SYNAGOGUE. "A PASTOR AT THIS INTERFAITH SERVICE ENDED HIS SERMON BY SAYING, 'I HAVE TO TELL YOU THAT UNLESS YOU BELIEVE IN THE LORD SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST, YOU WON'T GO TO HEAVEN.' NOW THIS CAUSED AN AWKWARD MOMENT," SAID QADHI, PAUSING UNTIL THE AUDIENCE STOPPED CHUCKLING.
"SO THE NEXT MORNING, THE SYNAGOGUE'S SENIOR RABBI CALLED ME TO APOLOGIZE IF I'D FELT UNCOMFORTABLE ABOUT WHAT THE PASTOR HAD SAID. AND, BY THE WAY, THERE MUST BE A GOOD JOKE HERE ABOUT THE RABBI WHO CALLS THE SHEIK TO APOLOGIZE FOR THE PASTOR. BUT I TOLD THE RABBI THAT I HADN'T FELT OFFENDED AT ALL." AIRING THESE DIFFERENCES, SAID QADHI, HAD IMPROVED HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH THE PASTOR. "SOMETIMES WE NEED TO LET THESE ELEPHANTS OUT OF THE ROOM BEFORE WE CAN DISCUSS OTHER ISSUES."
GATES THEN ASKED BUCHDAHL ABOUT WHETHER SHE'D EXPERIENCED DIFFICULTIES NAVIGATING BOTH HER KOREAN AND JEWISH IDENTITIES. "NAVIGATING INTERSECTIONS OF CULTURES AND RELIGIONS IS SOMETHING I'VE ALWAYS DONE," SHE EXPLAINED. "I WAS BORN IN SOUTH KOREA TO A KOREAN MOTHER AND A JEWISH FATHER. AND THANKS TO PROFESSOR GATES [VIA HIS PBS TV SERIES "FINDING YOUR ROOTS"], I LEARNED THAT I WAS A DESCENDANT OF KOREAN KINGS. SO I NOW GET TO SAY THAT I'M TRULY A 'JEWISH KOREAN PRINCESS.' "
WHEN GATES OPENED UP THE EVENT TO AUDIENCE QUESTIONS, ARJUN SINGH ASKED THE PANELISTS HOW THEY ENGAGE IN DIALOGUE WITH THE 30 PERCENT OF PEOPLE UNDER 30 WHO HAVE NO IDENTIFICATION WITH RELIGION, CITING A RECENT PEW RESEARCH CENTER SURVEY. "AS A PERSON OF FAITH," ANSWERED BUCHDAHL, "I FEEL THAT GOD HAS HAD A VERY BAD MARKETING CAMPAIGN. TOO MANY PEOPLE CLAIM TO SPEAK DEFINITIVELY FOR GOD, AND IT'S BECOME A REAL TURNOFF FOR YOUNG PEOPLE. WE NEED TO DO A BETTER JOB LETTING PEOPLE KNOW WHAT GOD STANDS FOR."
IN THE HALLWAY AFTER THE PANEL HAD ENDED, SINGH WAS ASKED FOR HIS REACTION TO THE EVENING'S INTERFAITH DIALOGUE. "I THOUGHT IT WAS REALLY VALUABLE," SINGH SAID. "I'D DESCRIBE MYSELF AS AMONG THE 30 PERCENT OF YOUNG PEOPLE WHO PUT 'NONE' FOR THEIR RELIGION, BUT I WAS VERY HAPPY TO HEAR FROM THREE LEADERS WHO ARE POWERFUL AND ENTRENCHED IN THEIR FAITH-BASED COMMUNITIES. I ESPECIALLY LIKED THE DISCUSSION ABOUT HOW TO USE RELIGION FOR GOOD IN A GROWINGLY NONRELIGIOUS WORLD. ALL THREE LEADERS DESCRIBED RELIGION AS A TOOL MEANT TO MAKE THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE. IT'S IMPORTANT TO BE REMINDED OF THIS."
