The Lesson Continues,
PART II
The ultimate brain-killer is the mystics' claim that god is unknowable. Do
not confuse the concept of unknowable with the concept of unknown. Unknown
merely means something not known at present or not known to you. But
unknowable means that which can never be known. That which by its nature
cannot be known. The most consistent theory of the mystics, pertaining to god
as the unknowable, is that of a theological school known as negative theology.
The negative theologians insist that one cannot possibly say what god is
because to ascribe any attributes to him is to limit him, and this amounts to
an impertinence. One must not say that god is finite - that would limit him.
One must not say that god is infinite - that would limit him also, since it
forbids him to be finite. One must not say that he is all-good because that
implies that he cannot be bad. One must not say that he is good AND bad,
because that forbids the possibility of his being exclusively one. One must
not say that he is omniscient, because that forbids the possiblilty of his
being fallible. One must not say that he is fallible because that forbids the
possiblilty of his being omniscient. Well, here in this theory you can observe
the full, open and explicit meaning and purpose of the mystics' advocacy of
faith in god: the hatred of man's mind and the desire to destroy it. To
destroy all the cardinal concepts of man's reason. To destroy the base of
man's consciousness, the Law of Identity. And to leave man groveling on his
belly, as an abject idiot, cringing in terror at a nightmare apparition which
he dares not identify as either real or unreal, knowable or unknowable.
The Case of God vs the Case of Reality
To a rational person, there are many more reasons for not believing in God
than for believing. However, there are times when even a rational person must
ask himself if there might not be some basis for such a belief. Probably this
query most often occurs when no evident explanation can be seen for some
phenomenon. Given this situation, religion might be viewed as an error
concerning causality and the proper means of establishing causal connections
in reality.
Perhaps early man did not develop a science since he may not have believed
that cause and effect could possibly be linked together inexorably. Instead he
tried to forsee the acts of an inconstant reality (gods) by augury and
astrology.
Much of human energy has gone into the working out of the proper ritual for
control of such a mystical Universe and into the effort of establishing rigid
adherence to that ritual. Verbal formulas, uttered by specialists, are relied
on to bring good luck to a fishing fleet, members of which would be uneasy
about leaving port without it. If we think this is but a vagary of uneducated
fishermen, I might point out that the Congress of the United States would feel
most uneasy about beginning its deliberations without a chaplain mimicking
biblical English in an attempt to call down good judgment upon them from on
high - a device that seems very rarely to have done the Congress much good.
What is a religion? A religion is a system of beliefs and practices resting
on the assumption that events within the world are subject to some
supernatural power or powers, such that human needs, either physical or
psychological, can be satisfied by man's entering into relations with such
powers; the supernatural powers in question are called supernatural in virtue
of the fact that they can be known, related to, or influenced primarily by
means other than those of reason or sense experience. The fundamental
characteristic of all religions is this belief in a supernatural power which
can control everyday events. And a fundamental practice characteristic of all
religions is the attempt to influence this power.
But the psychological consequences of this belief are all-pervasive and
devastating:
Christianity, and most other religions, teach that God, by whatever name He
is called, is the father of us all. This places man in the role of a child who
is at the mercy of another's command and in whose will lies the final verdict
upon which all of man's actions must be based. This will covers a multitude of
irresponsible actions on the part of man. Man is assigned no responsibility
except to believe and obey. If he does not succeed in life, it was not his
fault; it was God's will that he should not. God has a purpose for everything
and everyone, and if we cannot see what that purpose is, it does not matter
because God knows. The Bible teaches "all things work together for the good of
those who love God."
We are told "take no thought for tomorrow, for sufficient unto the day is
the evil thereof." This pearl of wisdom was given in the famous Sermon on The
Mount by Jesus to his followers. In this same sermon they were told that God
would provide whatever they needed in the way of food and clothing just as he
fed and clothed the birds of the air and the beasts of the field. Religion
today teaches the same thing: God will provide, just as long as one serves
Him. So what if you do not get to make the decisions, you will be taken care
of. Thus religion replaces critical thinking with fantasy and wish
fulfillment.
To a religious person, the concept of God explains everything. Man has no
need to ask why. His mind is not needed, only his faith. His faith gives him
the security of the firm conviction that SOMEONE knows what is going on, even
if he does not. It gives him the hope that SOMEHOW all will turn out well. And
if he is mugged every time he steps out of his door he has the assurance that
God will destroy the evil-doers and reward him for his endurance.
This sort of faith in an all-knowing God and in a righteous judgment is a
great comfort to the believer. It relieves him of responsibility for just
about everything. It gives him a sense of worth as being part of "God's Great
Plan". AND, it promises him immortality!!
Now that is a pretty good argument for investing in something that really
does not cost very much. A little faith, professed now and then, and one can
go on his merry way without a worry in the world.
But what does it REALLY cost? This is where the rational, reality-oriented
man finds his reasons for NOT believing in God.
An adult person is one who has reached the point of maturity in his life
where he is able to care for himself. He has no need, nor wish, for anyone
else to take care of him. For this person, the religious obligation to defer
to a will outside himself would preclude belief in God. This type of person is
one who uses his mind to reason and find out the facts in reality that account
for phenomena. The exercise of his reason teaches him that blind faith will
never net him a thing except the frustration of his hopes (just ask any man
who has ever attempted to adjust a carburetor), and that learning to deal
correctly with reality will help him realize his aspirations. He says with
Robert Ingersoll, "We need the religion of the real, the faith that rests on
fact." The cost of faith in God's omniscience is the abdication of one's own
ability to reason and to know.
