Theory of Indivisibility: Transitioning Away from Religion
This transcription corresponds with Episode 9 of my podcast, Theory of Indivisibility. The show is now available on Google Podcast, Apple Podcast, Spotify, Stitcher, and Castbox. If you’d like to support my work, please visit my Patreon page.
In my previous transcript, we discussed the current complexities of religion, and explored why so many people are opting out of religion. We also looked at the debate between science and religion about the origins of the universe.
Today we are going to look at how my Theory Of Indivisibility applies in terms of transitioning away from religion.
My Theory of Indivisibility is rooted in the belief that we need to move away from social systems rooted in power-over, control, and coercion and begin the transition towards social systems rooted in power-with dynamics like collaboration, agency, and consent, which promote sustainability, liberation, and unconditional love. It’s also rooted in the fact that systems greatly influence individual choices, which I provide evidence for in Theory of Indivisibility: The Evolution of Power-Over Systems. I believe that by designing and implementing social systems that produce balance and sustainability we can eradicate the instability and imbalance due to centuries of accumulating and protecting power and resources. For example, learning to collaborate and build trust can eradicate the need for competition.
So how does my theory apply to religion?
The evolution of religions around the world is complex because they initially formed to serve many purposes that were largely beneficial to human development. For example, religion initially gave tribes and villages shared meaning and comfort in the face of life’s challenges. Religious traditions provided a structure, language, and rituals for morality and spiritual growth.
As time passed, populations grew, and power-over tactics such as patriarchy and coersion evolved. The social conditions of the post-agricultural revolution era made survival dependent on the accumulation and protection of power and resources, and over time that gave way to social systems designed to do just that. Rulers began to use religion to maintain the type of social order they felt was beneficial to survival. As a result, many religions adopted dogmas and doctrines that served to condition and control the masses and make them dutiful servants. Rulers were the first religious leaders and their words and demands were eventually written down as “the word of God”; and those words were never to be questioned for fear of dire consequences.
Imagine taking all religions, dropping them into a strainer, and shaking out all of the power-over, patriarchy, control, and coercion embedded in them. What would be left in the strainer after all of these elements had been washed away?
We would be left with religious practices centered around spirituality. I’m fully aware that spirituality means different things to different people. To me, spirituality is about individuals identifying their purpose in life and gaining a sense of personal peace.
“The Psychology of Spirituality” written by Stephen Diamond, PhD describes spirituality in this way:
“Spirituality can best be characterized by psychological growth, creativity, consciousness, and emotional maturation. In this sense, spirituality is the antithesis of pseudo-innocence: the naïve denial of destructiveness in ourselves and others. Spirituality entails the capacity to see life as it is — wholly, including the tragic existential realities of evil, suffering, death and the daimonic — and to love life nonetheless. This — “love of fate” — is a spiritual achievement of the highest magnitude.”
In psychology, the daimonic refers to a natural human impulse to affirm, assert, perpetuate, and increase the self to its complete totality.
After straining out power-over and patriarchy from religions around the world, religious practitioners would be able to let go of the need to compete with science. Before the evolution of science as a means to provide testable explanations and predictions about the creation of our universe and the behavior of the physical and natural world, humans created stories to explain these phenomena. Without power-over, patriarchy and the divisive tactics of control and coercion needed to maintain them, there would no longer be a reason to defend origin stories as facts based on someone’s faith.
Science provides a method of observing what is factual and working with empirical evidence. It is important to acknowledge that beliefs are not facts. With that said, I still think people should be able to freely believe whatever they want as long as those beliefs don’t infringe on the rights of others to do the same or endanger anyone.
Let’s take a look at a few examples of how people have begun to apply these principles to their practice of spirituality from within and outside of religion.
Here is a piece from the Unitarian Universalist Association website..
The Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) is the central organization for the Unitarian Universalist (UU) religious movement in the United States. The UUA’s 1000+ member congregations are committed to Seven Principles that include the worth of each person, the need for justice and compassion, and the right to choose one’s own beliefs.
Our faith tradition is diverse and inclusive. We grew from the union of two radical Christian groups: the Universalists, who organized in 1793, and the Unitarians, who organized in 1825. They joined to become the UUA in 1961. Each UU congregation is autonomous — congregational leaders set their own priorities and choose their own ministers and staff. Congregations vote for the leaders of the UUA, who oversee the central staff and resources.
And here is another statement from the First Existentialist Congregation in Atlanta (members of the UUA):
We are not a religion, we are an experiment in philosophical spiritual community. We believe in individual freedom, personal responsibility, and the importance of community. We believe that each person must seek their own path and find their own truth. We think that we can hold different beliefs yet live together in community and treat one another with kindness and respect.
Members of our congregation self-identify as Jewish, Catholic, Christian, Buddhist, Pagan, Wiccan, Muslim, agnostic, or atheist. But we all come together to celebrate that we can all seek different paths yet still be a part of the same community.
We believe in social justice for all people. We believe that no one should be excluded or discriminated against due to race, gender, gender and sexual orientation, physical or intellectual abilities, country of origin, or religion. At our Sunday Celebrations of Life, we hear invited guest speakers who bring us inspiring and informative messages that touch our hearts, feed our intellects, and rouse our spirits.
The following is from the American Humanist Association website…
What does being a Humanist mean?
Kurt Vonnegut, who served for many years as the AHA’s honorary president, maybe said it most succinctly when he observed that “…being a Humanist means trying to behave decently without expectation of rewards or punishment after you are dead.”
Humanism is a worldview which says that reason and science are the best ways to understand the world around us, and that dignity and compassion should be the basis for how you act toward someone else.
Humanism is nontheistic. By this, we don’t mean to say that there is no God. Instead, we say that there is no proof for the existence of God, any gods, the supernatural or an afterlife.
Therefore, we take very seriously the idea that “No deity will save us; we must save ourselves.” We are living the only life we’ll have, in the only world we know about. The responsibility for the choices we make are ours and ours alone. Though the AHA was founded in 1941, our history can be traced back to 1927, when professors and seminarians at the University of Chicago organized the Humanist Fellowship, and began publishing the New Humanist magazine.
Meditation & yoga are spiritual practices that many people around the world now use outside of the construct of religion.
As these examples show, there are many ways to transition away from coercive, patriarchal religions and enter into a spiritual way of being that focuses on balance, peace, love, and cultivates trust.
We will explore the evolutionary origins of the concept of ownership in my next transcription! Thanks for joining me.
If you haven’t already, check out my podcast Theory of Indivisibility.
I love y’all.
Peace!
Dr. Sundiata Soon-Jahta
2022. Podcast brought into written form by Ray Lightheart
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Notes & Resources
Articles:
The Psychology of Spirituality
Websites:
