| Subject: Um...I think it's more complicated--and strange, and sinister--than that. |
Author:
One-eyed Jack
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Date Posted: 22:49:45 07/31/04 Sat
In reply to:
MARS Attacks!
's message, "Great Point" on 09:37:06 06/04/04 Fri
A number of people think that religion is a sort of mind-virus, a complex of beliefs that infects individuals and societies. They call it a meme. The Bible, and the Koran, and the Vedas, and the I-Ching, are all codifications of these belief systems, these memes--they're almost like the genetic code of the religion.
Much, much more sinister than any storybook!
Here's how I imagine such a thing coming evolving:
1. A tribe of goatherds tells mythic stories around their campfires. Some of the stories are pretty insightful; others assure the tribe that they are special, a chosen people. The tribe is drawn together by the stories, inspired in battle and in adversity, and the tribesmen feel they are part of something important and holy.
2. The stories change a little over the decades, and the changes which make the stories stronger--more gripping, more convincing, more inspiring, more unifying--naturally tend to be repeated and retained, while elements of doubt and ambiguity are left out. The legends become more judgemental, assuring the tribe that THEY are the chosen people and morally justified in conquering others, in taking others' goats and camels, in dealing righteously with one another but cheating unbelievers.
3. Other tribes in the region have their own budding religions, though. When two religions coexist, which one captures more believers and ends up snuffing the other one out? The one which encourages its believers to convert others, to conquer others, to violently reject and oppose others' gods: "For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God:" Exodus 34:14
4. Somebody way up north by the Euphrates invents writing, the clever dick. Pretty soon all the tribes are making cuniform marks on clay tablets and writing their stories down...and now they have a body of written scripture that describes not only their tribal stories but the laws of their tribe, the rules for ritual worship, and even handy health and hygiene tips: "When a man shall have in the skin of his flesh a rising, a scab, or bright spot, and it be in the skin of his flesh like the plague of leprosy; then he shall be brought unto Aaron the priest, or unto one of his sons the priests: And the priest shall look on the plague in the skin of the flesh: and when the hair in the plague is turned white, and the plague in sight be deeper than the skin of his flesh, it is a plague of leprosy: and the priest shall look on him, and pronounce him unclean." Leviticus 13:2,3
Much more than a storybook indeed! By this time the religion has grown into a very shrewd and powerful mind-virus; it has evolved scripture commanding its believers to spread it as widely as possible, and to snuff out competing religions; it has assured its believers that they are morally justified in making war on and disinheriting other people; it has convinced its believers that if they stop believing very, very bad stuff will happen to them; it has given them strong rules for raising children to be new believers; and it has given its host society some very strong tools to manage and maintain a powerful and vital theocratic government.
Examples of all these functions can be found in Bible scripture.
But while the written scripture successfully solves the problem of preserving an oral tradition permanently, it creates a terrific difficulty: The scripture can no longer automatically change with the times!
5. The original stories presented a God who was somewhat human--He didn't know everything, and He made mistakes. He decided at one point to wipe out everything and start over, He was so disappointed in the way it had turned out. But He had second thoughts, and decided to have Noah save the stuff He wanted to keep from His great flood. Now, as time passed, the Judaic religion wanted a stronger, more perfect, wiser God--the priests began to teach that God was all-knowing, eternal, perfect in every way. That conflicted with the old God, and because the scripture was now written down and too holy to change, the Bible even today describes God both as making mistakes and incapable of making even the smallest mistake.
6. Now, occasionally prophets would arise who wanted to add their inspired teachings to the scripture. But the religion, evolved over centuries of trial and error, resists change: the Judaic Old Testament contains strict instructions that no further revelation may be added to it! However, a couple of sufficiently charismatic and inspirational prophets managed to get around those prohibitions, and added their teachings to the OT anyway--they were Jesus and Mohammed, of course. (And the really ironic part is that the New Testament and the Koran both include their OWN prohibitions against adding to or changing this new holy revelation!
Well. Today the scripture of most religions is technically set in stone but in fact is being reinterpreted constantly to keep up with changing society. Just Google on "Bible Guide" and you'll find dozens of books explaining why the Bible really doesn't command Christians to kill those who prosyletize for false religions, even though the Bible specifically says they have to do it in Deuteronomy 13. The mind-virus that is religion has to change with the times or it will not survive...and the driving force of religious belief is to propagate itself from mind to mind.
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Notice that nowhere, from start to finish, does the religion have to say anything true about spirituality or the existence of God or gods. Religion is not about truth. Religion, and its scriptural genetic code, is all about getting as many people to believe in it as possible. It's not about Truth (though it helps the religion's believability to mix some good and valuable truths along with its own self-propagating commands and its self-righteous exhortations to convert and conquer others).
Much, much more sinister and strange than a book of stories, mís amigos. Religion is an ancient mind-virus, and its still evolving and mutating this very moment.
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