MEME IS A CULTURAL INVENTION THAT PASSES FROM ONE MIND TO ANOTHER AND THRIVES, OR DECLINES, LIKE A GENE. MEMETICS EXPLORES THE CONCEPTS AND TRANSMISSION OF MEMES IN A SIMILAR FASHION TO GENETICS. A MEME'S SUCCESS IS DUE TO ITS CONTRIBUTION TO THE EFFECTIVENESS OF ITS HOST. MEMEPLEX, LIKE THE GENETIC CODE, IS A SET OF IDEAS THAT REINFORCE EACH OTHER. RELIGION IS A MEMEPLEX. BASIL VENITIS, VENITIS@GMAIL.COM, HTTP://VENITISM.BLOGSPOT.COM
A BIAS IS A WAY IN WHICH WE SYSTEMATICALLY GET THINGS WRONG, WAYS IN WHICH WE MISCALCULATE, MISJUDGE, DISTORT REALITY, OR SEE WHAT WE WANT TO SEE, AND THE BIAS I'M TALKING ABOUT WORKS LIKE THIS: CONFRONT SOMEONE WITH THE FACT THAT THEY ARE GOING TO DIE AND THEY WILL BELIEVE JUST ABOUT ANY STORY THAT TELLS THEM IT ISN'T TRUE AND THEY CAN, INSTEAD, LIVE FOREVER, EVEN IF IT MEANS TAKING THE EXISTENTIAL ELEVATOR.
RELIGIONS CLAIM DIVINE FAVOR FOR THEMSELVES, OVER AND AGAINST OTHER GROUPS. THIS SENSE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS LEADS TO VIOLENCE BECAUSE CONFLICTING CLAIMS TO SUPERIORITY, BASED ON UNVERIFIABLE APPEALS TO GOD, CANNOT BE ADJUDICATED OBJECTIVELY. RELIGIONS DO TREMENDOUS HARM TO SOCIETY BY USING VIOLENCE TO PROMOTE THEIR GOALS, IN WAYS THAT ARE ENDORSED AND EXPLOITED BY THEIR LEADERS.
IF WE LOOK AT THE EVIDENCE OF SCIENCE, PARTICULARLY NEUROSCIENCE, IT SUGGESTS THAT YOUR MIND, YOUR ESSENCE, THE REAL YOU, IS VERY MUCH DEPENDENT ON A PARTICULAR PART OF YOUR BODY, THAT IS, YOUR BRAIN.
RELIGIONS, SCAMS, AND HOAXES SUCCEED BECAUSE THEY EXPLOIT POWERFUL PSYCHOLOGICAL PROCESSES. THESE PROCESSES ARE THE VERY ONES THAT HAVE ENABLED HUMANS TO SURVIVE AND CREATE ART AND TECHNOLOGY, BUT ALSO TRANSFORM HOMO SAPIENS INTO HOMO SUCKERS! 30% OF PEOPLE ARE PANTHEISTS, 25% CHRISTIANS, 20% MUSLIMS, 14% HINDUS, 7% BUDDHISTS, AND 1% JEWS.
SOME PEOPLE PREFER TO LEAVE A MORE TANGIBLE, BIOLOGICAL LEGACY -- CHILDREN, FOR EXAMPLE. OR THEY LIKE, THEY HOPE, TO LIVE ON AS PART OF SOME GREATER WHOLE, A NATION OR A FAMILY OR A TRIBE, THEIR GENE POOL. BUT AGAIN, THERE ARE SKEPTICS WHO DOUBT WHETHER LEGACY REALLY IS IMMORTALITY. WOODY ALLEN, FOR EXAMPLE, WHO SAID, "I DON'T WANT TO LIVE ON IN THE HEARTS OF MY COUNTRYMEN. I WANT TO LIVE ON IN MY APARTMENT."
ALBERT EINSTEIN SAYS:"THE WORD GOD IS FOR ME NOTHING MORE THAN THE EXPRESSION AND PRODUCT OF HUMAN WEAKNESSES, THE BIBLE A COLLECTION OF HONORABLE, BUT STILL PRIMITIVE LEGENDS WHICH ARE NEVERTHELESS PRETTY CHILDISH. NO INTERPRETATION, NO MATTER HOW SUBTLE, CAN FOR ME CHANGE THIS. FOR ME THE JEWISH RELIGION LIKE ALL OTHER RELIGIONS IS AN INCARNATION OF THE MOST CHILDISH SUPERSTITIONS. AND THE JEWISH PEOPLE TO WHOM I GLADLY BELONG AND WITH WHOSE MENTALITY I HAVE A DEEP AFFINITY HAVE NO DIFFERENT QUALITY FOR ME THAN ALL OTHER PEOPLE. AS FAR AS MY EXPERIENCE GOES, THEY ARE ALSO NO BETTER THAN OTHER HUMAN GROUPS, ALTHOUGH THEY ARE PROTECTED FROM THE WORST CANCERS BY A LACK OF POWER. OTHERWISE I CANNOT SEE ANYTHING CHOSEN ABOUT THEM."
