RELIGION: A Human Delusion  

Yes, it is a human delusion; other animals seem not to have such ideas. Of course, they might but we have no way of knowing, but animals have a hard enough time without worrying about a deity. I think there may be a religion that does not include the supernatural so if you think of one, what follows does not apply to it.

Still, I've called religion a delusion and it should be obvious why. No one nowhere has ever produced a scintilla of evidence that the supernatural exists. . and it is surely not for lack of trying. Human history is festooned with attempts to justify the idea but without any success. Believers believe and that's about it. I've written that supernatural explanations likely arose because life experience was chaotic; religion is an attempt to put planfulness into life with at least some possibility of influencing the results. Hence, prayer.

People, in their religious behavior gather together and jointly pray and it feels good to be one with the universe. There are protestations that morality comes from such and religious folk of all stripes insist they are more moral than others. And surely, good works are done in religion's name. Still, even a cursory glance at the evidence suggests that religion has been responsible for much of the ugliness in human history and surely so in daily life. Priests, rabbis and other paragons of virtue have behaved detestably and their misdeeds have been hidden by their coreligionists. Rumor had it that the resigned Pope wanted to gain immunity from prosecution because of the cover-ups of sexual malefactors. But, even in ordinary life what can we expect from the religious? In a newspaper report, we learn that those who strongly identify as Christians routinely stiff wait staff. Instead, they are more likely to leave good advice about reading certain sections of the bible or complaints that tithing takes less of their cash than tipping.

All the above is irritating and laden with hypocrisy. When has a rabbi denounced a fellow rabbi for nasty behavior? Or bishops? Or Wiccans? Like any other organization, they make sure to hide their malefactors.

Yet, the real problem is at the core of religion. Essentially, religious views about the universe (everything that has existed, existed or will exist) are polar opposites to materialism, and here I mean science. Both religion and science are ways of knowing and the religious claim to know what God wants of us; and such “knowledge” is inviolable. There is a devil. There are angels. If a religious expert tells us that God made marriage and that marriage can only occur between a man and a woman, that is a Truth not a suggestion.

Contrast such Truth with science. Scientists say that any of their theories can be profoundly in error; there is no Truth, only probabilities. Some of you may not know that if the Higgs boson had not been found, sub-atomic understandings could not be maintained.

This simple distinction affects every aspect of our lives. Religion and science persistently grind against each other; lack of evidence does not dismay the former and requires the latter to rethink their ideas.

I don't believe that religion should be outlawed; people have a right to their delusions. But, I think it incumbent on any society to challenge the absurdities religionists propose as universal rules.

People complain more about pigeons

Than they do about fanciful religions

The latter they enjoy

Because it gives them a ploy

To manipulate our civic decisions.