Religion should NOT be a ‘necessary evil’

     Did the title get your attention? I’m sure it’s been said many times in different ways but I just want to throw my version out there: The human race should not require the threat of almighty impending doom or holy finger shaking to inspire compassion. It’s sad that I have to preface it this way, but I am not an Atheist – I just think they have some good ideas. I am not religious per se either, but more a spiritual and ethical person. I don’t need someone else to tell me that harm is wrong. I don’t need a doctrine to say I shouldn’t kill another person. If you can’t make that out for yourself, then there’s the evil right there. Personally, my ethics and interpretation of the interactions in the world probably go a little beyond what most modern people even put thought into. My son is taught that the meal on the table comes from living creatures, and we need to be thankful for their sacrifice. It almost sounds familiar doesn’t it? Except I’m not telling him just to be thankful to an omnipotent being, but to the creatures themselves who gave their lives (not necessarily willingly) so that we may eat.
     I love Bill Maher, but I don’t agree with him on everything. (Hence he’s an Atheist, and I’m not.) Atheism in and of itself promotes disbelief in anything magical or supernatural. I think that’s really somewhat impractical in the long run. Yes, I understand skepticism, and a quest for proof and truth. What I’m getting at though is that a disbelief itself does not prove something isn’t real either. Take magnets as an example. We all know about magnetic fields and their interactions. What if there really are other such interactions around us that we as of yet know nothing about? Put more bluntly: You don’t have to believe to let others believe. It’s just a question of how far a person is allowed to take their beliefs. I say the line is simple to spot, it’s right there between you and everyone else. So long as your beliefs are not forced upon, do not interfere with, and cause no harm to anyone outside yourself you just feel free to believe anything you like. That’s your right. However, I would like at least a little consideration before you go praying for me – ASK! I might not want your prayers. I might not trust that what you pray for me is in my best interest. Shouldn’t that be up to me?
     So maybe that’s something else we need to take care of. A unified ideal of individual freedom of and from religion. Honestly, we need to take it full course and have a unified ideal of individual freedom period. After all, so long as your crack smoking doesn’t affect my life, the only right I should have is to tell you I don’t agree with it.

~ by wynneth on April 3, 2009.