THE OCCIDENTAL DEMOCRATIC PRACTICE OF SINGLING OUT RELIGIOUS LIBERTY FOR SPECIAL TREATMENT UNDER THE LAW IS NOT IN SYNC WITH THE WORLD WE LIVE IN TODAY. THE CURRENT STATUS QUO IS PREDICATED ON A FUNDAMENTAL INEQUALITY. FOR EXAMPLE, A BOY MIGHT BE PERMITTED TO CARRY A DAGGER TO SCHOOL AS PART OF HIS SIKH RELIGION, BUT THE SAME DAGGER WOULD NOT BE ALLOWED IF IT WERE PART OF A FAMILY TRADITION. NAMELY, YOUR CLAIM OF CONSCIENCE COUNTS IF IT IS BASED IN RELIGION. MY CLAIM OF CONSCIENCE DOESN'T COUNT IF IT IS NOT BASED IN RELIGION. THAT IS A PERNICIOUS AND INDEFENSIBLE INEQUALITY IN THE EXISTING LEGAL REGIME.
THE ORIGINS OF RELIGIOUS TOLERATION CAN BE TRACED BACK HUNDREDS OF YEARS TO THE EUROPEAN WARS OF RELIGION. THAT TURMOIL GAVE WAY TO GREATER ACCEPTANCE OF DIVERSE RELIGIONS, AN IMPORTANT ACHIEVEMENT OF WESTERN DEMOCRACIES. HOWEVER, OCCIDENT'S PREFERENTIAL TREATMENT FOR RELIGIOUS TOLERATION IS NOT IN STEP WITH CHANGING TIMES. WHILE WE UNDERSTAND THE HISTORICAL REASONS WHY OUR CONSTITUTION SINGLED OUT RELIGION AND RELIGIOUS LIBERTY 200-PLUS YEARS AGO, IN THE WORLD WE LIVE IN TODAY, YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE RELIGIOUS IN ORDER TO HAVE A CONSCIENCE.
WHILE SOME MIGHT WISH THERE WAS A WAY TO GRANT EXEMPTIONS TO ALL CLAIMS OF CONSCIENCE, THIS WOULD LEAD TO ALMOST INSURMOUNTABLE PRACTICAL PROBLEMS. IT WOULD BE TANTAMOUNT TO LEGALIZING CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE. WHILE COURTS CAN VERIFY A PERSON'S INVOLVEMENT IN A RELIGION AND THAT RELIGION'S PARTICULAR BELIEFS, NON-RELIGIOUS CLAIMS WOULD BE MUCH MORE DIFFICULT TO VERIFY. WE DON'T HAVE A WAY TO PEER INTO A MAN'S SOUL TO SEE IF HIS CLAIM OF CONSCIENCE IS REALLY A LEGITIMATE CLAIM OF CONSCIENCE.
THE FACT THAT SOME PEOPLE BELIEVE AN OMNIPOTENT GOD WILL RESURRECT THEM TO LIVE AGAIN AND OTHERS BELIEVE AN OMNIPOTENT SCIENTIST WILL DO IT SUGGESTS THAT NEITHER ARE REALLY BELIEVING THIS ON THE STRENGTH OF THE EVIDENCE. RATHER, WE BELIEVE THESE STORIES BECAUSE WE ARE BIASED TO BELIEVE THEM, AND WE ARE BIASED TO BELIEVE THEM BECAUSE WE ARE SO AFRAID OF DEATH.
