Religion, God, or spirituality.

Religion, God, or spirituality. How does one get back to the beginning of such a subject? If I peer into the foggy recesses of my memory, my grandmother comes to mind. I think she's the first person that ever spoke to me of religion. OK, My mother taught me the standard Roman Catholic prayers and too me to church every Sunday, but she stayed out of the interpretation of right and wrong in daily life. But grandma did not distinguish between a 4 year old and a 40 year old when it came to right and wrong. She was a simple immigrant lady who spoke poor English. So after more than half a century I still hear her "Bozhe no low." (God does not allow), pointing to heaven and correcting me in some minor transgression. Sometimes she'd add a "God mat forn dat." (you're pissing God off). Thus I was introduced to the ideas of 'right' and 'wrong' and the whole wacky world of religion.


I don't mean to put down faith. Faith is by far the single most important aspect of our lives. What I mean to say is that most human belief systems are far more reflective of human weakness than they are of divine perfection. So I do not make fun of belief in God per se, but of all the pseudo-philosophical rigmarole surrounding organized religion. In the old days, they sacrificed their children to the Gods. Organized religion has grown past that now. But there is still much more of man in religion than there is God. I didn't question grandma's tenets for the first 60 years of my life because, as grandma used to say "Bozhe no low!" But recently, I've been searching for a very personal grounding for my religious faith. All the tenets I've been taught over many years have gotten so old and frayed that I can now see through them. Too many 'ifs' 'ands' and 'buts' anymore for me to accept what I've always been taught. I have to find my own way to have faith. And it does not consist of studying a book or learning a tradition. In fact, it starts with letting go of all of that.

So what are these forsaken religious treasures painstakingly passed down to me from ages unmemorable? Basically it's the knowledge of good and evil. Interesting how most great monotheistic religions begin the same way. Eve ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and precipitated humanity's downfall. The basic idea of all of this is that man can really tell what is good and what is evil. I feel free to ask myself now...is this true? Can man really discriminate between good and bad? How about common everyday good and heroic good? How about a misdemeanor and a capital offense? Is it really that easy? Well, perhaps you've noticed that the world is full of judges and lawyers and courthouses and appeals courts and supreme courts. Hell, half our economy must be tied up in trying to determine who is right and who is wrong and to what degree each is what. And you know what? Even with all this time money and effort gong towards divining the difference between right and wrong, everyone readily admits that our system of justice is far from perfect. If an entire society can only produce a shoddy form of justice, how can each individual be expected to perfectly navigate the 'right/wrong' mine field? I dare say that without perfect knowledge of the past and the future and everything in between (if there is anything in between), nobody can really discern between right and wrong. So religion starts off on a false assumption of knowledge of good and evil.

In future posts, I'll talk about the problems evoked by a religion that posits perfect knowledge of good and evil. Such teaching engenders both personal and societal problems. I'll also propose a new basis for religion. There is no good/evil dichotomy, but simply a tenet that holds that each is born to serve all. I have come to believe that the only true happiness is that which comes from serving others. This message is in all religions to some degree, but is terribly muted by the emphasis placed on the determination of right and wrong and good and evil and the placing of blame. All of the latter is wasted effort. Yes, people should be prevented from hurting other people, but this does not need to involve a placing of blame. I mean you can't place blame if there is no free will, right? And I am very dubious of the existence of free will too. More about that too, later.