It's been a while since I've posted here, but since religion is one of my favorite subject, I thought it might just be time again to drop in
Well, as said - I'm not a huge fan of religion, especially organized religion. Now I don't have a problem with belief, or faith; everyone is of course entitled to their individual take on the world, and if that look at the world includes in believing in s "greater entity" as creator of the universe, or in believing in Mohammed as the prime prophet or in Jesus Christ as the "Son of God" and saviour of mankind, so be it - for me personally, it's always been less about the figures and names of religions, less about the rituals that are propagated, but more about the underlying teachings.
For as ridiculous as most religions are, with their countless supernatural references and transcendental explanations of pretty much everything, it cannot be denied that the underlying principles - mostly - are good, in an ethical sense. The things that are taught in the New Testament, such as caring for other people, are essential good. The teachings of the Q'ran are essentially good; and so on and so forth. However, wherever there was (or is!) power, and wherever that power is somehow linked to religious beliefs, the underlying principles quickly get corrupted and misused by the "insitution" church; and this is what I despise.
For, if you break it down, religion is really nothing much else than "morals and ethics for dummies", if you will. Originally, religion was used both to educate people into behaving in a socially acceptive way, and also to control them: They were being taught that a being "wiser than them", the being that "created" them wants them to behave in a certain way; and if they do, they will be rewarded. If however they do not do as they are told, they will be punished in the afterlife, by being sent to hell or purgatory. So far, so simple. Not everyone is a born philosopher; not every person likes to ponder the different aspects of morality and ethics for hours on end. I believe that originally, religion was a means of education on the one hand, and of control on the other. For making people act according to what you (i.e. those who form the religion; evangelists, priests, prophets, preachers etc...) make them think is "right" or "a godly will" is that much easier I think if you wish to address more "simple-minded" and easily influenced folk, who - out of fear of the unknown, out of fear of the transcendental - will act as they are told, in the belief it will save their souls. Whatever ends you mean to achieve in truth, that of course is your choice alone.
Now of course it can be argued that it was not only "simple-minded" folk who in the past were heavily influenced by religions and of course by those people in "charge" of the religions; but there is no denying that those who have power over a religion, and can thus mobilize the followers of that religion by altering or interpreting that religion to suit their own visions, can much more easily control their zealous followers and bring them to do whatever the "powers that be" desire, than someone who has to lead and mobilize by pure reason alone.
Now my big problem with religion has always been that - that it is too much of an escapism for me; that people rely too much on religion, rely too much on others to tell them what is "right" and what is "wrong", what to do and what not to, instead of thinking about morals and ethics on their own. Instead, they prefer to be led like sheep (literally, just look at Jesus' "shepherd"-references!), eat up blindly everything that is fed to them simply because it is passed down as "tradition" by their elders, without ever questioning origin or merit of the designs; and this is what I really can't take.
And now to teach that in school, as something that is supposed to be "fact", when there is NO EVIDENCE WHATSOEVER that ANY of that which religions claims is at all true, is really problematic. I mean, here in Austria we also used to have "religion" in school, but it was not presented as a pseudo-science, but it was taught as what it was: something that was written down a long time ago, something to help people lead their lives and give them something to believe in if they do not have anything to believe in of their own.
Now that is not a bad thing per se either, but the issues I have with religion can be broken down into two main categories I guess:
1. The unwillingness of taking responsibility for one's own actions or defining one's own personality and take on issues like morals, ethics, justice oneself by justifying everything with divine will ("deus le vult!"), the hope/fear of a pleasant/terrible afterlife or because of mere tradition and
2. The abuse of religion for manipulation and control of people, and as a justification for the most heinous of crimes.
And both these points have happened in the past to great extent (just look at the immense control the catholic church had in the Middle Ages, both over the actual rulers (and supposeldy "educated" class) as well as over simple folk, and the way they abused that power to gain more power of their own, killing more than enough innocent people in the process), and are still being employed today in countries where government is still not entirely separated from religion; and that is a huge problem in my opinion. For as said, as soon as some religion - ANY religion, at that - has influence on your justification of actions, you run risk of being tempted in justifying ANYTHING and EVERYTHING with divine will; that is also the reason why I thought former presient Bush's comments that "God wants him to do" certain things highly problematic - In a country that takes great pride in being rational, and that tries to be morally upright, to justify ANY action whatsoever with something as purely and utterly hypothetical and supernatural as a "God" is very dangerous, in my opinion.
But of course it happens in other countries as well, especially in those in the Middle East right now where Islam has a heavy influence on governments and leaders as well. But as said - the problems aren't related to Islam or Christianity alone, but occur wherever some transcendental being is employed as a justification for actions when there is no justification in rationality or law to be found. (That of course "law" itself is but an intellectual construct and therefore also has no "absolute" right of existence or right of observance, is another matter; but on the contrary to "divine" law, "human" law is constructed from scratch essentially as a "contract" by those subjects it seeks to bind - humans - whereas "divine" law can be constructed by one person alone, and later altered and used at will without the consent of anything like another "contractual party" - but well, that is a discussion for another time haha).
Now as for the spaghetti monster - it's just really a good way to hold the mirror into the face of over-zealous believers. Now don't get me wrong - essentially, I do think that faith and belief are good things, since they really can help people lead better lives. But that is really all they are, and all they are supposed to be: little tips and guiding lights for those who do not know for themselves. However, the means which are used to illustrate those tips - be it through the alleged "wonders" Jesus performed, through the punishments "God" visited upon mankind for its trespasses, or the stories told about Mohammed - nothing of that should be taken literally, and none of the rituals created by churches over centuries to control people and give them some sort of routine and sensation at the same time in their lives, should not be seen as untouchable, everlasting doctrines and as absolute truth.
And moreover, who are we to judge and say that "God" - if one such being exists - is NOT a flying spaghetti monster? I personally am an agnostic, and not an atheist; I don't go out there and say: "There is no god, there can be no god" - for: Who am I to know?! I mean, surely the existence of a god-being has not yet been proven... but then again, it has also not been scientifically denied, since it is just not possible for us to know. The universe is vast, and cannot even begin to comprehend what - if anything - might lie beyond. I will not go out there and claim that there is no "God" - nor will I go out there with feverish zeal and say "I am sure there is a God out there!", for to claim either thing, to me, is completely ridiculous, not to say foolish.
However, please understand I mean no insult to religious people; if you are of the opinion that a "God" created the world, that he sent his son to earth to teach us humans and that that son "died for our sins", then so be it. It is your right as a thinking human being to believe whatever you will. And besides... IT MIGHT JUST BE TRUE. I, however, do not know. And I do not claim to know, one way or the other.
I'd like to close with this popular little quote that I read a while ago, and it pretty much sums the whole problem up in a nutshell:
"Religious wars are nothing but grown men and women fighting over who has the better imaginary friend."
