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Religion
The character you perceive is inside
you, not inside the artwork. A different
viewer sees a different character.
Tell an army to go into battle because “their” god demands it,
manipulating the fiction to benefit those who control it.
Turn off the projection, and the god goes back to what it was
before—a page in a storyteller’s book and a bit of dust.
A stained-glass window may evoke a
sense of beauty, but the beauty is
inside you, not inside the glass.
Churches claimed they could give a lot to their followers: serenity,
strength, a sense of beauty and purpose, access to resources and
problem-solving abilities, clarity, vision, reverence for the physical
world and our nature, intuitive knowledge, care for themselves and
others, goodness, and more. Churches offered a power that will
both follow commands and guide one when uncertain.
Mites believe those things are already inside themselves. To any extent they are not, they can neither be given nor elicited by any external source.
Try to pin down this inner self or define it, and it slips away. One mite cannot communicate to another where or how to look for it. All a mite can say is, “Look.” Within limits, mythology, stories, dance, art, and poetry are acceptable ways of getting a person to look inside for something valuable.
So, where did humans go wrong regarding religion?
A stained-glass window may evoke a sense of beauty, but the beauty is inside you, not the glass. The glass is a dead object, whereas beauty is a feeling only the living can have. If there were no beauty inside you, the glass would appear dull. You possess beauty as an internal component of yourself, and experience it as though it were an external property attached to the glass.
We look at a painting of oil on canvas, and our mind evokes a scene. The dabs of paint are only suggestive, but our mind fills in all the details. We look through the picture frame as though it were a window. If there are flowers in the painting, we might even smell their fragrance. If it is a portrait, we read the subject’s character and imagine their legend. None of that is real. The scene is a projection of something inside the viewer. The character you see is inside you, not inside the artwork. A different viewer sees a different character. Turn off the projection, and the scene returns to what it was before — a piece of canvas, some dabs of paint, and a bit of dust.
Similarly, if a man believes in a god, that god does exist, in his experience, at the time. But it is a projection of something inside himself. A second person projects another vision, and the two may be surprised that their understandings are different. Turn off the projection, and the god returns to what it was before — a page in a storyteller’s book and a bit of dust.
The trick of religion is getting people to project their real inner world onto a fictional external one, then interpreting and manipulating the fiction.
The lie is an instrument to achieve a hidden purpose: to gain control over the believers and build a sphere of power and wealth at their expense. Tell an army to go into battle because “their” god demands it, manipulating the fiction to benefit those who control it.
Amazing grace, How sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost, but now I'm found,
Was blind, but now I see.
Churches taught that the alternative to belief in their god is depravity and damnation. They would claim your inner being as their own and knock down your confidence in yourself. They demanded that you earn your very worth on their terms, with heaven or hell waiting for the outcome, as if mere mortals could be appointed gatekeepers of the universe.
No magician controls the power one seeks when it is already theirs, and all one has to do is recognize the sleight of hand.
Thousands [1] of minor religions were fine; their purpose to get a person to look inside. The symbols of the religion (including the god) were only symbols. The myths and stories were regarded as allegories and nothing more.
But mainstream churches insisted that the myriad fantasies in their scriptures — things like the little winged serpents that flew before Adam and Eve — were absolute. So, churches held fast to their position as opposed to objective reality.
The big sin of Adam and Eve — the infraction that got them kicked out of Eden was — they ate from the tree of knowledge.
Churches opposed knowledge. How could they not oppose everything based on knowledge: science, academia, worldliness, prosperity, and modernity? The most faithful believers eschewed all those things and found virtue in poverty.
Churches said their purpose was to make better and kinder people. But the Roman Empire was not thinking of kindness when, in 325 AD, at the Council of Nicaea, Romans imposed an ironhanded state religion. Their purpose was to tighten control over the far-flung Roman territories. The tactic did not work for its intended purpose; the Empire continued to fragment, and Rome was sacked 142 years later. But the Empire’s new religion acquired a life of its own and would continue in various forms for the next two millennia.
The Roman church was heavily invested in its concept of the nuclear family. Its basic social unit was a husband, wife, and children. Churches were supposed to sanction and officiate families with baptisms, weddings, and funerals. In their view, marriage was the providence of their god. Men were to be soldiers. Women were to be virgins when wed and could never divorce.
At the turn of the third millennium, around 1960, the Roman family model began declining as the cultural norm. New ideas about freedom and opportunity for women and gays especially ran counter.
Churches doubled down and waged a culture war. But the tide had turned. Churches forced their vision of family and marriage into law, only to see their effort backfire by driving the institution of marriage out of popularity. Census takers took to counting couples living together as married, and even after fudging the data, the married population dwindled.
Mites have two basic rules regarding religion. First, any story must either be compatible with objective reality or be regarded as an allegory. Second, nothing outside of one’s skin is real unless it can be detected in one of five senses: sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell. Anyone breaking one of those two rules is lying or misled.
We like the tale of Santa Claus. Children enjoy the flying reindeer and the toy factory at the North Pole. In its way, the story teaches generosity, kindness, and thoughtfulness. But it is illegal in mite society to found a cult by claiming that reindeer actually fly. Santa Claus is not real because he can’t be seen or heard. Claiming that reindeer can fly is an enormous lie. Perhaps it is so preposterous that it must be true.
