Food For Thought

I had lunch with Jesus last week. Actually, it was one of his hard-core followers. T. and I worked in the same department six or seven years ago. We weren't close friends, it was more like occasional lunch-time acquaintances. He's a nice guy who became a fundamentalist Christian a few years back. We ran into one another a couple weeks ago, and last week we went to lunch.

Well, after some small talk we started talking religion. (I'm not one to shy away from controversial subjects.) You can guess the rest: he became quite enthusiastic in his arguments ("Do you believe Christ existed? That he rose from the dead? You believe that George Washington lived, don't you? Why not Christ?! What would it take to make you believe?).

I countered his arguments as well as I could, but when fundamental assumptions differ, there is no common ground for mutual understanding. One problem was that he was not discussing religion to arrive at new understandings, as I was, he was arguing as if to defend his belief (fine by me; I wasn't attacking him) and to convert me (a little insulting - he was convinced my beliefs were wrong without even learning what my beliefs were).

For T., being a good person is not enough, one must believe all Christian doctrine or risk the fires of hell. To paraphrase one of his comments, "Life is like the ultimate final exam!" (Yeah, he teaches children's Bible study; how'd ya guess?)

Following this frustrating experience, I gave considerable thought to our conversation. I attempt to summarize my thoughts in the following rant:

Religious dogma reflects man's greatest fear, death.

Who is not chilled by the thought of death? Nonexistence is the greatest insult possible to the human ego. The fear that life has no meaning and that one's existence is meaningless is the fundamental drive of all human religious and philosophical endeavors.

This is a fear of what may be to come, not what was. To imagine the world prior to one's birth, a world ignorant of one's value and self-worth, is humbling, but there is nothing to fear because that time has passed.

The future holds dread because it is the great unknown. When one anticipates one's death, man's most difficult questions arise: Why are we here? Is there a purpose to existence? Not one has a definitive answer. These mysteries are the basis for all philosophy and religion.

Philosophy, the speculative inquiry into the source and nature of human knowledge, employs man's rational faculties: logic and mathematics. Natural philosophy, the study of natural phenomena, has evolved into modern science.

Religion reflects the mystical, or irrational, side of man's character. Religion attributes reality to supernatural causes, or a being or beings with powers that surpass man's.

Science does not explain reality; rather, it models reality. Models are limited by human perception. Our senses reveal only a tiny fraction of what is. In fact, our perceptions of reality are models generated by the brain. Even language is a model; language models the mind and its interaction with everything outside the mind. To phrase a question such as 'what is reality' is to reduce it to a model: it imposes the concept of 'what-ness' upon the concept of 'is-ness' upon the concept of 'reality.' Expressed this way, the apparently trivial arguments of philosophy are understandable, given the inscrutable nature of the underlying assumptions.

Both philosophy-science and religion are limited by restrictions on human knowledge and perception of reality, and on the irrational nature of models. Both are founded on assumptions that cannot be resolved due to an ultimate unknowability and uncertainty.

Many have abandoned hope of getting any answers from either philosophy-science or religion. Reason is rejected except in narrowly-defined pursuits, as seen in the specialization of modern scientific fields. Science has become man's God, used more as a provider of creature comforts than answers. Those who do believe that science can resolve the mysteries forget or ignore the fact that science's foundation is irrational.

Spiritualism and mysticism have been rejected, regarded as childish, or as a weakness to be overcome. Spiritual beliefs are considered superstitions because they do not fit into a rational framework.

Because the questions appear impossible to answer, sometimes the questions are not asked at all.

Man is not purely a rational animal or a irrational animal. The irrational characteristics (love, pride, fear, etc.) contribute as fully to the survival of the individual, the family, and the tribe as the rational.

Those who strive to be purely rational will not admit to the possibility of the direct experience of God. The rejection of God as part of man's being (the belief that God is not in us, He's 'out there' or 'up in heaven') dictates the need for mediators. Priests, rabbis, and church elders know God, then deliver His message; everyone else must wait. Church leaders teach that faith and obedience to church doctrine are essential traits of a good Christian or Jew. They teach that life is a trial. The only reward allowed before death is the satisfaction in living as the church dictates.

The ecstatic states experienced by shamen are viewed as, at best, primitive paganism; at their worst, insane or drug-caused distortions of reality, or even satanic possessions (superstition explaining spiritualism).

Religious dogma corrupts the essence of spirituality: love. The expression of love, as embodied in the golden rule, his been superseded by the ten commandments. The ten commandments express the memes necessary for a healthy society, but the superstitious concepts of sin and punishment in hell are man-made inventions exploited for material gain and control. Fear does little to prepare one for the promise of heaven and is a poor basis for a healthy society.

The corruption of the golden rule stems from the concepts of a remote god and an after-death reward or punishment. Despite the possibility of eternal punishment, human denial permits the corruption because the consequences of sins committed come not in this world but the next (if at all).

Humanity will never be free of the desire for something better. It is ironic that the serenity man desires will not be achieved except in the striving for serenity. To cease striving means that one has settled for something less than serenity. Material comfort is a misdirected and short-sighted goal, a selfish and greedy pursuit without ultimate reward.

The fact that man's purpose is unknown or hidden is no excuse for the pain and suffering inflicted in the world. The striving itself is rewarding and frequently leaves the searcher with understanding - with the distinct impression that he is God - that God comprises every human and everything else.

The distillation of all human thoughts, feelings, and emotions is the singular essence of man's spiritual being, of man's understanding of God. This essence is exemplified in man's most abstract conception - love.

The expression and sharing of love should be the primary pursuit of man, love shared selflessly, without the anticipation of reward. Love that is shared is love experienced.

How does one achieve this noble goal? Given the apparent negative aspects of human character, how does one avoid becoming a victim? It seems that a single person cannot change the world. Every religion has its prophets, every religion has its savior, yet the world is the same. Each savior has delivered a message; the essence of each message is the same.

It is the implementation of the message that is corrupted, however, not the message itself. It makes no difference if the commonality of the messages is due to the fundamental character of human nature or if each message has the same source, God. According to the concept of Man == God, there is no difference.

Can one person change the world? Gandhi, Muhammad, Christ: each lived according to the golden rule; has the world received the message? There are people today sincerely living and teaching the golden rule; they are ignored, rejected, or persecuted.

Well, they were made pariahs in the eyes of those living according to the corrupted message. Maybe they have achieved the serenity and the peace that comes with the striving for love, for God. As stated before, the striving never ceases. It is natural that with the serenity would come acceptance. Acceptance is not approval, far from it. Just as love cannot exist without hate, serenity is not possible without suffering. The solution is to leave the dark side behind in the attainment of the light.

To live in the light, to pursue love -- that is how one achieves an understanding of God -- how one becomes God. In the attainment of awareness and acceptance of the existence of good and evil, and the striving for good and the rejection of evil one achieves the serenity that transcends pain and death.