Religion Through Time

Some faiths are geared toward internal enlightenment, some toward external dissemination of the belief system. Christianity is one of those external faiths, often taking aggressive and sometimes even violent paths toward the goal of spreading their beliefs around the world. I think that the effort to convert the slaves to Christianity had the effect of focusing on that aggressive nature, something that as slaves was already an oppressive part of the situation they found themselves in. As a result, I believe that the slaves related to the plight of the Jews and focused on reaching a state of liberty without coercion, without violence or oppression. The resulting voluntary and peaceful belief system is more similar to some eastern religions such as Buddhism, where the focus is on internal enlightenment, something that can not be forced upon anyone outside of one's self. One can seek enlightenment voluntarily, even with the help of others. In this regard, I believe that religion can and has been used effectively as a tool of oppression for thousands of years, but the inevitable end game is one without any central system of control or organization. It is not exclusionary.

As a somewhat agnostic individual, I can't completely believe in any religion that I have been introduced to, but I also can not discount the reasons that a person of faith believes what they do. I believe in hard science more than anything, but even science can not explain what is beyond the realm of man's scrutiny, and what faith relies on is well beyond that at this point in time. Maybe the future will prove one way or another what is real and what is simply mythology, but living in a time when the idea of gods is still a likelihood, I am at least intrigued by the possibility that they may actually exist. There is a quote from Stephen F. Roberts which describes the concept quite simply; "I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours."

I often find myself thinking about how we perceive religions from eras past, which have become little more than legend, with few if any modern believers. Will history remember modern faiths in the same light? What makes the gods of today more tangible or realistic than Zeus or Poseidon?