COURTS STILL SHOULD MONITOR FOR LAWS THAT ARISE FROM INTOLERANCE - FOR EXAMPLE FRANCE'S BAN ON HEADSCARVES WORN BY MUSLIM WOMEN AS AN EXAMPLE. BUT AVOIDING LAWS MOTIVATED BY INTOLERANCE IS DIFFERENT FROM GRANTING SPECIAL RELIGIOUS EXEMPTIONS FROM NEUTRAL LAWS. SUCH SPECIAL TREATMENT FOR RELIGION OFTEN DEFEATS SOCIETY'S PROMOTION OF THE GENERAL WELFARE. IF WE START CARVING OUT EXEMPTIONS, WE DEFEAT THE PURPOSES OF THOSE LEGITIMATE OBJECTIVES.
Spirituality is the search for an ultimate reality, a transcendent dimension of the world, an inner path enabling a person to discover the essence of his being, or the deepest values and meanings by which people live. Spirituality is often experienced as a source of inspiration or orientation in life. It encompasses belief in immaterial realities or experiences of the immanent or transcendent nature of the world. Spirituality is more personalized, less structured, more open to new ideas, and more pluralistic than religion.
SPIRITUALITY IS NOT RELATED TO RELIGION. SPIRITUALITY AND RELIGION LOCK HORNS! MANY PEOPLE DEFINE THEMSELVES AS SPIRITUAL BUT NOT RELIGIOUS. SPIRITUALS BELIEVE IN THE EXISTENCE OF MANY DIFFERENT SPIRITUAL PATHS, EMPHASIZING THE IMPORTANCE OF FINDING ONE'S OWN INDIVIDUAL PATH TO SPIRITUALITY. MOST PEOPLE IDENTIFY THEMSELVES AS SPIRITUAL BUT NOT RELIGIOUS. RELIGION IS A MEMEPLEX ORGANIZED BY CHURCHES, WHEREAS SPIRITUALITY IS DEFINED AS AN INTERNAL INDIVIDUAL SEARCH.
SPIRITUALITY EXISTS WHEREVER WE STRUGGLE WITH THE ISSUES OF HOW OUR LIVES FIT INTO THE GREATER SCHEME OF THINGS. THIS IS TRUE WHEN OUR QUESTIONS NEVER GIVE WAY TO SPECIFIC ANSWERS OR GIVE RISE TO SPECIFIC PRACTICES SUCH AS PRAYER OR MEDITATION. WE ENCOUNTER SPIRITUAL ISSUES EVERY TIME WE WONDER WHERE THE UNIVERSE COMES FROM, WHY WE ARE HERE, OR WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE DIE. WE ALSO BECOME SPIRITUAL WHEN WE BECOME MOVED BY VALUES SUCH AS BEAUTY, LOVE, OR CREATIVITY THAT SEEM TO REVEAL A MEANING OR POWER BEYOND OUR VISIBLE WORLD. AN IDEA OR PRACTICE IS SPIRITUAL WHEN IT REVEALS OUR PERSONAL DESIRE TO ESTABLISH A FELT-RELATIONSHIP WITH THE DEEPEST MEANINGS OR POWERS GOVERNING LIFE.
God is a vision of the highest values of truth, justice, love, and goodness toward which we strive. In this sense, God is a standard against which to measure ourselves and our achievements. God reminds us of the relativity and limitations of our own ideas. God serves as a corrective to our biases and a basis for critical reflection. By bringing together our highest ideals in a single symbol, God provides a focus for personal devotion or communal worship.
We experience God as love, light, power, and wisdom. The God we pray to is both transcendent and immanent, a part of us but also greater than us. Sometimes we experience God as a light that comes to us in the darkness. This light emanates intense love and compassion and leaves us feeling joyous and connected to all of creation. Other times, we simply hear God's guidance as thoughts. It seems similar to a nudge or sometimes a whisper. This guidance usually comes suddenly and clearly, and it can arrive while we are deep in prayer or simply going about our business of the day.
