- It is astounding to me how resilient religious belief is. It almost seems as if we are hard wired to
believe in some form of supernatural, and that while many of us are able
to transcend this, many are not.
- In the modern secular world, many
religious groups have adapted. Their belief systems are in various degrees
adaptations of moral codes as filtered through the metaphors of scripture.
They are not literal believers. If they have a belief in revelation it is
a loose one - for example, that God reveals things in mysterious and often
symbolic ways. And they are willing and able to disbelieve the factual
claims of the scripture. With these people I have no, or very few,
problems.
- For those who believe
fundamentally - by which I mean, believe in the revealed word as recorded
in the relevant (for them) scripture - for these people belief relates not
only to morals, but also, crucially to facts. For example, there are
factual claims about matters such as the age of the universe, the occurrence
of events (including miracles), the development of language, etc. With
these people I have great difficulty.
- There is no evidence that you could ever
bring that would weigh with them against the claims of that scripture. Any
such evidence, no matter how compelling, can be and is dismissed as
mistaken or a puzzle sent by God. For example, the claim that the world is
about 6,000 years old is reconciled by saying that appearances to the
contrary were created by God. (Some respond by interpreting the claim
liberally to be symbolic - so a 'year' could be much longer than a year.
But many insist that the literal meaning of the words are the correct
ones.)
- This mindset is pretty scary. It is a
mindset insulated from any prospect of refutation of core beliefs no
matter how repugnant or incorrect factually they may appear to us.
- This is why, while I recognize the many
socially beneficial and aesthetically pleasing aspects of organized
religion, I also fear its potential for incredible evil when it has the
power to compel. This requires eternal vigilance. Theocracies once very
common, still exist in many parts of the world and these are usually
horrible places to live in.
- As a Jew I also believe that, though Judaism, in
many respects, avoids most of the worst cases that would operate
in a world in which Jewish Law were the absolute authority, it is also
true that in such a world there would be much to object to - especially
regarding some of the more extreme varieties of interpretation of Jewish
law. And I also think that, as oppressive as the dispersion was for Jews,
the fact that Judaism became a rabbinic religion in a world of strangers, prevented some of the worst developments that might have occurred had it
continued to be a temple religion based on the rule of the high priests.
One of topics I tend to obsess a bit about is
the nature of religion and its role in society. My readers may react very
differently depending on their presumptions. It is one of the those topics that
is very difficult if not impossible to discuss with some people. I think I
understand why this is. But I still have trouble emotionally interacting with
these people. It is my problem not theirs I suppose. Let me try and explain.
