On The Scariness of Religion and most specifically Religous People
Religion is scary. Make no mistake about it. Terrifying really. It is the ultimate arbiter of the us/them distiction. We the saved; they the infidel, the heathen, the godless. I firmly believe that at the heart of every inequity in the whole of human existence has bee two components.
First. Want. People want more than what they have almost as a rule. Rare is te man or woman who is actually content. You Shall not Covet. Oh but we do. Everything we do not ave and someone else does have is made all the more attractive because that other person has it.
Second. Justification. Now we all know we shouldn't steal. We all are aware that "you can't take it with you." ( unless you are an egyptian reconstructionist I suppose). But we horde and horde and erect barriers to stave off the night and cold and the bigger and more expesive the barriers are the more we feel secure that the wolves will not tear out our throats in our sleep. Until the process of defense and the furtveness of fortification becomes not a means to protect wha we have but instead the hallmark of who we are.
So we have to justify this. You know the wealthy man is obviously better than the poor man, and the doctor is better than the farmer. And for those of you who can't afford to build a tower and moat of fiscal security don't fret. Poor white trash is better than poor black trash. And poor churched black folk can look down their noses at those sinners next door.
But the ultimate I'm better than you and that means that I deserve your Kitsch more than you do is found in the religions of the world. Look at the Mandate of Heaven, the Crusades, the ill begotten Jihads, The British treatment of Natives the world over.
Jesus saved me and now I can treat you like dirt. Be Saved. Of course now once you are saved be aware that as I make more money than you that means God loves me more.
So yes my good RealImposter I am in fact quite scared of religion. There is an old Chinese provwerb that says, "The people who live closest to the temple laugh at the gods." This I follow with my own addition "and fear the worshippers."
First. Want. People want more than what they have almost as a rule. Rare is te man or woman who is actually content. You Shall not Covet. Oh but we do. Everything we do not ave and someone else does have is made all the more attractive because that other person has it.
Second. Justification. Now we all know we shouldn't steal. We all are aware that "you can't take it with you." ( unless you are an egyptian reconstructionist I suppose). But we horde and horde and erect barriers to stave off the night and cold and the bigger and more expesive the barriers are the more we feel secure that the wolves will not tear out our throats in our sleep. Until the process of defense and the furtveness of fortification becomes not a means to protect wha we have but instead the hallmark of who we are.
So we have to justify this. You know the wealthy man is obviously better than the poor man, and the doctor is better than the farmer. And for those of you who can't afford to build a tower and moat of fiscal security don't fret. Poor white trash is better than poor black trash. And poor churched black folk can look down their noses at those sinners next door.
But the ultimate I'm better than you and that means that I deserve your Kitsch more than you do is found in the religions of the world. Look at the Mandate of Heaven, the Crusades, the ill begotten Jihads, The British treatment of Natives the world over.
Jesus saved me and now I can treat you like dirt. Be Saved. Of course now once you are saved be aware that as I make more money than you that means God loves me more.
So yes my good RealImposter I am in fact quite scared of religion. There is an old Chinese provwerb that says, "The people who live closest to the temple laugh at the gods." This I follow with my own addition "and fear the worshippers."