If people were not afraid that others would ostracize them, most would admit that they seldom think about the god they believe in, as they go about the course of their typical day. Though they say they love their god—and go to church, worship; petition and pray for health and prosperity—most religious followers know science has long since disproved many of the claims of their Holy Books. They hold on to their beliefs, not out of conviction, but because they are comfortable in their traditions, and because fear, instilled through long-term indoctrination, keeps them from replacing their religion’s dogma, with the truth.
One can even argue that most people who claim to believe in a god, do not! And have long since gotten over the notion that their god is all-powerful, all-seeing, and all-knowing.
Religion has become a business. Its gods are its product. Its believers—by paying tithes and offerings—its customers.
The Measure of Success
The history of humankind is a bloodstained canon filled with heinous and vile acts committed around the world that have gone unpunished. Many of these actions, committed in the name of a god.
If human behavior is the measure of success, then the teachings of the world’s religions, have been ineffective. If the gods that represent them are omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent, these gods have not used their powers to convince us to conduct ourselves in a manner such power should demand. And if people believed their god could punish them for their misdeeds and sins, they wouldn’t do most of the things they do.
I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge that billions of people around the world consider themselves to be devout in their beliefs and make great sacrifices in their lives to serve their god. They believe—and live what they believe.
However, I would be just as remiss, if I did not point out that some of the same people, do not tolerate the religious beliefs of others—and are complicit when other groups persecute those who don't believe as they do.
No Belief More Valid Than Another
If we accept that Christians who kill doctors that perform abortions are devout. And that the god they worship sanctions murder; supports bigotry; the bombing of buildings, and other heinous and illegal acts in support of their faith. Then we are also obliged to accept, that the followers of militant Islam, are also devout. And that the actions they’ve taken: beheading soldiers, journalist, and foreign workers; destroying cultural heritage sites and artifacts; torturing and executing homosexuals; enslaving and raping female non-believers—and myriad other atrocities—were all commanded and sanctioned, by their god.
The gods that represent the world’s religions are what their followers want them to be. And what they want them to be is not always realistic or rational. The beliefs and doctrines of one religion, are no more valid than the beliefs and doctrines held by another.
Created by Men
Not one of the world's thousands of religions has ever shown testable and provable evidence that supports the veracity of its claims about its god. Upon examination, we can quickly conclude that the gods of the world’s religions are gods created by men in the image of men. They are jealous, vindictive, ruthless, vain, and like the men who created them, sometimes loving, benevolent, and forgiving.
They are the gods that sit on thrones in realms we can only conjure in our imaginations; that control the wind and the rain; gods that live in the fires of volcanoes; that heal through the hands of human prophets and provide convenient parking spaces.
Their omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence ring false and exist only in the claims of their followers. They have no impact on reality. Their power lies in the collective strength of the people who believe in them. In themselves, these gods are harmless. It is the people who try to force them on the rest of us, that give us cause, to fear!
Photo: Art and Nature-Mike Sherman