There is a reason why we need to take a closer look at the human habit of believing things we are told without actual evidence that they are true.
Obviously, that has been done throughout history, and there is evidence that it began long before that. It likely began out of the desire to explain events before there was the knowledge to understand causes and effects. An imagined answer seemed better than no answer at all.
Stories of whole families of invisible beings with powers to make the world more friendly, or more hostile, were soon circulated and made more elaborate as they were retold. Believing them seemed reassuring, entertaining, and harmless.
But as civilizations developed in city-states, countries, and empires, those who wanted power and control found they could convince populations that their gods favored them, and get them to obey.
Even today the Russian Orthodox church supports Putin’s war, and he makes laws they favor, like targeting LGBTQ citizens.
In the US, right-wing Christians support Republicans, who in turn deny women the rights those churches disapprove.
In the past, most of the beliefs were about invisible powerful beings and the rules they were said to make about human behavior. Some of the rules were beneficial, and some weren’t, But outside of the world of religion, most people recognized reality as reality. Autocratic authoritarian governments often lied to their people, but people in democracies valued truth , a free press investigated government behavior, and usually made sure the facts came out.
Lying in politics was nothing new before Trump, but his use of it was so expansive that it rivaled entire centuries of religious dogma. A significant sector of the population believed his words, even when they could easily be disproved. The technique of proclaiming alternate reality has expanded to infect the secular world. How can we put this genie back into Pandora’s box?
It is making the political process in our democratic system of government much more difficult, Disagreement over policies is one thing, but disbelief in plain facts is entirely another. It’s no longer necessary for the lies to come from Trump himself. We’ve had Q-Anon and anti-vax conspiracy theorists, and it has become common for election losers to deny their loss.
Believing anything without evidence is a dangerous habit. It makes you vulnerable, and puts all of us and our rights and freedom at risk That doesn’t mean that everyone must abandon spiritual outlooks and myths of the invisible. But we should be careful to question anyone who claims to know what those invisible beings want. Too often those “wants” are your money, certain votes in elections, or to hate or discriminate against certain kinds of people.
Suspending disbelief is a way to enjoy fiction, but return to the real world when the story ends.
Cosmic, you keep hitting on the twofer of religion and politics, it would be helpful to just talk about human tendencies without dragging those hot button issues in each time. I think we are all well aware of your political leanings 😄
At least separate out the subjects and tackle either religion or politics but not both at the same time, and yes they both get intertwined.
Anyway you seem to be rambling a bit in this one. You start out with mythology, and end up with political lying. They aren’t really the same thing, a lot of religion has to do with parables,
Specifically An allegorical relation or representation from which a moral is drawn for instruction; an apologue.” – The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
Much of the Bible was not intended to be taken literally, it was trying to explain concepts, and yes, I do understand that there are some that insist on a literal interpretation of it. Of course they are hard pressed to explain how that third generation after Adam and Eve came about if they only had boys.
And I got curious, with that literal interpretation, if man dies because of original sin, why do all other animals die? They didn’t take part. (see, I can ramble on too)
So yes, religions get perverted because of well, man, and the need to exert sovereignty, a trait both churches and governments have.
Anyway, some religious leaders do try to use political force. We need to start taxing them when they do that, but that’s another subject.
But let’s try to separate out religion from politics anyway. Our constitution demands it. 😏
Yes, religion and politics must be kept separate, and one important reason is that they require different ways of thinking.
Religions have long been given “permission” to simply make things up. That won’t change anytime soon. We can believe or disbelieve its myths, or make up new ones.
Whether that has created careless thinking habits that have spilled over into politics, or whether religion’s truth-optional mindset has been hijacked as a political strategy, the result has been disruptive to our system of government.
Yes, my political “leanings” are clear to anyone who is paying attention. but this is not about that. Whether one is progressive or conservative, uttering blatant falsehoods to the public must not be an acceptable tactic.
We expect differing opinions on policies and laws, and encourage debates over them. Sometimes in the process mistakes can be spoken; those are usually discovered and corrected.
Outright deliberate lies, however, should not be tolerated by anyone.
Well good, let’s separate them then. I am very worried about the state of US political discussion at this point, and I would like to get down to specifics on what I think caused it. It wasn’t Trump, he just utilized his persuasive skills on an audience that was already primed to question everything and as a result trust and verify nothing. So let’s tackle that separately from religion, and I believe we need to head back to the 1960’s to do it. I think that’s where the roots of the whole thing started, from healthcare, to the introduction of corporate news, the erosion of Financial market safeguards, the gutting of pensions, the decimation of the middle class, and some very bad decisions about education, and probably each item ought to be handled separately.
There are hundreds of things that have been decided wrongly, and as many reasons why they were. There are many more wrongs that might be done. There are people with power who want it that way. But, naming them and blaming them is only part of the solution.
We, the people; the 99%, have to set things right. We have to learn what is right, reject the lies, knowing the difference, and make our voices heard where it counts. As Jim Morrison once sang, “They’ve got the guns, but we have the numbers.”
That’s why I’ve been writing about reality, and the respect for truth that seemed to be increasingly slipping away. We may not know what the next problem will be, or the lies that will be told, but if we’re back in the habit of critical thinking, we’ll be ready for them.
Cos, I do believe you have created a “one-size-fits-all” blog. You seem to have touched briefly on just about every subject that is currently floating around the net!