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Date Posted: 18:07:26 04/15/02 Mon
Author: mvd
Subject: A lengthy treatise on our favorite subject

I grew up a member of the Lutheran church, a mediocre band of
Christians who left the theological superstitions and rites of the
Catholic church behind them and thus exchanged the mystery and sanctity
of Rome for the luke-warm, uninspired flaccidity of Martin Luther. This
split was bound to happen, for no one who is Modern particularly likes
mystery, preferring predictability and safety instead. Thus would this
monumental rebellion set a great precedent for all the like splitters
and abandoners in the West who were in search of something more. Today
we now have so many sects, cults, and denominations of Christianity,
each with its own separate agenda, dogma, and superstitious rhetoric
that one can scarcely get at what it means to be a Christian. I suppose
that is why there are so many books teaching one how to be a Christian.
There is obviously quite a bit of confusion about it. Near my own place
of work there is an entire book shop devoted to nothing but Christian
theology and “how-to-be-a Christian” books. I suppose that the Bible is
just not enough for them, though it is said to be the work of God
himself, his greatest literary achievement, a manual for all life on
earth. Still, if it be all of these things, the only conclusion I can
draw about it, considering the large amount of confusion in the world
about what it actually tells, is that God must need an editor.
As a boy I never thought overmuch about the religion of which I
was a part. I went to church, said my prayers, sang hallelujahs, went
to sunday school and hated every minute of it. Church, for the young
boy, is probably one of the worst punishments I can think of. Combined
with making him sing in the choir and wear a robe, I can think of no
punishment worse, save flaying or castration. Yet, I suffered through
it. It was expected of me and I obliged.
Later, though I can not say when I began to have second thoughts
about the process, I began to question just what church was, what
Christianity was, and eventually what all religions were. I suppose the
first thing that tipped me off to the fact that religion might be less
than it claimed was that I really didn’t enjoy being a part of it. In
fact, I dreaded it like one dreads (though dutifully) watching the ten
o’clock news.
So, what is religion? There seems to be a difference between what
religion claims to be and what it really is, and this false claim is
what is inherently detrimental to every person who becomes involved with
one. Religion claims several things, most having to do with matters of
the spirit and the eventuality of death. Religion claims to be able to
put a man in tune with his own spirit. It attempts to explain the
divine questions of life, like ‘Why are we here?’ ‘Is there purpose?’
‘Is there life after death?’. Generally, religion will then set about
to outline a system of rules and guidelines so that the devotee might
achieve the promised and desired ends--- the answers to his questions.
The question is, does it achieve these ends?
To answer this question, we must put such terms as “soul” and
“spirit” and “death” into better perspective. What is a soul? In most
religions the soul is that part of a man that transcends mere corporal
form. It is the collection of his memories, personality, and traits---
those parts of him that distinguished him as unique among his kind into
a sort of “ball of energy” that maintains itself without need of
sustenance or body. That is, it is a form/energy that exists quite
outside the realm of what we now understand of physics and the Universe
as a whole. In essence, it is a form of energy that burns no fuel and
has no overlying physical structure to keep it from charging willy-nilly
through the Universe like a misguided lightning bolt. This seeming
impossibility is generally explained away with supernatural reasoning.
It is assumed that there is more to the world than our meager
understanding, and therefore the existence of a thing that seems
impossible is by no means impossible if we were only capable of
supernatural understanding.
I take no issue with this premise. I believe, if anything, in
possibilities. Certainly our understanding of the world around us, or
at least that which can be qualified and quantified, is limited. The
soul, for all we know, may be something that we intuitively understand,
or it may be an invented idea to give us hope in the fear of death. No
man can say. The soul, like the existence of god, belongs to that
category of things that can neither be proved nor disproved. With this
in mind, how can a religion possibly make the claim that it is not only
capable of explaining the cosmos and man’s place in it, but that it is
capable of putting a man in touch with his soul? If no one truly
understands what the word “soul” implies, then how can anyone hope to
put a man in touch with it? We admit that we have no real understanding
of what the soul really is, yet we are quick to take part in prayers,
chants, mantras, meditations, hypnoses, and trances to get in touch with
it. Is this absurd? Perhaps. It is better to ask: What is prayer?
