triv.org

God is dying, and we need to let him die.

The course of human evolution can be traced by following the rise from ignorance to enlightenment. We used to think that the world was flat, that the human body would explode at speeds over twenty miles an hour, and that arsenic was medicine. God, and by association religion, exist outside that timeline. They have to because they deal not with knowledge, but the purposeful disregard of knowledge.

I have felt this way for a long time. Certainly as long as I can remember. I have always tempered my feelings with words about the importance of faith or the uncertainty of the unknown, but I can no longer avoid that which I know both in my heart and mind to be true: that religion is a scam. It is perhaps the greatest tall tale ever told. If you were to read the bible outside of the context that Christianity places it in, you would never believe a word of it. The Lord of The Rings is more convincing.

In Europe, 15% of the population attend of a place of worship every week. In the Middle Ages that figure was around 100%. The conservatives would say that Europe is becoming a bastion of amoral secularism. The less reactionary would say that as Europe becomes more educated and erudite, it gains the ability to look past the vale of ignorance. As for morality, what is more meaningful: morality as the rote obedience to a frightening god, or as the independent decision of a man or woman to be the best person they can possibly be? Morality is richer and deeper when it comes from a personal need to better the world around us.

America's flavor of Christianity grows more and more fundamental with each passing year. One of the cornerstones of that Fundamentalism is, "The Bible, having been inspired by God, is entirely trustworthy and without error" (my emphasis). These people have obviously never read the bible. If they had, they would be off stoning the Sunday attendant at the local 7/11 for being at work. The rise in literal interpretation of the bible is perhaps the scariest thing to happen in my lifetime.

It is happening because god is dying. The growing extremism in religion is directly connected to the growing irrelevancy of god. What is lost on the Christian right is that every time they make a statement about Intelligent Design or the "sin of homosexuality", every time they park a granite copy of the ten commandments in front of a courthouse, or every time they talk about the roll of women; the mainstream rolls their eyes a little more. The more religion declares itself to be the final truth, the more obvious their lies become.

Somehow in this country a debate has begun over Intelligent Design. If people want to teach this bit of hogwash to their kids that's fine, but it must stay out of science class. Science class should remain a place of science. You cannot simply say that a theory is wrong because you don't like it. Intelligent design is neither repeatable nor observable. The very core of the concept (that life on Earth was designed by an intelligent agent or agents) is nothing more than a flight of fancy or thinly disguised religious dogma. Not that there's much of a difference.

To me Intelligent Design is like saying, "I find it hard to imagine a way in which a thousand-ton piece of metal could fly through the air. Therefore, airplanes will never work." Evolution is complex, with many variables that can cause massive changes in the final outcome. Not being able to understand it doesn't make it untrue however. Remember than the next time you fly to the Bahamas.

I realize that this has been a rather unorganized rant, completely lacking in circumspection. Perhaps over time I will refine my thoughts in this matter to the point where they longer resemble the ravings of a loose cannon. Some of you may be offended by the preceding. Please remember, I didn't force you to read it.