The believer has no real control over his life, since everything he does is
governed by what he is taught is "God's will." He has no answer for what
happens to him except that "it must be part of the Divine Plan." The only goal
of his life is to reach the end of it as well as he can and hope for his
reward in heaven. He has no real knowledge that this reward exists, only his
blind faith in religion's promise. He drags through existence with the hope
that someone else has the ability to know, and the fear that they may NOT know
or that he may not measure up in the end.
The automonous individual, on the other hand, knows that he himself has
control over his own life. He has ascertained the facts of reality by the use
of his ability to reason and arranged his life to be in accord with them. He
seeks the explanations for everything that happens to him in the knowledge of
cause and effect. The goal of his life is his own happiness here on earth, and
he does not look for or expect unearned rewards. This individual has the self-
taught knowledge that rewards do indeed exist and that they are obtained by
his own efforts. His life is LIVED in the knowledge of his mortality, without
fear, and with the confidence that he has the ability to be happy while he
lives. It is of no importance to him whether God exists or not, HE exists, and
it is important to him to be happy while he exists.
The cost of hoping in the promise of heaven's rewards is the sacrifice of
confidence in one's own ability to live a happy life on earth.
What about the explanations for those things we can't explain? The believer
has no quandary in this regard, to him, the mystery of God explains
everything. He has no need to ask why, he only needs to accept what he does
not understand as part of the mystery. He is told that there are some things
he is not supposed to understand.
A rational man knows that there are some things he does not yet have an
answer for, but he also knows that he is capable of seeking an answer. His
mind is the tool he finds joy in using to solve the mysteries of the universe
he lives in. He is not willing to accept a lack of understanding as a final
judgment on his ability to understand.
His own worth as a human being is the biggest reason a rational man finds
for NOT believing in God. A being who has discovered the glory of his own
nature cannot regard himself as a chunk of depravity whose duty is self-
abasing obedience to supernatural commandments.
Once more, Robert Ingersoll expressed the attitude of the man of reason
very well: "Astrology was displaced by astromony. Alchemy and black art gave
way to chemistry. Science is destined to take the place of religion. In my
judgement, the religion of the future will be reason."
God as Big Daddy
"God" is not a concept. At best, one could say it is a concept in the sense
in which a dramatist uses concepts to create a character. It is an abstract of
actual characteristics of man combined with the projection of impossible,
irrational characteristics which do not arise from reality - such as
omnipotence and omniscience.
God: Somewhere, in an inaccessible place, there is an old man in a
nightshirt who knows everything and is all powerful and created everything and
rewards and punishes... and can be bribed.
This is only a malignant practical joker with the morals of a terrorist.
Aren't malaria, cholera, syphilis, yellow fever, and bubonic plague merely
the punishments that this infinitely wise, compassionate, and forgiving Father
created to inflict upon His children? The victims that He hounds the most
gleefully are always the poor, the hungry, the defenseless. What kind of a
fiend would we brand any human father who treated his children like that?
The Sun is in a backwater arm of an absolutely humdrum galaxy. Why should
I- Am-That-I-Am hang out around here? There must be more pressing things for
him to do. All this intervention speaks of incompetence. If God was clever
enough to create the Universe, why wasn't He clever enough to create it in
such a way that life could evolve naturally without miraculously improbable
events? Those who claim that the evolution of life is prohibitively improbable
without Divine intervention are saying in effect that God was a bungler who
couldn't get it right the first time (and who, after ten billion years of
tinkering, STILL hasn't got it right!). If God didn't want Lot's wife to look
back, why didn't he make her obedient, so she'd do what her husband told her?
Or if he hadn't made Lot such a shithead, maybe she would've listened to him
more. If God is omnipotent and omniscient, why didn't he start the universe
out in the first place so it would come out the way he wants? Why's he
constantly tinkering, repairing and complaining? No, there's one thing the
Bible makes clear: God is a sloppy mentufacturer. He's not good at design and
he's not good at implementation. He'd be out of business, if there were any
competition.
Religion and Insanity
Apparently many schizophrenics are drawn to charismatic/fundamentalist
Christian sects wherein "hearing voices" is normal and accepted. People with
mental illness are often treated with generosity and kindness in
Fundamentalist churches. This is worth remembering when news articles appear,
as they frequently do, describing how some religious fanatic just committed a
social atrocity on the advice of "God" or "Jesus," because usually the mental
illness preceded the religion. Of course the influence of exploitative
preachers and/or fasting and many of the other trappings of fundamentalist
Christianity, would aggravate pre-existing illness.
The great trouble with religion - ANY religion - is that a religionist,
having accepted certain propositions by faith, cannot thereafter judge the
consequences of those propositions by evidence. Thus he can easily come to
commit the most heinous atrocities in good conscience.
THE WAR-PRAYER by Mark Twain:
O Lord, our God, help us to tear their soldiers to bloody shreds with our
shells;... help us to lay waste their humble homes with a hurricane of fire;
... help us to turn them out roofless with their little children to wander
unfriended the wastes of their desolated land in rags and hunger and thirst;
... We ask it, in the spirit of love.
Beyond the region of the Probable is the Possible, and beyond the Possible
is the Impossible and beyond the Impossible are the religions of this world.
The mystical ideas in which they trust are fictions, barren in their yield of
results, powerless in prediction, and devoid of useful application. In a word,
they are worthless.
Maybe I cannot see the naked Face of God - but my eyesight is good enough
to detect fradulent baloney.
In conclusion I can only say this: I hope, for His sake, that God does not
exist. Because if He does, He has one hell of a lot to answer for! |
