Religion is Still Better Than Science
Even though religion sucks.
“The hard swallow built into science is this business about the big bang… This is the notion that the universe, for no reason, sprang from nothing in a single instant… Whether you believe this or not, notice that it is not possible to conceive of something more unlikely, or less likely to be believed.”
― Terence McKenna
Grass is green.
The sky is blue.
The population of Zimbabwe in 1960 was 3.7 million people.
Saturn is 900,377,530 miles away from Uranus.
Who gives a shit though? Nobody wants to listen to an arbitrary list of facts.
People care about people. And people care about stories.
Religion is nothing more than a grand story; an attempt at articulating just what the fuck is going on here with this whole life thing.
And science without religion simply presents random facts.
We, modern civilized people, take for granted how philosophy and religion have shaped society over the course of history.
It is by no means an accident that we are able to live amidst large numbers of people in relative peace.
We’ve come a long way since we were monkeys evading sabretooth tigers.
We take for granted that science is nestled in a moral framework, as science is used to improve human life as opposed to simply conducting random experiments.
This is the reason why a shit load of money is poured into finding a cure for cancer and a substantially less amount directed towards trying to make poop glow in the dark or studying the effects of a strict Cheeto diet on sea horses.
You stupid science bitches.
— Mac, from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia
This is actually extremely difficult subject matter and we’re really, really dumbing the conversation down here.
So, let’s get some hard definitions. This is from Merriam Webster:
Science: the state of knowing: knowledge as distinguished from ignorance or misunderstanding
Eh, I prefer these definitions from Dictionary.com better,
Science:
- a branch of knowledge or study dealing with a body of facts or truths systematically arranged and showing the operation of general laws.
- systematic knowledge of the physical or material world gained through observation and experimentation.
Notice these definitions don’t mention anything about right and wrong.
As soon as you begin trying to answer the questions of what is good or what is right, then you are off to the races with religion.
“These are very close to religious questions,”
— Dr. Andrei Linde, a Stanford cosmologist, in response to questions surrounding the Big Bang
From dictionary.com:
Religion — a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, especially when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs.
Not everyone needs a deep understanding of the theory of relativity, but everyone does need a reason to get up in the morning.
People need to believe that they are important, that their lives have meaning — that going to work to provide for your children is better than shooting yourself in the face.
And for many people that meaning is extended all the way into the afterlife, which makes sense because for many people life is painful, cruel, and in many cases almost unbearable.
“Many people take it for granted that living is an arduous process. Its hardship for modern man, moreover, derives not so much from a struggle for biological survival as from the stresses and strains inherent in the social intercourse of complex human personalities.”
-Thomas Szasz
I was raised in a Christian home.
Which is to say that my parents identified as Christian, and they had us go to church every Sunday.
My siblings and I went to Christian schools. And Bible study. And Christian summer camps.
And none of us are Christians now.
I was rebellious and troublesome growing up; I never liked rules.
When I lost my religion, I went from hating it and mocking it, to thinking all religious people are stupid and duped.
Now I understand it more, I sympathize with the religious and I am intrigued by the questions surrounding belief and morality.
A few years ago, I watched Jordan Peterson debate Sam Harris.
The talk ended up as a religion versus science argument where Harris represented science and atheism while Peterson held it down for religion.
The talk was held at Arena in Dublin and it was packed with about 8,000 people.
It was wild, it felt as if I was at a hockey game or a rock concert.
Many people were drinking beers and cheered when the speaker's talking points hit home.
My biggest take away was how incredible it was that this many people showed up to watch a long, difficult philosophical discussion.
The crux of the matter was displayed when Peterson brought up a section in Harris’ book The Moral Landscape where Harris painted a picture of a good scenario versus a bad scenario.
Peterson asked why not just stretch the concept all the way out to that of Heaven and Hell?
Or I recall him making that point at least, but even if he didn’t then I am making it now.
Because what is Heaven and Hell except for abstractions of the highest good and the deepest despair?
And whether or not you believe in Heaven and Hell as metaphysical destinations, dear reader, you can admit that you’d rather be at a beach resort in Cabo than an overpopulated El Salvadorian prison.
A glimpse of heaven or a taste of hell.
Science doesn’t tell us if one thing is better than another. Science only tells us what is, but it doesn’t tell us what to do about it.
