Churches

Monuments to Retro-thinking

All so-called "houses of worship" have one major flaw. While in many cases quaint, picturesque, tasteful, occasionally even downright handsome, they represent stagnation in mankind's thinking, or worse, a dangerous symbol of the regression of the human instinct for enlightenment and progress.

Churches, temples, synagogues, mosques and so on, along with the rituals, icons, priests, mullahs etc. which they shelter symbolize the superstitious, Medieval, even primal fear of the unknown, of the dark, of the boogey-man under the bed, of death. Through these so-called "houses of worship", deist-based religion has tried to impress upon those of us considered lesser mortals (apparently, everyone not a theologian) a sense of shelter, sanctuary, peace and quiet. At the risk of beating a dead horse (hey! It's my horse...I can beat it if I want to), where was this sense of shelter and sanctuary when the Nazis were burning synagogues and murdering the Jewish people (for instance)? While they had the right idea in the burning of the buildings, this was done not in a spirit of progress, at least in the normal sense, but as a vengeful and misguided attempt to wipe a race of people, along with their religion, from the face of the earth. Christian churches were useless to the Jews at that time and may, indeed, have come to represent for them, the evil of humanity rather than any sort of compassion, enlightenment or reason. In all the reading I've done on the Holocaust, I have reaffirmed this horror to be much more fascinating and well known for its overwhelming evil than for any limited compassion shown to the Jews as a race and as a religion. Furthermore, such compassion as had been shown was nearly always an individual endeavor, usually initiated for reasons having less to do with religious notions of morality and goodness than with uniquely secular, altruistic and humane motives. In very few cases were christian churches of any sect or denomination, in any of the Nazi-occupied countries instrumental in saving the victims of this penultimate pogrom. Indeed, many church congregations in Germany before and during the war years tried to modify their christianity to reflect their intolerance of and the anticipated demise of judaism.

I certainly would never advocate the destruction of churches, synagogues, temples, etc., in any sort of wrathful way (i.e. the burning of churches w/black congregations in the South). I do think, however, that there is an alternative to the regressive idea of a "house of worship". Parks, playgrounds, museums, libraries, permanent homeless shelters, even economically productive buildings (providing tax revenue and thus relieving some of us taxpayers a bit of the occasionally absurd burden of property taxes) could all be the result of humanity abandoning the anachronistic and divisive ideas of "god", Jesus, Allah, Vishnu (etc.), Buddha and so forth! After all, if there are no more synagogues for christians to burn (nor any more "christians" to burn them), or mosques to serve as slaughterhouses for Zionist zealots; then maybe most of the religious and soap-operaesque quasi-spiritual drivel so popular today will fade into footnotes in the elevated consciousness of mankind.

I've heard it said by more than a few individuals that churches are nothing more or less than nests of hypocrisy; that the overwhelming majority of mankind attends religious service merely as a way to salve its conscience from the back-stabbing, greed and immorality following its previous attendance and to feel "holy", worthy and appreciated in preparation for its next round of back-stabbing, greed and immorality. Unfortunately, yet understandably, that's merely one more effect of religious dogma tainting human nature.

There has been yet another study (Front page: USA Today... week of Aug 10, 1999) which alleges that those who attend religious services regularly live longer. Some of the reasons given for this longer life span include:

1) The peace, optimism and sense of serenity one supposedly realizes through church attendance

2) Regular attendees at services allegedly live a healthier lifestyle

3) Church members seemingly have a greater sense of belonging to a "community"

4) The ritualistic bullshit which these "faithful" endure supposedly helps promote serenity

My own personal experience has always been that attending any sort of religious service gave me the creeps. Must have been all that hypocrisy together in one place. If one thinks about it, one will find that we can get all the above-named benefits through regular attendance at book club meetings, Little League games and pot luck dinners. Maybe mankind ought to begin considering "truth services" as an antidote to the poison of theistic religion.*

The article concluded, interestingly, with the caveat that religious devotion can lead some to feel overwhelming guilt over their existence (therefore cutting their lives short?) The delusion of religious faith may keep the undeserving around longer but their lives are spent in ignorance. What good is that? Do they become, therefore, mere parasites?

Religion has become so megalomaniac, unwieldy and unstable that it is seemingly offending the more rational among us. But not the children, of course, who, in their innocence have little idea of the insidious lies which they are forced to incorporate into their maturation. The powers of differentiation of the very young between fact and fiction are soon warped by enforced faith (through traditional societal mores?)

Bottom line? I don't think this study will get more people to go to church on a regular basis except perhaps for a greater attendance at Bingo...which may count as a sort of "worship As people "pray" for B-1 or I-17.

Weddings, funerals, Sunday services, opening day for the local Little League, whatever, all churches, temples, etc. and of course, the religions they represent use these occasions through their various ritualistic superstitions, to further their own propaganda. They are saying to you, in effect: no matter someone you care for and love is dead, no matter we feel we must force our regimented and dogmatic ritual upon your marriage, no matter mankind has been listening to (and increasingly ignoring) our shit for hundreds of years, we are still the "true faith" (whichever one it is), our "god" is still the only "god" and he/she/it is still around (somewhere) and, by the way, don't forget to be generous when you see the "poor box" or the collection plate.

And everyone sits there like a pack of fascinated three-year olds learning their Mother Goose, accepting and enduring (as I once accepted and endured) it all. As a further insult to our intelligence and emotion, religious leaders and apologists implore us to take their shit seriously for our entire existence.

*There is a church in the Dallas/Ft. Worth, Texas area, the North Texas Church of Freethought, which has, apparently quite successfully, instituted just such a program.

Page Created by Eric J. Tallberg