Here follows a brief analogy that might help us to understand the role of religion in human history and society a little better. The list of evil things that have been done in the name of religion is very long; but, it seems, for every evil thing, there is something good that a religious person has done. This does not, of course, prove that religion itself is the source of those good things; as Sam Harris says, religion often gives people bad reasons to do good things. But what we are left with is a long list of good and bad things, to be considered on a case by case basis, and are thus unable to determine whether religion is, on the whole, good or bad for the human species. (It is, of course, a moot point, for it is nearly inconceivable for humans to not have religion.)
The human mind, with its capacity for reason, creativity, and social interactions, is like a wild prairie thick with rhizomes and roots of the grasses and wildflowers. It flourishes, and holds down the soil. This is what the human mind is capable of: great thoughts and great works, based upon our earthly, altruistic, non-religious brains.
But religion is like a modern agricultural field. Organized religions demand that we clear away all of the grass stems and roots, and leave a completely empty, flat field of soil. It was the grass stems and roots that had created the soil in the first place, but we are not supposed to acknowledge this. We are supposed to empty our minds of reason and of our previous understandings of the world, leaving nothing but fertile soil in which ìthe Word of Godî can be planted.
Sometimes, the result can be a lush garden or a productive agricultural field. This depends entirely on the kind of seed that is planted. Some people, whose minds have been cleared out by religion, grow thought-gardens that have many and very different species in them; these are the philosophical, scholarly religious people, particularly in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Some people plant an agricultural field that stretches as far as the eye can see with just one kind of crop, a monoculture consisting of just a simple religious idea. These are the unthinking religious people. But in either case, the resulting crops could be good. This is good religion.
But a cleared field of fertile soil is also the perfect place for weeds to grow. They grow rapidly, produce a lot of seeds, and choke out any garden or crop plants that might be starting to grow. (This is beginning to sound like one of Jesusí brilliant parables.) These weeds are religious ideas about how we are Godís chosen people who have a right to dominate, suppress, even destroy anyone who does not recognize our special divine status; about how we become holy by giving our money and devotion to charismatic religious leaders and the correct political party; and so forth. In Jesusí parable, the weeds are worldly thoughts; in the parable I am now developing, the weeds are religious thoughts (the bad kind).
So the cleared field of religion can grow both good and bad religious thoughts and actions. But the bad ones will predominate in your mind unless you constantly guard against the bad ones. Most people just let the weeds grow, and since the weeds are religious, they assume that they are good people who are going to heaven. We admire religious people whose thought-gardens are full of peace and of making the world a better place; but we see that most religious people have minds in which destructive thoughts can grow.
But there is no reason why it is necessary to clear away the prairie and create an open, barren field. A new kind of agriculture, natural systems agriculture, is being developed in which, once the crops are planted, they produce deep and abundant roots, filling the soil and making it impossible for weeds to thrive. It is a kind of agriculture, based on long-lived rather than short-lived crops, that imitates nature. Not only is natural systems agriculture more resistant to invasion by weeds, but also suffers less from pests and diseases.
And this is the way religion can be also. Instead of starting your religious devotion by clearing away all your previous experiences and your capacity for critical thinking, you can plant a religious mind-field with a philosophy based on science and critical thinking. This is the way science grows its field of thoughts; religion can do it also. In such a church, the minister would admonish the congregation to think carefully about what is happening in the world and what we should do to make the world a better place. The minister would not say, Clear out your minds, banish all thought, and let ìthe Spiritî or its weedy impostors take root in your minds. Such a religious mind-field could still produce a good harvest, and at the same time would be less vulnerable to evil religious thoughts.
You can easily tell the difference between the two kinds of religious thinkers. Those who leave their minds barren and let bad religious ideas grow in them are those who say, ìIf you disagree with what I say, you are an enemy of God.î Those who carefully construct their gardens of religious thought are those who say, as the first Isaiah said in the first chapter of the book named after him, Come, let us reason together, saith the Lord.
No comments:
Post a Comment