The story continues here.
_________________________
[1] Wikipedia, "List of religions and spiritual traditions." Online at
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_religions_and_spiritual_traditions
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Copyright (c) 2024 by Don Knight
Mites believe those things are already inside themselves. To any extent they are not, they can neither be given nor elicited by any external source.
Try to pin down this inner self or define it, and it slips away. One mite cannot communicate to another where or how to look for it. All a mite can say is, “Look.” Within limits, mythology, stories, dance, art, and poetry are acceptable ways of getting a person to look inside for something valuable.
So, where did humans go wrong regarding religion?
A stained-glass window may evoke a sense of beauty, but the beauty is inside you, not the glass. The glass is a dead object, whereas beauty is a feeling only the living can have. If there were no beauty inside you, the glass would appear dull. You possess beauty as an internal component of yourself, and experience it as though it were an external property attached to the glass.
We look at a painting of oil on canvas, and our mind evokes a scene. The dabs of paint are only suggestive, but our mind fills in all the details. We look through the picture frame as though it were a window. If there are flowers in the painting, we might even smell their fragrance. If it is a portrait, we read the subject’s character and imagine their legend. None of that is real. The scene is a projection of something inside the viewer. The character you see is inside you, not inside the artwork. A different viewer sees a different character. Turn off the projection, and the scene returns to what it was before — a piece of canvas, some dabs of paint, and a bit of dust.
Similarly, if a man believes in a god, that god does exist, in his experience, at the time. But it is a projection of something inside himself. A second person projects another vision, and the two may be surprised that their understandings are different. Turn off the projection, and the god returns to what it was before — a page in a storyteller’s book and a bit of dust.
The trick of religion is getting people to project their real inner world onto a fictional external one, then interpreting and manipulating the fiction.
The lie is an instrument to achieve a hidden purpose: to gain control over the believers and build a sphere of power and wealth at their expense. Tell an army to go into battle because “their” god demands it, manipulating the fiction to benefit those who control it.
Amazing grace, How sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost, but now I'm found,
Was blind, but now I see.
Churches taught that the alternative to belief in their god is depravity and damnation. They would claim your inner being as their own and knock down your confidence in yourself. They demanded that you earn your very worth on their terms, with heaven or hell waiting for the outcome, as if mere mortals could be appointed gatekeepers of the universe.
No magician controls the power one seeks when it is already theirs, and all one has to do is recognize the sleight of hand.
Thousands [1] of minor religions were fine; their purpose to get a person to look inside. The symbols of the religion (including the god) were only symbols. The myths and stories were regarded as allegories and nothing more.
But mainstream churches insisted that the myriad fantasies in their scriptures — things like the little winged serpents that flew before Adam and Eve — were absolute. So, churches held fast to their position as opposed to objective reality.
The big sin of Adam and Eve — the infraction that got them kicked out of Eden was — they ate from the tree of knowledge.
Churches opposed knowledge. How could they not oppose everything based on knowledge: science, academia, worldliness, prosperity, and modernity? The most faithful believers eschewed all those things and found virtue in poverty.
Churches said their purpose was to make better and kinder people. But the Roman Empire was not thinking of kindness when, in 325 AD, at the Council of Nicaea, Romans imposed an ironhanded state religion. Their purpose was to tighten control over the far-flung Roman territories. The tactic did not work for its intended purpose; the Empire continued to fragment, and Rome was sacked 142 years later. But the Empire’s new religion acquired a life of its own and would continue in various forms for the next two millennia.
The Roman church was heavily invested in its concept of the nuclear family. Its basic social unit was a husband, wife, and children. Churches were supposed to sanction and officiate families with baptisms, weddings, and funerals. In their view, marriage was the providence of their god. Men were to be soldiers. Women were to be virgins when wed and could never divorce.
At the turn of the third millennium, around 1960, the Roman family model began declining as the cultural norm. New ideas about freedom and opportunity for women and gays especially ran counter.
Churches doubled down and waged a culture war. But the tide had turned. Churches forced their vision of family and marriage into law, only to see their effort backfire by driving the institution of marriage out of popularity. Census takers took to counting couples living together as married, and even after fudging the data, the married population dwindled.
Mites have two basic rules regarding religion. First, any story must either be compatible with objective reality or be regarded as an allegory. Second, nothing outside of one’s skin is real unless it can be detected in one of five senses: sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell. Anyone breaking one of those two rules is lying or misled.
We like the tale of Santa Claus. Children enjoy the flying reindeer and the toy factory at the North Pole. In its way, the story teaches generosity, kindness, and thoughtfulness. But it is illegal in mite society to found a cult by claiming that reindeer actually fly. Santa Claus is not real because he can’t be seen or heard. Claiming that reindeer can fly is an enormous lie. Perhaps it is so preposterous that it must be true.
The story continues here.
_________________________
[1] Wikipedia, "List of religions and spiritual traditions." Online at
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_religions_and_spiritual_traditions
Home | Creation Story | Warriors | Honesty | Limits | Class | Gender | Religion | Sexuality | Countries | Stewardship | Author | Contact
Copyright (c) 2024 by Don Knight