Religion
By Mark van Dyk

I grew up a member of the Lutheran church, a mediocre band of Christians who left the theological superstitions and rites of the Catholic church behind them and thus exchanged the mystery and sanctity of Rome for the luke-warm, uninspired flaccidity of Martin Luther. This split was bound to happen, for no one who is Modern particularly likes mystery, preferring predictability and safety instead. Thus would this monumental rebellion set a great precedent for all the like splitters and abandoners in the West who were in search of something more. Today we now have so many sects, cults, and denominations of Christianity, each with its own separate agenda, dogma, and superstitious rhetoric that one can scarcely get at what it means to be a Christian. I suppose that is why there are so many books teaching one how to be a Christian.  There is obviously quite a bit of confusion about it. Near my own place of work there is an entire book shop devoted to nothing but Christian theology and “how-to-be-a Christian” books. I suppose that the Bible is just not enough for them, though it is said to be the work of God himself, his greatest literary achievement, a manual for all life on earth. Still, if it be all of these things, the only conclusion I can draw about it, considering the large amount of confusion in the world about what it actually tells, is that God must need an editor. As a boy I never thought overmuch about the religion of which I was a part. I went to church, said my prayers, sang hallelujahs, went to Sunday school and hated every minute of it. Church, for the young boy, is probably one of the worst punishments I can think of. Combined with making him sing in the choir and wear a robe, I can think of no punishment worse, save flaying or castration. Yet, I suffered through it. It was expected of me and I obliged.

 Later, though I can not say when I began to have second thoughts about the process, I began to question just what church was, what Christianity was, and eventually what all religions were. I suppose the first thing that tipped me off to the fact that religion might be less than it claimed was that I really didn’t enjoy being a part of it. In fact, I dreaded it like one dreads (though dutifully) watching the ten o’clock news.

 So, what is religion? There seems to be a difference between what religion claims to be and what it really is, and this false claim is what is inherently detrimental to every person who becomes involved with one. Religion claims several things, most having to do with matters of the spirit and the eventuality of death. Religion claims to be able to put a man in tune with his own spirit. It attempts to explain the divine questions of life, like ‘Why are we here?’ ‘Is there purpose?’ ‘Is there life after death?’. Generally, religion will then set about to outline a system of rules and guidelines so that the devotee might achieve the promised and desired ends--- the answers to his questions.  The question is, does it achieve these ends?

 To answer this question, we must put such terms as “soul” and “spirit” and “death” into better perspective. What is a soul? In most religions the soul is that part of a man that transcends mere corporal form. It is the collection of his memories, personality, and traits--- those parts of him that distinguished him as unique among his kind into a sort of “ball of energy” that maintains itself without need of sustenance or body. That is, it is a form/energy that exists quite outside the realm of what we now understand of physics and the Universe as a whole. In essence, it is a form of energy that burns no fuel and has no overlying physical structure to keep it from charging willy-nilly through the Universe like a misguided lightning bolt. This seeming impossibility is generally explained away with supernatural reasoning.  It is assumed that there is more to the world than our meager understanding, and therefore the existence of a thing that seems impossible is by no means impossible if we were only capable of supernatural understanding.

 I take no issue with this premise. I believe, if anything, in possibilities. Certainly our understanding of the world around us, or at least that which can be qualified and quantified, is limited. The soul, for all we know, may be something that we intuitively understand, or it may be an invented idea to give us hope in the fear of death. No man can say. The soul, like the existence of god, belongs to that category of things that can neither be proved nor disproved. With this in mind, how can a religion possibly make the claim that it is not only capable of explaining the cosmos and man’s place in it, but that it is capable of putting a man in touch with his soul? If no one truly understands what the word “soul” implies, then how can anyone hope to put a man in touch with it? We admit that we have no real understanding of what the soul really is, yet we are quick to take part in prayers, chants, mantras, meditations, hypnoses, and trances to get in touch with it. Is this absurd? Perhaps. It is better to ask: What is prayer?  What is meditation? And, how does it really work? But these are questions that must be addressed later. First, we must address the question of death.