What is meditation? And, how does it really work? But these are
questions that must be addressed later. First, we must address the
question of death.
All religions seem to be based upon one fundamental question: what
happens after death? Christianity teaches that if one follows certain
rules, he will go to heaven. If he does not, he will go to hell. Islam
is much the same. Buddhism teaches that one reincarnates if certain
rules were not followed in life. The Hindus teach much the same. The
ancient Egyptians weighed a man’s soul to see if he was fit for the new
life. Ghosts abound and ancestor worship is still prevalent in many
societies. There are angry spirits, benevolent spirits, spooks, shades,
and yes, even the undead, zombies and ghouls, neither living nor dead
but animated bone and sinew.
So, what is death? Do we go on? Do we crumble into dust? Again,
the afterlife belongs to that realm of things that can neither be proved
nor disproved. It is a complete and utter mystery. How, then, can
anyone truly hope to explain it? What man is prepared to put his faith
in the ideas of others (for what are the theories of the afterlife if
they are not the invented delusions of creative and hopeful minds?).
Religion, however, defies all logic, steps forward and offers men
the explanations they seek to all of these questions. They offer
methods as described above; prayers, meditations, and rites. In
addition to this, they offer men rules and guidelines on how to live in
order that they might gain the most desired afterlife possible; Heaven,
Nirvana, Asgard, and enlightenment.
It would certainly behoove us, then, to take a closer look at some
of these rules and prescriptions for spiritual bliss and gaining the
hereafter! After all, an awful lot rides on it, yes? We should not be
so willing to give over and chip in our soul to the community pot,
should we? Not when there are so many alternatives! So, why, then, do
we? It is my experience that few people do much serious questioning
about their religion, even when it is painfully obvious that religion is
a culturally specific phenomenon. Most Americans are not born to be
Buddhists because, quite simply, they are not born into a Buddhist
culture. This is also why they do not speak French, drive Citroens,
wear wooden shoes, or cover their heads with cloth. But, I digress.
Back to the issue at hand:
Let us take a look at Christianity and the things it sets out to
do. Christianity teaches that all men are born sinful and unclean. It
teaches that through knowing Christ (their god-figure) one might attain
heaven and live in spiritual bliss. It teaches that by praying one
might communicate with god himself and achieve peace through him. It
teaches that men must do good works and no evil, though they will be
forgiven their evil deeds if they repent honestly. By default, since
all men are born evil, all men will do evil, therefore men are born
failures who can only be successful through loving and putting their
faith in god. Men are only capable of doing good works when god works
through them, and only by accepting the sacrifice of god’s son, Jesus
Christ will they reach heaven.
Now, we have given a cursory explanation of the system. If you do
good, pray, and accept Jesus as your saviour, you will gain spiritual
peace and go to heaven. What’s wrong with this?
The fact is that it doesn’t work. Despite the fact that
Christianity promotes the belief that you are a worthless clod from the
moment you arrive in the world, its methods for achieving spiritual
satisfaction inevitably leave one cold. Why any man should cling to a
belief system that paints such a pathetic picture of mankind I will
never know, except of course that men always seem ready and willing to
accept the worst sort of demeaning slanders as par for the course.
Granted, all men have their days and if we must cling to terms such as
good and evil, all men are capable of evil, but I choose to believe that
men are not either good or evil, but that they simply are. Let me
explain.
Christianity, instead of leading a man to his spirit, leads him
away from it. If we agree that the spirit is something that possesses
all of our memories, personality, and quirks, everything, essentially
that is us, how then can we expect someone who is not us to lead us to
our own spirit? The church, for example, promotes prayer. This is a
communication with god, they will say, but never in all my life of
prayer did I do anything but hear myself talk! This is arguably
wonderful therapy. Certainly it relieves a man to claim no
responsibility for his life, speak out his woes, and place them in the
hands of some supernatural being. But how does it help a man to come
into contact with his own spirit, if the whole time he is focused and
leaving it all up to some force outside of himself. The Christians have
a wonderfully idiotic saying that goes like this: “The lord helps those
who help themselves.” Ha! What tripe! If a man helps himself, does
that not immediately relieve his burden of needing anything else, from
god or man? Why should god have anything to do with it? Again and
again we see that religion holds before the believer an ideal, an
attainment outside of himself that can never to be achieved, that in
fact, he never even hopes to achieve in his lifetime by virtue of his
very nature! By virtue, one might say, of his very soul! Everything
that makes up his spirit, by the Christian dogma, is corrupt, yet this
is the part of themselves that they wish to go on forever! Madness!