THE QUESTION IS, ARE WE DOOMED TO LEAD THE ONE LIFE WE HAVE IN A WAY THAT IS SHAPED BY FEAR AND DENIAL, OR CAN WE OVERCOME THIS BIAS? WELL THE GREEK PHILOSOPHER EPICURUS THOUGHT WE COULD. HE ARGUED THAT THE FEAR OF DEATH IS NATURAL, BUT IT IS NOT RATIONAL. "DEATH," HE SAID, "IS NOTHING TO US, BECAUSE WHEN WE ARE HERE, DEATH IS NOT, AND WHEN DEATH IS HERE, WE ARE GONE." NOW THIS IS OFTEN QUOTED, BUT IT'S DIFFICULT TO REALLY GRASP, TO REALLY INTERNALIZE, BECAUSE EXACTLY THIS IDEA OF BEING GONE IS SO DIFFICULT TO IMAGINE. SO 2,000 YEARS LATER, ANOTHER PHILOSOPHER, LUDWIG WITTGENSTEIN, PUT IT LIKE THIS: "DEATH IS NOT AN EVENT IN LIFE: WE DO NOT LIVE TO EXPERIENCE DEATH. AND SO," HE ADDED, "IN THIS SENSE, LIFE HAS NO END."
MANY CHURCHES ARE DENS OF MURDERERS, BECAUSE THOSE JUDGED GUILTY OF HERESY INCURRED HARSH PENALTIES INCLUDING DEATH BY FIRE. RELIGIONS ARE ON THE WAY TO EVENTUALLY TURNING INTO MERE HISTORICAL CURIOSITIES. THE CENTRAL CONCLUSION ABOUT RELIGION HAS TO BE THAT IT HAS NOT MADE ANY LASTING IMPACT ON HUMAN ETHICS, THE PRIMARY ENGINE FOR ITS EXISTENCE. IN THIS RESPECT ALONE, RELIGION HAS FAILED DISMALLY.
NOW SOME CHURCHES HAVE ISSUED RESTRICTIONS TO HUMAN REPRODUCTION AND STEM CELL RESEARCH. MANY RELIGIONS HAVE CONCERNS ABOUT WHERE SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH IS GOING AND THE RISK IT IS POSING TO THEIR BELIEFS. IN THE LONG RUN THESE RESTRICTIONS WILL NOT BE EFFECTIVE. THERE CAN BE NO DOUBT THAT SCIENCE WILL EVENTUALLY TRIUMPH.
EVERY ATTEMPT TO RECONCILE RELIGION WITH SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY IS A VIRTUALLY UNATTAINABLE GOAL. A DISCOURAGINGLY FUTILE EFFORT TO ACHIEVE CONSISTENCY BETWEEN SCIENCE AND RELIGION IS BROADLY ONGOING TODAY. A DOMINANT FACTOR IS INDIVIDUALS' REPEATED BUT FAILED ATTEMPTS TO SEEK AT LEAST A RATIONAL LINK BETWEEN RELIGION AND ETHICS. ETHICS IS A MAJOR FACTOR IN SCIENCE BUT PLAYS NO DISCERNIBLE ROLE IN TECHNOLOGY. ETHICS CONSISTS OF WISE GUIDES FOR HUMAN BEHAVIOR THAT ARE VITALLY IMPORTANT TO CIVILIZING PURSUITS. THEY ENSURE THE SURVIVAL AND PROSPERITY OF THE HUMAN SOCIETY. BY CONTRAST, RELIGIOUS PRECEPTS AND PROHIBITIONS USUALLY IMPOSE A HOSTILE BURDEN ON OUTSIDERS AND INFIDELS WHO REJECT ADHERENCE TO TRADITIONAL AND ANCIENT NORMS, MOST OF WHICH LONG AGO REACHED OBSOLESCENCE.
RELIGION IS INCAPABLE OF GRANTING BELIEVERS THE THOUGHT THAT THERE MAY PERHAPS BE ERRORS IN ITS TENETS THAT MIGHT CONTRADICT ANY PART OF THE PLATFORM ON WHICH THEY STAND. H.L. MENCKEN WITHERINGLY SUMMARIZED HOW SCIENCE COULD OVERCOME THE LIMITATIONS OF THEOLOGY AND AUTOCRACY: EVERY TIME THE SCIENTISTS TAKE ANOTHER FORT FROM THE THEOLOGIANS AND THE POLITICIANS THERE IS GENUINE HUMAN PROGRESS.
