Another Question For Christians

[sandsmarc]

Ultimately, belief in "God" will disappear in a few centuries or millenniums. We are at the dawn of reason and old habits die hard. Luckily, most religious people behave as though there were no God, in spite of their professed beliefs. Meaning, they try to act in consonance with reality, even though their religious convictions are dissonant with the observed world.

Fortunately, man has the ability to compartmentalize irrationality and prevent it from invading daily life. As long as God stays in a little intellectual-emotional compartment, he is basically harmless and people use him to feel good and evade the inevitability of death. It cannot really work, but imagination is a wondeful thing.

Nothing wrong with that, as long as the compartment remains small and the rest of us are free not to manufacture the "oasis" if we are strong enough not to need it.

If it gets too big, you have, for example, the Muslim world where irrationality invades all aspects of life. The result is death, destruction, irrationality, and the attempted export of intellectual disintegration to others. In this case, religion becomes sociopathic.

That's why we need separation of church and state. It's a codified way of compartmentalizing the irrationality of religion on a societal scale. Basically, it's saying: "Religion is irrational, but makes people feel good. Therefore, let people go to Church, Synagogue, Temple, etc. Let them imagine they will achieve immortality. But keep it out of the realm of decision-making."

This is a good thing. Religion is a bad thing, but like alcohol, or gambling, in moderation in need not be harmful. It enhances weddings and makes funerals bearable. It can keep some weak people from gross immoralities.

But it is important to remember that morality is defined by men, for men. Moral conduct does not require a higher power. Ethical behavior is a function of individual philosophy, not God or religion. Ethical behavior can take place in the context of religious beliefs. Or not. Religious people hate to admit that but it's true. Religion and morality are completely separate concepts. You do not need to believe in any higher power to live an ethical life. You only need to observe reality and accept a rational philosophy that keeps social behavior organized and conducive to successful cohabitation.

God will one day be an odd concept that will be looked back upon as a part of thr transition of man from barbarism to civilization. God will then be described as a stepping stone. Something that was once necessary due to the intellectual inadequacy of man as he developed a comprehensive knowledge of the Universe.

If we can accept the temporal limits of our knowledge without postulating imagination as Truth, God will become obsolete.

Atheists are the progenitors of that Glorious state, and I am proud to be one of them.