Before I get into this topic, I want to make absolutely certain that anyone reading this knows that I respect whatever they choose to believe. I’m not coming into this with the presumption that what I believe is 100% infallible truth, because it isn’t. A point which lends quite well to our introduction into this age-old discussion.
I say that because the first thing I want to do here is collectively acknowledge that in real, objective terms…none of us can say we know the answer to this with unequivocal certainty. The God thing, I mean. Furthermore, if you’re one of the types who disagrees with that statement, you should probably just check out now because nothing I say is going to effect you in any meaningful way considering your predisposition that you somehow know the truth with no doubt or flexibility whatsoever. Dogma is a very real thing, and personally, I don’t want to try and sway an unswayable mind, because we all know it would just be an endless back and forth of repetitiously spinning tires.
So! Now that we have that out of the way, let’s get to the point – which I imagine you already have a relatively firm grip on after reading the title up there. Yes, the gist of this wall of words is essentially to ask the very controversial, very sensitive, very politically incorrect question: should humans have outgrown religion by now?
Again, for the believers out there, please don’t take offense to this question, because it comes from a sincerely curious, open-minded perspective. I fully acknowledge the possibility that our reality, the universe, and everything in it was created by some form of omniscient creator or God. That option does, in fact, exist amongst the shelves of my cranial warehouse. I simply think that the odds are leaning in a different direction. In other words, its my opinion that a God isn’t what’s accountable for our universe and reality – but I’m capable of admitting that I could be completely wrong. All I ask is that others admit the same, that none of us will truly know until we kick the bucket and experience it ourselves.
That said, I’m going to articulate the message of this post via a kind of story exercise. Please follow along.
Close your eyes (well, at least metaphorically since you still have to read this) and imagine you’re in a completely blacked out room. All there is, is your floating bubble of consciousness observing the darkness surrounding you with no stimuli of any kind to pay attention to. You’re just…there. Then picture an eensy-weensy, tiny little white light far off to your left flickering on. After seeing it, the light suddenly zooms out in front of you to the right, far, far away, as it leaves behind a trail of this bright white line in the midst of all the blackness. What you are now looking at is the complete, totally unabridged historical timeline of mankind’s existence on Earth.
As you come to your senses after this seemingly miniaturized big bang, you peer down the line to the left. You see our oldest, most primitive ancestors doing whatever it is they did back in our infantile days as a species. You then begin to slowly, gradually shift your gaze down the line all the way to the right, until it goes no further; seeing a wonderful slideshow of the discoveries, developments, and civilized evolution we’ve achieved taking place.
So far, so good. Next, picture another line slightly underneath our own history’s, following parallel alongside it from start to finish. This second line begins as a very dim, almost undetectable blue light, contrasting the white one above. Though it starts as merely a dim speck, as it progresses to the right, the blueness becomes brighter and brighter and ever bolder, all the way to the end.
As the awe of such a display begins to subside, you eventually realize that your little orb of consciousness is placed in the dead center of these two lines. At least, you think its the center – but you foster a tiny bit of doubt because it almost looks like the line never stops as it continues darting to the right. Sadly, your sight is limited and can’t see far enough to tell if it stops or barrels on forever.
You then focus back on this presumed center point, and see an ever-so-itty-bitty diorama of what appears to be Earth and human civilization as we know it today. Suddenly, something unexpected happens. A small piece of paper somehow manifests above, and it gently floats down like a feather onto a position in front of you. Directing your focus onto this eerie new arrival, you see that it has writing on it. It reads:
The blue line represents humanity’s understanding of reality.
Now we know what the other line indicates. Unsure of what to do next, you start directing yourself down the left of the line, observing what you see. What presents itself is a gradually changing and re-changing image of various Gods and Goddesses that human’s have believed in since that first day of being a speck. There’s something about it that startles you, though, as you continue to observe the line. Alongside these divine images are tiny piles of deceased human bodies, which indicate the number of individuals who fought or died in the name of its associated deity. You walk down and down and further and further along the line, and the piles accompany you almost everywhere, though in size there doesn’t seem to be a noticeable trend. Sometimes the piles look like massive lakes of bloodied corpses, yet during others they seem miniscule, or nothing at all. There seems to be no rhyme or reason as to the frequency of these deaths, or wars, except for the fact that they never cease to happen.
As you start to notice an inkling of nausea brewing inside you after witnesses such travesty, your train of thought becomes abruptly derailed as a you hear a loud ripping noise, as if someone has torn an enormous piece of construction paper in two. You then watch as an actual tear in this black reality of yours emerges, opening a slit that looks large enough for someone to fit through. Then, confirming your sneaking suspicion of what is to come, a figure appears within and begins to crawl its way out, eventually plopping itself down in your dark abode as the tear zips itself back up. The figure, which looks like an angel reminiscent of conventional Christian belief, stands up and brushes itself off. It then looks at you with an emphatically grave stare, before asking you three strange, eerily resounding questions.
“Why do you believe in such things when humanity has so clearly fabricated such stories throughout your entire existence? Do you not recognize the suffering it has caused? What civil advancements has your kind squandered throughout the years as you have continued to divide yourselves based on false beliefs?
Then, as quick as this angelic creature appeared, it snaps out of existence before your very eyes, leaving you in another state of awe and bewilderment. As your attention to it fades, you look back at the line’s center point from before. Though you hadn’t recognized it then, you now notice that the images of the various Gods somehow vanish just to the right of that center. Instead, the blue line underneath starts to drastically change, the increase in luminescence and boldness almost skyrocketing relative to the progress shown left of center.
And that’s where the story ends.
In my eyes, I would hope that this miniscule piece of prose might instill a sense of introspection, however uncomfortable or unsettling. Because if you look at who we are from the most zoomed out perspective your mind can fathom, you’ll see humanity’s religions for what they are. Meaning, again, in my opinion, a collection of psychologically necessary coping mechanisms which put us at ease when pondering the finality of our lives here on this planet. And by no means do I intend any disrespect by saying that. I myself am tormented by the question, so much so that I’m in the process of attempting to steer toward a career out of it, thematically speaking.
At the end of the day, we simply cannot ignore the fact that religion has caused an untold degree of death and despair throughout our time here on Earth. Yes, there most certainly is benevolence strewn about as well as a result of it, but at its highest level, religious crusades have been splintering us apart since Day One. Shattering us to pieces, I would even say.
Maybe its time to take a step back, give the topic a genuine, honest hard look, and recognize what bottlenecks toward unity such beliefs have choked off. Perhaps the endless search for truth itself should become our new religion.
That’s definitely something I would place faith in.
How the World Should Work 