ABRAHAMIC RELIGIONS ARE INHERENTLY VIOLENT, BECAUSE OF AN EXCLUSIVISM THAT INEVITABLY FOSTERS VIOLENCE AGAINST THOSE THAT ARE CONSIDERED OUTSIDERS. ABRAHAMIC LEGACY IS ACTUALLY GENOCIDAL IN NATURE. BASIL VENITIS, VENITIS@GMAIL.COM, HTTP://VENITISM.BLOGSPOT.COM, @VENITIS
OVERCOMING THE AFTERLIFE BIAS IS NOT EASY BECAUSE THE FEAR OF DEATH IS SO DEEPLY EMBEDDED IN US, YET WHEN WE SEE THAT THE FEAR ITSELF IS NOT RATIONAL, AND WHEN WE BRING OUT INTO THE OPEN THE WAYS IN WHICH IT CAN UNCONSCIOUSLY BIAS US, THEN WE CAN AT LEAST START TO TRY TO MINIMIZE THE INFLUENCE IT HAS ON OUR LIVES.
BY DWELLING ON INEQUALITY, THE POPE IS PROMOTING ENVY. CHRISTIANITY DISAPPROVES OF ENVY, DEEMING IT ONE OF THE DEADLY SINS. CIVIL SOCIETY EXPECTS THE POPE TO URGE ALL PEOPLE TO THINK OF THEMSELVES IN RELATION TO GOD AND TO THEIR OWN FULLEST POTENTIAL. ENCOURAGING PEOPLE TO MEASURE THEMSELVES AGAINST OTHERS ONLY LEADS TO GRIEF. RESENTING THE SUCCESS OF OTHERS IS A SIN IN ITSELF.
PANTHEISM IS THE BELIEF THAT EVERYTHING COMPOSES AN ALL-ENCOMPASSING IMMANENT GOD AND THE UNIVERSE IS IDENTICAL WITH DIVINITY. PANTHEISTS THUS DO NOT BELIEVE IN A PERSONAL GOD. PANTHEISM WAS POPULARIZED IN THE MODERN ERA AS BOTH A THEOLOGY AND PHILOSOPHY BASED ON THE WORK OF THE SEVENTIETH CENTURY PHILOSOPHER BARUCH SPINOZA. EINSTEIN SAYS: WE FOLLOWERS OF SPINOZA SEE GOD IN THE WONDERFUL ORDER AND LAWFULNESS OF ALL THAT EXISTS AND IN ITS SOUL AS IT REVEALS ITSELF IN MAN AND ANIMALS. I DO NOT BELIEVE IN A PERSONAL GOD, AND I HAVE NEVER DENIED THIS BUT HAVE EXPRESSED IT CLEARLY.
IT HELPS TO SEE LIFE AS BEING LIKE A BOOK: JUST AS A BOOK IS BOUNDED BY ITS COVERS, BY BEGINNING AND END, SO OUR LIVES ARE BOUNDED BY BIRTH AND DEATH, AND EVEN THOUGH A BOOK IS LIMITED BY BEGINNING AND END, IT CAN ENCOMPASS DISTANT LANDSCAPES, EXOTIC FIGURES, FANTASTIC ADVENTURES. AND EVEN THOUGH A BOOK IS LIMITED BY BEGINNING AND END, THE CHARACTERS WITHIN IT KNOW NO HORIZONS. THEY ONLY KNOW THE MOMENTS THAT MAKE UP THEIR STORY, EVEN WHEN THE BOOK IS CLOSED. AND SO THE CHARACTERS OF A BOOK ARE NOT AFRAID OF REACHING THE LAST PAGE. LONG JOHN SILVER IS NOT AFRAID OF YOU FINISHING YOUR COPY OF "TREASURE ISLAND." AND SO IT SHOULD BE WITH US.
IMAGINE THE BOOK OF YOUR LIFE, ITS COVERS, ITS BEGINNING AND END, AND YOUR BIRTH AND YOUR DEATH. YOU CAN ONLY KNOW THE MOMENTS IN BETWEEN, THE MOMENTS THAT MAKE UP YOUR LIFE. IT MAKES NO SENSE FOR YOU TO FEAR WHAT IS OUTSIDE OF THOSE COVERS, WHETHER BEFORE YOUR BIRTH OR AFTER YOUR DEATH. AND YOU NEEDN'T WORRY HOW LONG THE BOOK IS, OR WHETHER IT'S A COMIC STRIP OR AN EPIC. THE ONLY THING THAT MATTERS IS THAT YOU MAKE IT A GOOD STORY.