Religion is trying to say that there are certain actions that help make things better while there are other actions that make things worse. Religion attempts to tell us what to do about the forever problem of life.
The title of this piece is nonsense and it’s a nonsensical argument, science versus religion, it’s an impossible argument — much too broad and complex.
Also, why must they be at odds?
Part of the difficulty is that this is largely a problem of language.
You can find this problem represented perfectly in the discussion Sam Harris had with Dennis Prager, a conservative radio talk show host, where Harris said that he felt one with the universe when he meditated, and Prager said that he felt one with God when he prayed.
Uhh, don’t you think you guys are kind of saying the same thing?
Dennis Prager had a hilarious response to Harris’ statement, he asked if Harris felt at one with Jupiter. Lol.
Let’s let Sam Harris act as an avatar of science and reason.
In Sam’s plea for rationalism, he seems to assume that rational thought will result in moral behavior, but he fails to take into account that things like suicide and murder are rational responses to life.
Have you ever listened to the thoughts of a murderer or a rapist?
Well, here is a quote from a man who was prolific in both categories:
“I am sorry for only two things. These two things are: I am sorry that I have mistreated a few animals in my lifetime, and I am sorry that I am unable to murder the whole damned human race. ”
― Carl Panzram
This is a man who had a very difficult life, he was raped and beaten as a child. He looked at humanity and deemed it a worthy recipient of his rage. His stated motto was, “Rob em all, rape em all and kill em all.”
He was not one for subtlety.
Panzram spent most of his life in prison and he recounted his tale in a series of journals that were published in a book after his death. He died from execution
All you need is a cursory glance at history to come to the conclusion that humanity is no good — look to Hitler, Stalin and King Leopold II for specific examples.
Look at all of the cruelty, greed and destruction. Everyone you know is going to die.
It’s not difficult to conclude that life is cruel and meaningless, it’s perfectly rational to feel hopeless, angry and nihilistic.
Tolstoy addressed this issue over 100 years ago in his essay A Confession, which was published in 1882:
“The third method of escape (from the pointlessness of life) is through strength and energy. It consists of realizing that life is evil and senseless, and of destroying it. This is what a few strong and consistent people do. Having understood the utter stupidity of the joke that is being played on them, and realizing that the blessings of the dead are far greater than the blessing of the living, and that the best of all is not to live, they act accordingly and instantly bring an end to this stupid joke, using any means available: a noose around the neck, water, a stab to the heart, a train on a railway line… I saw that this was the most worthy mode of escape and wanted to follow it through.”
Sounds similar to Panzram’s philosophy. Except Tolstoy was extremely successful and wealthy.
No doubt every person who has committed suicide came to the same conclusions that Tolstoy and Panzram did.
And rational thinking and science won’t help in the face of these ideas, because it really all depends on how you choose to see things.
And that is why religion puts you right at the center of it all because we must believe that our lives are of deep importance, somehow, we are connected to a god, a creator of all things.
Religion supplies a world view where you and everything has meaning, even in the face of the great unknown.
But, yes, religion sucks.
Religion gave us Scientology, Mormonism and retarded televangelists.
Religion gave us the Spanish Inquisition and a Catholic church that seems to operate as an international mob of kid fuckers.
It’s terrible.
And yet…ultimately it is the stories we tell ourselves, improved and derailed by the facts we uncover, that matter the most.
“If you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything.”
-a cliché attributed to Alexander Hamilton and others
As I stated earlier this is difficult subject matter, and I’ve dumbed it down here.
For the sake of my argument and brevity, I’ve clumped religion, values and morality together as I did with science and rationalism.
And I don’t really know how to end this…
So if you don’t believe me, why don’t you try a little science experiment?
Do what Terrence McKenna suggests:
Take 5 grams of dried psychedelic mushrooms on an empty stomach.
And then sit in a dark room in silence.
I’m sure you will have a religious experience.
The day with its cares and perplexities is ended and the night is now upon us. The night should be a time of peace and tranquility, a time to relax and be calm. We have need of a soothing story to banish the disturbing thoughts of the day, to set at rest our troubled minds, and put at ease our ruffled spirits.
And what sort of story shall we hear? Ah, it will be a familiar story, a story that is so very, very old, and yet it is so new. It is the old, old story of love.
Philip Glass — “Knee Play 5” from Einstein on the Beach
PS: I don’t advocate illegal drug use.
