Two separate pieces of news have stuck in my mind this week. They don't seem to be related but I think that they are in some way. The first was the story about the 345 people killed during a stampede during a symbolic stoning ritual in Saudi Arabia; and the second was the fact that in a recent CNN poll, 50% of Americans thought it was ok that George Bush has been spying on us without even a warrant.
What these stories have in common is an unquestioning trust in authority and a scary example of mob thinking. Looking at the story about the stampede, people in this country would be quick to point out the violence that we perceive as being inherent the Muslim religion, but the implications are wider than that. Organized religion, by definition, demands blind trust in a figurehead. In Catholicism the Pope is infallible, in Islam it is the clerics that must be obeyed, in Judaism it is the Rabbi, bla bla bla. People are encouraged NOT to think for themselves. When people don't think for yourself you have a mob. Both stories are examples of what can happen when people subscribe to the notion that authorities know what's best for them.
I consider myself a believer and I've read as much as I could about different religions. And the truly spiritual figures you find in ANY religion (Jesus Christ, the Buddha, Ghandi, Martin Luther King Jr., ect) all tell us the same thing: to life of humble good works, treating others generously and decently. That's it. That's the bottom line. Do unto others as you would have done unto you. Simple. But most organized religions have an endless list in rules, in ritual, in disciples that have nothing to do with spirituality. How will attending a stoning, however symbolic, make you a better person? For that matter how will not eating meat on Fridays? Or not operating light switches on Saturdays? All these rules are in place for one reason-to justify an authority. And what does an authority do but hand out rules? These rules are simply a way for those in power to get us to acknowledge that they're better than us.
I thought that in SECULAR government we in the West had done away with the idea of the divine right of a ruler to lead way back in the 1700s. But no. Here we are with George W. Bush as president, who was elected my the majority of Americans (the 2nd time at least) in large part. because people see him as a man of God. George Bush is in office because of the Christian right. He claims that God picked him to be president, and that God told him to invade Iraq. In subtle and not so subtle ways Bush makes it clear that he is in office by divine right. Never mind that his ethics, and those of the so-called "Christian" right are completely antithetical to what CHRIST actually taught. We Americans are to be kept scared and unquestioning. So if George Bush says that he has to spy on Americans, even though this action is clearly illegal, most Americans feel that he must know what he's doing. God made George Bush president to keep us safe from the "terrorists" right? No matter that before 9/11 Bush never had ONE meeting on terroism, he's a man of God and he must be in office for a reason, right?
Right?
What these stories have in common is an unquestioning trust in authority and a scary example of mob thinking. Looking at the story about the stampede, people in this country would be quick to point out the violence that we perceive as being inherent the Muslim religion, but the implications are wider than that. Organized religion, by definition, demands blind trust in a figurehead. In Catholicism the Pope is infallible, in Islam it is the clerics that must be obeyed, in Judaism it is the Rabbi, bla bla bla. People are encouraged NOT to think for themselves. When people don't think for yourself you have a mob. Both stories are examples of what can happen when people subscribe to the notion that authorities know what's best for them.
I consider myself a believer and I've read as much as I could about different religions. And the truly spiritual figures you find in ANY religion (Jesus Christ, the Buddha, Ghandi, Martin Luther King Jr., ect) all tell us the same thing: to life of humble good works, treating others generously and decently. That's it. That's the bottom line. Do unto others as you would have done unto you. Simple. But most organized religions have an endless list in rules, in ritual, in disciples that have nothing to do with spirituality. How will attending a stoning, however symbolic, make you a better person? For that matter how will not eating meat on Fridays? Or not operating light switches on Saturdays? All these rules are in place for one reason-to justify an authority. And what does an authority do but hand out rules? These rules are simply a way for those in power to get us to acknowledge that they're better than us.
I thought that in SECULAR government we in the West had done away with the idea of the divine right of a ruler to lead way back in the 1700s. But no. Here we are with George W. Bush as president, who was elected my the majority of Americans (the 2nd time at least) in large part. because people see him as a man of God. George Bush is in office because of the Christian right. He claims that God picked him to be president, and that God told him to invade Iraq. In subtle and not so subtle ways Bush makes it clear that he is in office by divine right. Never mind that his ethics, and those of the so-called "Christian" right are completely antithetical to what CHRIST actually taught. We Americans are to be kept scared and unquestioning. So if George Bush says that he has to spy on Americans, even though this action is clearly illegal, most Americans feel that he must know what he's doing. God made George Bush president to keep us safe from the "terrorists" right? No matter that before 9/11 Bush never had ONE meeting on terroism, he's a man of God and he must be in office for a reason, right?
Right?
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And sadly always will be.