We are all born with an inherent Belief Structure, this is true. The vast majority of the world’s population fills this Belief Structure with some ready-made religion, and this, also, is true. On the basis of these two truths, I can only surmise that the vast majority of the world’s population is lazy.
There is a cavernous distinction between a Belief Structure and Religion; Religion is the greasy Whopper Deluxe that the lethargic feed their increasingly unhealthy Belief Structure, when all the Belief Structure actually wants is something worthwhile to eat. The Whopper Deluxe becomes the only way to eat only because it’s been the only food ingested for so long...the possibility of other foodstuffs having better digestive qualities is a completely unseen proposition because of the mounds of Whopper Deluxe, and only Whopper Deluxe, filling the body cavity so fully that it blocks the eyes from seeing anything. The Whopper Deluxe becomes the litmus test for all other introduced foodstuffs: "It doesn’t taste enough like a Whopper Deluxe, so I’m not going to eat it."
As a man thankfully born unto no Religion, I can eat whatever I want; I am unafraid of varying types of meals because I have a full rainbow of flavours in my palette to draw upon or add to; I can take a nibble out of any type of delicacy and not immediately compare it to one monolithic sandwich item; I can look at food and decide on my own whether it looks worthwhile, rather than basing my decision on whether a new sandwich will taste enough like a Whopper Deluxe to fit my liking.
We are given a Belief Structure template when we are born, to be filled by experiences and to be forged out of critical thought; if we stunt our Belief Structure’s growth by cramming one book or one way of thinking into its gullet from our very inception, we are doing a grave disservice to said Belief Structure, as it then loses its capacity for critical thought and becomes only a filter through which we make decisions based entirely on how those choices will effect our Belief Structure, rather than allowing our Belief Structure to form based on our choices.
Religion from birth is the equivalent to a heroin shot into a pregnant woman’s bloodstream. The child wouldhave been healthy, ready to enter the world with its own singular perspective, its own unique possibilities, but now it enters the world with its mind clouded with addiction; from Day One, it’s heroin first, evolution of thought second. The best part about this analogy is the idea that this isn’t just a one shot deal, so to speak; no, from then on, the mother continually injects heroin into her young child because said child seems to be growing up fine, and it’s a whole lot easier to keep the child placated with heroin than it is to teach them anything. But then as the child grows, with this opiate coursing through its veins, they begin to lose the ability to allow any experience to come first; they are thinking heroin first, objectivity second. The child then goes through adolescence with a serious drug-monkey on their back, and when they’re eighteen the mother decides that since the kid is now an adult she can finally stop injecting them with junk, though she will continue said injections anytime the young adult comes home to visit. Through no fault of their own, this would-be adult now has a serious drug-problem that becomes their lifelong number one concern, leaving lived life by the wayside as they lope through their own life with hollow eyes, looking for like-minded addicts who are similarly frightened of anything that doesn’t mesh with their heroin habits.
One is an abrupt outcast should they be seen smoking in front of a small child, or, worse yet, feeding a two-year-old strong black coffee; and yet, handing a child a Bible during their formative years isn’t looked upon with the same revulsion, even though all three acts serve the same purpose: to stunt a child’s growth. Parents are actually raising their children without common sense, without the capacity to make their own distinctions between Good and Bad, without the ability to see things for what they are; these children are raised to compare what they experience against a contradictory supposed-instruction manual, which leads to quick yes or no scenarios rather than the mulling over of the absolute ambiguities that make up decision-making.
I’ve put forth the argument that Religion, much like cigarettes, alcohol, and recreational drugs, should be left to be found by burgeoning adults; the response I’ve gotten is that Religion won’t be found, and to this I vehemently disagree. I was raised, again thankfully, without an oppressive Religion and found myself drawn to it, like it was a decaying homeless-person on an otherwise unblemished stroll through the suburbs; I was able to research it, to take it in as a whole as well as in all its little offshoots; I was able to appreciate the preceptsof while maintaining my critical eye to its flaws; in short, I taught myself Religion rather than it teaching me.
Religion is Santa Claus for adults, and much like children reaching a certain age realize that it’s Dad eating the milk and cookies, adults have to come to the same conclusion as to their own beliefs: "God" isn’t watching over you, twisting your life down some pre-determined path; "God" doesn’t have a "plan" for you; "God" is just something to frighten and distract you from all of the fantastic things going on in your life, a scam to keep fearful individuals murderously enraged for no good reason...other than the value of blind-worship to a dictatorship. For us to continually evolve, we need to inoculate ourselves against the anchor of Religion, to cure our flawed thinking of this insidious disease so that we’re free to think openly and maybe, just maybe, progress as a species.
You’re welcome.
