Easter Sunday.

Sunday, March 31, 2013

It is Easter Sunday and the usual rituals are taking place, but there seems to be something horribly skewed about the way we valorize brutality and martyrdom and then use it as some kind of stepping stone to social resilience. Nonetheless, I think it is important to understand peoples religious choices rather than to simply condemn them. I am not a religious person, nor do I call myself an atheist, because that simply places one into a duality and open to contest like that currently experienced by Christians, Jews, Muslims and atheists. To me such contests are an absolute waste of time. I believe instead of condemning peoples religious or atheistic choices maybe we should try figure out why belief [and non-belief] might be attractive options. Let me be clear, I am not advocating any kind of cultural relativity. Rather, I am offering the view that psychologically faith helps people to offset the anxieties, fears and pains of daily existence. Religion need not be a tradition that is currently in or out of vogue; it can involve a whole gambit of individual choices and behaviours such as treating ones body as a temple in need of proper maintenance and nutrition. Environmentalism, ecology, capitalism can all be regarded as forms of religion and interchangeable. Religion is a slippery concept, not a fixed idea. I have argued elsewhere that humans may well be predisposed to a natural religiosity regardless of what we call it, or how we acknowledge it [even if we fail to acknowledge it]. Hence, I am not advocating a religious discourse, but a cognitive, neurological and scientific way of seeing human behaviour. Today Buddhism has become a popular alternative to the Jewish/ Christian/ Muslim faiths. The first noble truth of Buddhism is that all existence is suffering. I personally find this a very negative view, but I understand how it invites a shared set of experiences in peoples pain and sharing pain is often a good form of relief from long term suffering; it also has many anomalies. For me all of existence should be a balance between pain and pleasure. If we did not experience pain how would we be able to identify and appreciate pleasure?
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The Buddhist idea of separation [meditation] also has its uses in terms of managing pain, but it should not necessarily be confused with religious practice, rather it should be considered as part of our evolution in the acquisition of knowledge and understanding similar to other forms of evolution. For example, that we have derived many of our modern day pharmaceuticals from the ancient ritualized uses of opiates should not suggest we continue those same ritualized practices, which in many cases are shown to be harmful. We have moved on, hopefully! Also, that we do not act to condemn religions does not preclude serious forms of questioning. Take the following case in point: There are those who view the crucifixion as a heroic sacrifice and for the salvation of humankind. Viewed in context the Romans nailed numerous people to crosses as brutal punishment, mostly heretics and criminals. Like many of the ancient practices we are still carrying out barbaric forms of torture like water-boarding, sleep deprivation and more. Why shouldnt these victims of brutal punishment be hailed heroes? Sometimes they are, witness the elevation of numerous charismatic political leaders to divine status. Perhaps if we actually put Easter in context then we might understand that modern Islamic martyrdom and/or terrorism is no different to ancient [and modern] Christian martyrdom and/or terrorism. The terror within all too easily becomes manifest in the external world. Obsessive beliefs are dangerous no matter which side of the divide they come from, but the problem can only be solved with understanding and eliminating the fears that lead to the beliefs. Easter therefore in my view should be a celebration of living, not of a despicable death.