. . . an examination of things of interest to jad

Then in fellowship sweet we will sit at His feet,
Or we’ll walk by His side in the way;
What He says we will do, where He sends we will go;
Never fear, only trust and obey.

Trust and obey, for there’s no other way
To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.
- Classic Creepy Hymn

For a number of reasons, I’ve been thinking, recently, about my history with religion. I’m perceived as being hostile to (most specifically) Christianity and even accused of “hating” it. I honestly don’t feel like I hate Christianity–I’m not even sure what that means–but I wanted to think through the possibility and explain my opposition to religion and why it is often so fierce.

Most atheists’^[1] primary objection to religion is that it’s not true. Believers are like our primitive ancestors who think the earth is flat. The atheist can’t understand why, when faced with very clear, logical, and conclusive^[2] arguments against the existence of whatever god(s) are in question, believers refuse to modify their position or admit its obvious absurdity.

The argument is about what is factually correct, and most of the “wrongness” of the religious is thought to be in their lack of understanding of reality. In this context, the argument against religion is like an argument about where the 1928 olympics were held^[3] (well, ok, an argument taking place before search engines . . . and away from libraries). Somebody is right and somebody is wrong–or both might be wrong–but if everyone is convinced of their “facts,” then there’s no means by which to end the argument or make progress in any direction.

And of course this is annoying and, if the individuals in the discussion stake enough of their identity in their positions, it can even be infuriating for them. Nevertheless, it’s often enough chalked up to a difference of “opinion,” or a matter of faith, or a to-each-his-own scenario or whatever.

Religion has a much, much darker side however, which is it’s training in obedience in the face of things one is told one “can’t understand.”

This isn’t a trait of hardcore evangelical faiths (aka fundamentalism), but is a common thread throughout all varieties of religion. Religions are premised on the notion that the universe we perceive and can bring our senses and mind to bear on isn’t “real.” Beyond the senses, beyond matter and energy, there is a much greater, majestic, and eternal reality filled with spirits and, most importantly deities, that determine the fate of your eternal soul and are very interested in your choices and actions^[4].
Conveniently, these Gods can’t simply tell you what you need to do. Unless you’re a Moses, Mohammad, Joseph Smith, or L. Ron Hubbard, you’re going to want the guidance of an expert–a priest, minister or other clergy. These people will help with the interpretation of religious texts at the very least and may even be in a direct chain of communication to God himself.

Even though a cursory lay-persons reading of, for example, the New Testament reveals a pretty simple message–don’t hurt other people, help children, the poor, the sick and the old–the primary message of every religion is, as the song goes, Trust and Obey.

Children, obey your parents; women folk, obey your men folk; slaves, obey your masters; church members, obey the church; and everybody, obey the government^[5]. Submit and obey. Obey and submit. You have been put on this earth under the supervision of various god-appointed authorities. They exist to interface with the mysteries and complexities that are beyond your comprehension and to deliver to you divinely prescribed commandments that you are to follow.

Of course, religion is not alone in this endeavor. The other authorities at the top of the previous paragraph reinforce each other. Parents tell their children to obey the church (priests, sunday school teachers) and the state (police, school teachers). The government legislates, public schools teach and elected leaders constantly harp on the need for obedience to spiritual leaders and parents (or adults more generally).

Religion adds the mystery and ritual, however, and goes beyond right and wrong, legal and illegal to a special dispensation on what is transcendentally good and evil.

These two things–1. casting doubt on the biological means of comprehending the material world (senses and reason)^[6] and 2. elevating blind obedience, faith and submission to authority into the highest realms of virtue–move religion from the category of factually-and-infuriatingly-wrong to that of fundamentally-destructive-of-human-well-being.

There’s much more to say, and it’s likely that my real-life conversations about religion will inspire future posts, but I’m going to wrap this post up and leave you with the dirge that inspired this post. Warning! If you know this song, think carefully about re-subjecting yourself to it–it can stay in your head for days.

1. ^[1] For the purposes of this article, I’ll refer to all manner of non-believers as atheists ↩
2. ^[2] At least, as conclusive as any argument against the existence of anything can be. ↩
3. ^[3] I tried to think of a better example: evolution, global warming, geology, but most break down along religious lines. ↩
4. ^[4] One could argue that the “personal deity” is more a description of western, abrahamic religions, but even easterners seem to receive directions to kill based on religious differences, so I’m going to cast my net widely ↩
5. ^[5] On very rare occasions these things can be in conflict, but after a brief, usually violent, sorting-out they tend to self-correct and harmonize. ↩
6. ^[6] I may follow up about this, but a really good analogy can be found in this Stephan Molyneux podcast. ↩

This episode of “That’s Some Bullshit Right There,” involves a dude who is charged with counterfeiting. Let me tell you about what dude did: he created coins made out of silver and stamped with a value of $1. Each coin contains 1 troy ounce of silver currently worth ~$35 (up from $10 after a decade of warfare and rampant money creation).

So if you are selling, say, a $1 candybar and somebody gives you a “$1 coin” that’s actually worth $35 dollars, can we really say that you are a victim of counterfeiting?

This is an old’ish man–67 years old. He’s going to prison for upwards of 25 years for making coins that, should you accidentally accept one, would make you 35 times wealthier than a paper dollar bill.

I understand that you may disagree with the man’s politics. You may not like that he “opened the Free Marijuana Church of Honolulu, giving away pot and calling himself a ‘high priest’”–high priest, get it?

You might not like that his primary customers are Tea Party/Ron Paul types who purchase coins made of valuable metal because they believe that, as trillions of dollars are created de novo by the Federal Reserve to pay for a global war, domestic police state and to shovel into the maw of the corporate and financial sectors, the value of the dollar will decline–as it has by 95% in the last century of global wars, an increasing police state and skyrocketing wealth of the corporate and financial classes.

You may think he’s goofy, you may think he’s stupid, but this man is clearly innocent of hurting anyone but those who benefit from maintaining the belief that the value of the dollar isn’t falling through the floor.

It gets even better: “Attempts to undermine the legitimate currency of this country are simply a unique form of domestic terrorism,” [US Attorney] Tompkins said in a Department of Justice news release after the conviction.

“While these forms of anti-government activities do not involve violence, they are every bit as insidious and represent a clear and present danger to the economic stability of this country,”

. . . the fuck? A representative from the institution that has heaped roughly a quarter million dollars of debt onto every man, woman and child within it’s borders (as well as the unborn and the not yet conceived); an institution that is owned lock, stock and barrel by the wealthiest ruling class in the history of the planet; an institution that is beggaring hundreds of millions of people to artificially maintain the wealth of a fraction of a percent of its population . . . a representative of this institution is saying that a hippie making silver coins is a clear and present danger to the economic stability of this country and that he should die in a cage for his “crimes”?

That’s some bullshit right there.

Oh, and PS. Morris Dees? Last I checked the SPLC was taking down evil fuckers like the Ku Klux Klan and shit. When did you start carrying water for the goddamn Empire? Jeeezus, with friends like these . . .