I often extol the virtues of our species in describing our abilities that have been honed for many hundreds of generations since the beginning of our evolution. Yet today I don't feel like describing our amazing qualities I want to expose our fear. The need for an afterlife with a heaven and a hell to constrict our view of reality. Now, I know reality is a stark hard lonely place when viewed through the lens of fact. Yet here we are a massive human accumulation with many other diverse species of animals on a planet that sustains our every need to survive. So reality, although rough and unforgiving at times is not the doom and gloom of many who need some kind of salve.
For them the salve is religion and it helps them to feel comfortable in this mostly uncomfortable world. Which is fine for them but for those of us who want to make the world more comfortable without the illusion of a fantasy, we are stifled because many of the religious dogmas keep us from actually facing our problems. How do the dogma's keep us from facing our realities? In one way the offer of prayer instead of action. No praying is going to solve a problem without working through the problem until a solution is found. Another way is that dogma often stifles growth in our society in that the dogma itself calls itself the answer, like trust in the lord, instead of logic. To deny logic and covet dogma as the solution is to call our dream world real, and our real world a dream. Not reality folks.
I know this post will be unsettling to many who have spent a lifetime worshiping a concept that, at times, even to them seems unreal, but to change now would make their lives seem ludicrous. So they soldier on by disassociating reality even further from their lives. A kind of Stockholm syndrome. I get it, why would we ever admit that our lives are based upon a wish and not reality? Which is why I am writing about our species this morning. Although we are an amazing species we are also a flawed one. Can we overcome our flaws to get to being more amazing than not? I am not sure and although I am an optimist even I find it hard to convince myself that we aren't beyond repair. Maybe tomorrow will be better. That is my wish anyway.
For them the salve is religion and it helps them to feel comfortable in this mostly uncomfortable world. Which is fine for them but for those of us who want to make the world more comfortable without the illusion of a fantasy, we are stifled because many of the religious dogmas keep us from actually facing our problems. How do the dogma's keep us from facing our realities? In one way the offer of prayer instead of action. No praying is going to solve a problem without working through the problem until a solution is found. Another way is that dogma often stifles growth in our society in that the dogma itself calls itself the answer, like trust in the lord, instead of logic. To deny logic and covet dogma as the solution is to call our dream world real, and our real world a dream. Not reality folks.
I know this post will be unsettling to many who have spent a lifetime worshiping a concept that, at times, even to them seems unreal, but to change now would make their lives seem ludicrous. So they soldier on by disassociating reality even further from their lives. A kind of Stockholm syndrome. I get it, why would we ever admit that our lives are based upon a wish and not reality? Which is why I am writing about our species this morning. Although we are an amazing species we are also a flawed one. Can we overcome our flaws to get to being more amazing than not? I am not sure and although I am an optimist even I find it hard to convince myself that we aren't beyond repair. Maybe tomorrow will be better. That is my wish anyway.
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