‘Religion’ and ‘Faith’ are two very different things (which before I start slagging off the former) I‘d like to clarify first. In short, ‘Faith’ is ones personal belief in a divine creator or ‘God’. This belief, however it may manifest itself, is based on what you yourself truly believe about the nature, order and origin of our lives and the universe we inhabit. We all wonder about these things, and to feel that you have faith in ‘God’ or a higher being, is a natural way of dealing with these uncertainties. ‘Religion’ is also a way of interpreting the notions of God and Universe, but although religions are often based on personal beliefs (sometimes that of many people), they are not based on ones own ideas, but those of others. You inherit those ideas, and in some cases they match your own, but usually they match the beliefs and ideologies of the country you are native of, or more specifically in these multi-racial times, your ethnic origin. Hence, as an English white Anglo-Saxon male, I was born and raised a Church of England Christian. I was brought up to believe in the Christian notion of God, that Christ was the son of God, and that the Bible was a moral design for life and a representation of the only true religion. If I had grown up in Iraq as a Moslem, or Thailand as a Buddhist, or even Ireland as a Catholic, how different would my religious teaching and beliefs have been?
When I got older and began to learn about other religions, and later, existentialist notions (the idea that there is no God or divine being, we are in fact alone, and when we die that’s it!!!) I began to challenge my religious beliefs, but also to realise the harm religion (and more specifically, organised religions) actually do in this world.
The most worrying aspect of all religions is how they have been distorted over the centuries and used to exercise control over the people by their leaders. I’m sure the original doctrines of all the great religions were inspired by the teachings of the most celebrated and spiritual of men, and were used as a means of understanding that which we do not know or understand (the workings of God); and also as a moral code by which to lead our lives. However, church and state was a marriage made in heaven (excuse the pun). A fantastic opportunity for rulers to control their subjects through their very own imaginations, literally using the fear of God. In the Catholic religion the idea that you will burn in hell for your sins in the afterlife was a pretty good way for kings throughout the ages to keep their subjects in line without the use of police or law enforcers (who rarely existed until recently).
It’s also been an exceptional way to tap into people’s insecurities, fears, and latent violence. During the infamous witch trials, the religious authorities stirred up religious hatred (based on fear of the devil) to “purify” communities of those women who went against their teachings (usually innocent herbalists), leading to hundreds of communities drowning and burning their ‘witches’ at the stake, such was their power and the fear that they invoked. Kings could also change the rules as they themselves were divine. The Church of England came about because the Catholic Church denied Henry the Eighth a divorce, so he decided he would be head of his own church in England and sacked the Pope! And in the business of war, religion has been used to stir the masses to slaughter each other over notions of doctrine time and time again, from the crusades, right up to the present day. Religion divides the world right now, and is responsible in part for fuelling hatred on all sides of the various doctrinal conflicts raging, the most notable of which centres around the Moslem and Christian fundamentalists who have become synonymous with the two ideologies involved in the Bush administration’s political ‘War on Terror’. The suicide bomber promised eternal glory in Moslem afterlife, the American soldier fighting and dying for the hateful, bigoted ideas of middle-America’s conservative Christian religious right, are all casualties of religion to some extent. Check the Bosnian war of recent years, the problems in the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, and the troubles in Northern Ireland. Political problems fuelled and aggravated by religious principles. And of course the status quo is always preserved by the great religions (check the Hindu religion where you remain in your social caste until your reincarnation in the next life…convenient if you are a king, not so a toilet cleaner), but also the power of kings over their subjects (most religions), the power of men over women (most religions… check the Moslem religion for a good current example, especially the extremist versions practiced and advocated by groups like the Taliban, where women’s rights are severely impinged). We have been kept in line by so called religious guidelines (written exclusively by men I bet, certainly never by women, and more than likely not by God either!) for as long as history, and this bondage must end if we are ever truly to live in peace, but also if we are ever going to really find the answer to the greatest unknown spiritual questions of all; Why are we here? And is there a divine creator?
A few years ago I played in Israel and was lucky enough to visit the ancient city of Jerusalem. I had a fantastic time but left puzzled. The city is divided into four, two Christian sections, one Jewish, and one Moslem. Always tension and conflict existed between each community because of their very different beliefs, and of course this is what caused me so much confusion. How can they all believe so strongly that their way is right, when only one of them can be right? I surmised, it probably means that they are all wrong, but I also felt that this in itself this was a tragedy, because at heart they all believed in one thing; God. For all their wise teachings, none of the religions could make the leap, the leap that could bind them together by forgetting their differences. All taught peace and tolerance, yet none could get further than conflict. CL
This piece was written before the terrorist bomb attacks in London. The war between extremists in the name of religion continues and all sides justify their actions believing God to be on their side. Will this madness ever end? - Upfront