 All religions seem to be based upon one fundamental question: what happens after death? Christianity teaches that if one follows certain rules, he will go to heaven. If he does not, he will go to hell. Islam is much the same. Buddhism teaches that one reincarnates if certain rules were not followed in life. The Hindus teach much the same. The ancient Egyptians weighed a man’s soul to see if he was fit for the new life. Ghosts abound and ancestor worship is still prevalent in many societies. There are angry spirits, benevolent spirits, spooks, shades, and yes, even the undead, zombies and ghouls, neither living nor dead but animated bone and sinew.

 So, what is death? Do we go on? Do we crumble into dust? Again, the afterlife belongs to that realm of things that can neither be proved nor disproved. It is a complete and utter mystery. How, then, can anyone truly hope to explain it? What man is prepared to put his faith in the ideas of others (for what are the theories of the afterlife if they are not the invented delusions of creative and hopeful minds?). Religion, however, defies all logic, steps forward and offers men the explanations they seek to all of these questions. They offer methods as described above; prayers, meditations, and rites. In addition to this, they offer men rules and guidelines on how to live in order that they might gain the most desired afterlife possible; Heaven, Nirvana, Asgard, and enlightenment.

 It would certainly behoove us, then, to take a closer look at some of these rules and prescriptions for spiritual bliss and gaining the hereafter! After all, an awful lot rides on it, yes? We should not be so willing to give over and chip in our soul to the community pot, should we? Not when there are so many alternatives! So, why, then, do we? It is my experience that few people do much serious questioning about their religion, even when it is painfully obvious that religion is a culturally specific phenomenon. Most Americans are not born to be Buddhists because, quite simply, they are not born into a Buddhist culture. This is also why they do not speak French, drive Citroens, wear wooden shoes, or cover their heads with cloth. But, I digress.  Back to the issue at hand:

 Let us take a look at Christianity and the things it sets out to do. Christianity teaches that all men are born sinful and unclean. It teaches that through knowing Christ (their god-figure) one might attain heaven and live in spiritual bliss. It teaches that by praying one might communicate with god himself and achieve peace through him. It teaches that men must do good works and no evil, though they will be forgiven their evil deeds if they repent honestly. By default, since all men are born evil, all men will do evil, therefore men are born failures who can only be successful through loving and putting their faith in god. Men are only capable of doing good works when god works through them, and only by accepting the sacrifice of god’s son, Jesus Christ will they reach heaven.

 Now, we have given a cursory explanation of the system. If you do good, pray, and accept Jesus as your saviour, you will gain spiritual peace and go to heaven. What’s wrong with this?

 The fact is that it doesn’t work. Despite the fact that Christianity promotes the belief that you are a worthless clod from the moment you arrive in the world, its methods for achieving spiritual satisfaction inevitably leave one cold. Why any man should cling to a belief system that paints such a pathetic picture of mankind I will never know, except of course that men always seem ready and willing to accept the worst sort of demeaning slanders as par for the course.  Granted, all men have their days and if we must cling to terms such as good and evil, all men are capable of evil, but I choose to believe that men are not either good or evil, but that they simply are. Let me explain.

