On the Terrible Weight of Conscious

“It is proper to take alarm at the first experiment on our liberties... Who does not see that the same authority which can establish Christianity, in exclusion of all other religions, may establish with the same ease any particular sect of Christians, in exclusion of all other sects.”

JAMES MADISON (1784)

“Paul was the great Coryphaeus, and the first corrupter of the doctrines of Jesus. “

THOMAS JEFFERSON (1820)

“Shake off all the fears of servile prejudices, under which weak minds are servilely crouched. Fix reason firmly in her seat, and call on her tribunal for every fact, every opinion. Question with boldness even the existence of a God, because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason than that of blind faith.”

THOMAS JEFFERSON (1785)

“As to Jesus of Nazareth, my opinion of whom you particularly desire, I think the system of morals and HIS religion, as HE left them to us, the best the world ever saw or is likely to see; but I apprehend it has received various corrupting changes, and I have, with most of the present dissenters in England, some doubts of his divinity.”

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN (1790)

And so we begin...

Moses was not a Christian. The point to having Moses and others (some who are pagans) adorning the Supreme Court building is to emphasize that we are a nation of laws. I would argue about the increasing banality of this concept except that I am discoursing on religion and the banality of it at this time.

Religion serves no purpose other than to control people by replacing truth and reason with authority and faith. I have no idea or conception of what god is, but I do know what god isn’t. Truth does not come from the pulpit, the government, nor the TV. It must be sought with reason as your guide and an open mind. Only you have the power to determine value. Only you have the power to see through the distractions, projections and lies that authority uses to confuse and divide us. Truth is freedom.

It is not my contention here to declare the death of god. I am not in contact with the ethereal world. So, any conjecture on my part would be ludicrous (much as any priest or preacher). What I will try to portray is the feelings of inadequacy, humiliation and impotence that I observe originating from the religious fundamentalists in the three monotheistic religions. Each of which has traditionally incited anger and racism towards each other. 

To argue logically with religion is tantamount to a lesson in futility (first, they will ignore you, next they will ridicule you, finally they will persecute you.) Religions have stacked the deck against all arguments (death is the only solution.) The true crux of fundamentalist belief amounts to an ambivalency with modernity and its legacy to surpass even the wildest of imaginations. If the "second coming" happened today god would be amazed (shock and awe come to mind) at his following. Hatred and ignorance are the creeds of the "believers." Love and knowledge have been usurped.

Let’s begin with the inadequacies posed by the Religionists and by extension any strict moralists 1.) They abhor the god "mammon" yet horde more money and consume more resources than a common person (why?) 2.) Their moral standing is that they alone can teach morality, yet they commit more immoral acts (war and its glorification) than of any one group of people. 3.) They have an innate fear that they are wrong (which they are) and will do "anything" to prevent that fear from being exposed.

Faith is the only armor they have. From these three premises we can assume that their inadequacies are founded in their basic nature (hatred of anything different.) It is my belief that they horde money and resources to "hedge their bet" in case they are wrong and to insure their continued dominance and control (money is power.) Second, they are not truly immoral people, but honestly believe they have a divine right to inflict their version of the "wrath of god" on anyone who believes different than them (those people are the reasons for our failure.) Finally, they are powerless against the EVOLUTION of a humankind they did not get to vote on or reduce to a slave-like existence. Faith is not knowledge, it is glorified ignorance.

This brings us to their humiliation. History is not the grandest of teachers (because of most humans disdain and disregard with, for and of it) yet, we/they are forced to acknowledge that the names of their gods have brought more death and destruction than any mere caveman could possibly dream. I was educated by nuns in a Catholic school. From them I learned about the persecution of Christians in ancient Rome. I didn’t place the connection then to the fact that the Romans were basically secularists (who supported a religion based upon myth) and Christianity was a threat to their government until it was finally usurped by the emperor and the oligarchy.

As their empire waned they needed to placate the masses with “bread and circuses.” Christians were a growing minority at this time and in an effort to eradicate them the Roman authorities would execute them in the Coliseum and other arenas (thereby creating martyrs which fueled the rise of this troublesome sect.) The crumbling Western Empire was based upon the powers of an over extended military and guided by a corrupt oligarchy (sound familiar). Christianity provided the framework with which they could maintain their hold on power (if you can’t beat them, lead them.) The Catholic church emerged from the ashes of the Roman Empire.

Our modern day oligarchs have surpassed the Romans in terms of relative power, yet at its heart the American empire’s reliance upon perpetual war and the corruption that abounds within the government will surely speed its demise at some point in time. Our masters use of religion as a tool to placate the masses will wain first as people see the contradiction inherent within this ideology (hate requires an enormous amount of energy.) The zealots in this group have no humility and our therefore not subject to historical criticism (in their eyes.) No one can hide from history for too long. Fear of god is not enough to placate the hordes (in the long run) and the slow decay of our educational system will allow the religions to survive (for awhile), but not as a sustainable power and definitely not as a social force.

Lastly, we arrive at the ultimate reason for my essay; power. It is remarkable and downright scary how religion has amassed the power it has in spite of science and The Enlightenment. Yet, it will be the downfall of them and their gods in the long run. The gods of Ur, Egypt and the other parts of the world have long abandoned us and their legacy will be undone at some point in history. Corporate interests will see to that. Whether these "corporate" interests are aligned with the religious zealots or not it does not matter (economic trivialities). Truth will win out. The corporation is the root of most of our evils. This personless entity cannot help itself. It is what it has been legalized to do. Pity should be reserved for those who sanctify and glorify its existence.

The Religionists have made a bedfellow of this entity. Mind you, I am very afraid of the climate instilled by this very small minority of people (and, of course, global corporate interests) but, if history is an indication of OUR will, than the people of this planet will prevail. We may, and probably will, suffer through a modern "Dark Age," but in the end we have to rid our world of these artificial objects (religionists and corporations) They are the obstacles to our growth. We must put an emphasis on our need for a curious, natural humanity that sees the world through the eyes of truth. We will have a modern "Renaissance" and be all the more wiser as a people.

Let the "CLEANSING" begin.

We are not as much a misguided folk as we are a mislead folk. Truth, beauty and goodness will win over dogma, commitment will win over blind following, reason will win over ignorance, love over hate and goodness of heart will win over greed. This is our human legacy, this is Beauty. This, I believe, is what most people truly want.