Why seek for your spirit outside of yourself? Certainly we were
all given the information at birth how best to govern our own lives, how
to commune with our own spirits. Yet, religion time and again intimates
that the spirit is something not wholly us, but something outside of us
that awaits recognition. Just as happiness is never achieved by seeking
outside of one’s self, by purchasing a new car or going to see some
half-wit comedian on the stage, so too is the spirit never found by
seeking beyond one’s own nose. Abandon such disastrous teachings at
once! Throw away your books and your prayer beads, your mantras and
your meditations and look where? Within you. Even Jesus himself, a man
constantly misunderstood, said that the kingdom of god resides within
every man.
The Buddhists are just as guilty as the Christians. I will spare
no religion in my quest to undo them all.
One of Buddhism’s foremost precepts is that life is suffering, and
that only by admitting this can we achieve happiness. Are you
recognizing a pattern here? Again, we hear the same tired slogan, like
the commercials in our magazines and on our televisions, religion
teaches that men cannot be happy unless they do this or that or
subscribe to this scroll or purchase this prayer booklet. Say a
thousand Hail Marys and chant a thousand different verses and what have
you done? How nearer are you to the force that resides within your own
skin, that resides in every tree and stone and comet? You might as well
seek for your soul within the craters of the moon.
Religions are insidious also in that they teach men that they are
born flawed. It is my opinion that this is brought on chiefly by the
knowledge of death. Like a watch that stops and can’t be fixed, humans
die and must therefore be flawed. Yet, how simple it is to think that
all things are just as they are supposed to be, that in fact all things
are perfect? It’s merely a flip of the switch, really, as so much of
life is.
This belief in being flawed is perhaps one of the most detrimental
beliefs to humanity I can think of. As soon as the belief is accepted,
the initiate immediately sets about to better himself through begging
for forgivness, striving to improve his attitude and in general distract
himself from his true nature as often as possible. As a complement to
this quest, man constantly attempts to prolong his life. How ironic
that the same men who cling to religious ideals also strive to make the
perfect man, the man who will live forever. They are covering both
bases, as it were, one for the present and one for the hereafter. How
vain it all is!
Is it not better to accept one’s self without condemnation? Are
men truly born flawed and evil? I tell you, no babe, mutated or
otherwise appears to me to be flawed or evil. Men are beautiful just as
they are and only the fearful seek to pigeon-hole and control their
neighbors with slander and passing judgement.
The wisest sages wrote no tablets and spoke no messages of wisdom.
Enlightenment and happiness are never things that can be found when
sought for. All men are enlightened, just as all men are perfect and
happy. They have only to allow themselves the chance to see it. Men
must abandon the teachings of the so-called wise, for those who speak
most know least. Words mislead and every teacher is a charlatan. A man
has only to walk firmly upon his own two feet and he will see the world
around him and he will hear the sages singing in the deepest silences.
When, at last, he can communicate his enlightenment and the nature of
his spirit without speaking he will know all things.
Religions ask that a man deny his life in order that he might
attain some glorious existence in death. Through rules, rites, and
dogmas the temples and churches of our day will throttle the very blood
and vigor out of a man. His impulses are destroyed beneath a veil of
what he should do, what he ought to do. His progress toward himself is
impeded by commandments, writs, virtues, and laws while his spirit
languishes in darkness. The minute a man abandons his own inner truths
in exchange for those handed to him by a grey-bearded fool, he kills
himself entirely, his eternity and his divinity whither in the moment as
he sets himself in search of tomorrow. And tomorrow, as Janis said,
never happens, man. Amen.

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