 Christianity, instead of leading a man to his spirit, leads him away from it. If we agree that the spirit is something that possesses all of our memories, personality, and quirks, everything, essentially that is us, how then can we expect someone who is not us to lead us to our own spirit? The church, for example, promotes prayer. This is a communication with god, they will say, but never in all my life of prayer did I do anything but hear myself talk! This is arguably wonderful therapy. Certainly it relieves a man to claim no responsibility for his life, speak out his woes, and place them in the hands of some supernatural being. But how does it help a man to come into contact with his own spirit, if the whole time he is focused and leaving it all up to some force outside of himself. The Christians have a wonderfully idiotic saying that goes like this: “The lord helps those who help themselves.” Ha! What tripe! If a man helps himself, does that not immediately relieve his burden of needing anything else, from god or man? Why should god have anything to do with it? Again and again we see that religion holds before the believer an ideal, an attainment outside of himself that can never to be achieved, that in fact, he never even hopes to achieve in his lifetime by virtue of his very nature! By virtue, one might say, of his very soul! Everything that makes up his spirit, by the Christian dogma, is corrupt, yet this is the part of themselves that they wish to go on forever! Madness! Why seek for your spirit outside of yourself? Certainly we were all given the information at birth how best to govern our own lives, how to commune with our own spirits. Yet, religion time and again intimates that the spirit is something not wholly us, but something outside of us that awaits recognition. Just as happiness is never achieved by seeking outside of one’s self, by purchasing a new car or going to see some half-wit comedian on the stage, so too is the spirit never found by seeking beyond one’s own nose. Abandon such disastrous teachings at once! Throw away your books and your prayer beads, your mantras and your meditations and look where? Within you. Even Jesus himself, a man constantly misunderstood, said that the kingdom of god resides within every man.

 The Buddhists are just as guilty as the Christians. I will spare no religion in my quest to undo them all.

 One of Buddhism’s foremost precepts is that life is suffering, and that only by admitting this can we achieve happiness. Are you recognizing a pattern here? Again, we hear the same tired slogan, like the commercials in our magazines and on our televisions, religion teaches that men cannot be happy unless they do this or that or subscribe to this scroll or purchase this prayer booklet. Say a thousand Hail Marys and chant a thousand different verses and what have you done? How nearer are you to the force that resides within your own skin, that resides in every tree and stone and comet? You might as well seek for your soul within the craters of the moon.

 Religions are insidious also in that they teach men that they are born flawed. It is my opinion that this is brought on chiefly by the knowledge of death. Like a watch that stops and can’t be fixed, humans die and must therefore be flawed. Yet, how simple it is to think that all things are just as they are supposed to be, that in fact all things are perfect? It’s merely a flip of the switch, really, as so much of life is.

 This belief in being flawed is perhaps one of the most detrimental beliefs to humanity I can think of. As soon as the belief is accepted, the initiate immediately sets about to better himself through begging for forgivness, striving to improve his attitude and in general distract himself from his true nature as often as possible. As a complement to this quest, man constantly attempts to prolong his life. How ironic that the same men who cling to religious ideals also strive to make the perfect man, the man who will live forever. They are covering both bases, as it were, one for the present and one for the hereafter. How vain it all is!

 Is it not better to accept one’s self without condemnation? Are men truly born flawed and evil? I tell you, no babe, mutated or otherwise appears to me to be flawed or evil. Men are beautiful just as they are and only the fearful seek to pigeon-hole and control their neighbors with slander and passing judgment.

 The wisest sages wrote no tablets and spoke no messages of wisdom.  Enlightenment and happiness are never things that can be found when sought for. All men are enlightened, just as all men are perfect and happy. They have only to allow themselves the chance to see it. Men must abandon the teachings of the so-called wise, for those who speak most know least. Words mislead and every teacher is a charlatan. A man has only to walk firmly upon his own two feet and he will see the world around him and he will hear the sages singing in the deepest silences.  When, at last, he can communicate his enlightenment and the nature of his spirit without speaking he will know all things.

 Religions ask that a man deny his life in order that he might attain some glorious existence in death. Through rules, rites, and dogmas the temples and churches of our day will throttle the very blood and vigor out of a man. His impulses are destroyed beneath a veil of what he should do, what he ought to do. His progress toward himself is impeded by commandments, writs, virtues, and laws while his spirit languishes in darkness. The minute a man abandons his own inner truths in exchange for those handed to him by a grey-bearded fool, he kills himself entirely, his eternity and his divinity whither in the moment as he sets himself in search of tomorrow. And tomorrow, as Janis said, never happens, man. Amen.