Heal others by hoping for them. People's immune systems and their hearts get a boost when they know somebody hopes for the best for them. Hope is better than faith - you are better rid of faith than rid of hope.
THE PROBLEMS WITH BELIEFS
The site www.nobeliefs.com/beliefs.htm holds that belief in anything is harmful and unnecessary. It recognises that once you start believing, you must also hold that no other belief should be tolerated—if it is possible to get rid of it. A belief is regarded as something likely to be true, so it follows that if you really think that, you see the person who disagrees with you as representing inconvenience and confusion.
This is hypothetical. If you had the choice between:
a – people agreeing with your belief
b – people not agreeing
...and you could wave a magic wand, you would opt for a.
You believe in x? You will treat reality as if you are not wrong—which signifies intolerance toward any contrary viewpoint. That is exactly the same thing as being intolerant of those who disagree with you. It might be a baby step toward intolerance, but intolerance is still intolerance.
The site advocates for opinion rather than belief—for merely thinking that something is true. This is less strong than belief and is more open-minded.
The site argues that belief is to blame for religious terrorism. Yes, religion is to blame for all the evil done in its name, and in the name of its Jehovah. It should be presenting its theology not as fact but as a hypothesis—one that is useful and which can be abandoned if it proves harmful or untenable. Religious faith is a severe attack on human rights.
I have this to say: opinion, which is a weak form of belief, is intolerant too—but not to the extent of the stronger form of belief that faith is based on. The Christian faith demands a strong belief in Jesus and obedience to him, even when it causes suffering. For example, the Church prefers a gay man to endure a lifetime of depression and loneliness rather than have a relationship with a decent man.
Opinion can get ingrained so ensure you are open to changing it if you receive further light.
The reason religion thrives is that people develop an emotional attachment to it. Their feelings become biased toward supporting it—at least to some extent—and they pass on this conditioning to their children. Many religions ensure this happens. Therefore, their clergy and parents have a lot to answer for when anybody they’ve religiously influenced commits a religiously motivated crime.
Conditioning is harmful. The person who is harmed may lash out at others.
EXAMPLES OF HOW EASILY PEOPLE ARE CONDITIONED:
The murderous revulsion for Jack the Ripper, though his crimes are nothing compared to Tony Blair and President Bush during the war with Iraq, who got others to do their dirty work. The same could be said of many world leaders.
The Pope has murdered more people with his tongue than Hitler—by forbidding contraceptives that protect against AIDS—yet he is looked up to far too much.
The guilt people feel about healthy, consensual sex.
The way people watch extreme and vulgar violence on TV and accept it, yet there is uproar if hardcore sex is shown. They don't mind exposing their kids to the violence.
The way people are conditioned to marry, even though marriage is often about insecurity and fear—trying to tie someone to you for life. If you truly valued your partner above all, you wouldn't need marriage. Marriage insults love by suggesting the rite is more binding than love itself.
The way people marry without caring if the "lucky" partner will make them less happy than someone else could—or if their partner could be happier with someone else.
The way people are conditioned to believe in God and Jesus, even at the expense of better role models.
The discomfort people feel around those who are different—e.g., Black people and gay people.
Nearly everything in my writings is a criticism of the errors people have been led into—by the Church, by the law, and by society. We are all conditioned to a huge extent—more than we will ever know.
The law has not tried to make the Church stop inciting terrorism and holy wars.
SECTARIAN DOCTRINES AND THEIR DANGER
One important route to reform would be to enforce the Church to drop sectarian doctrines such as:
“The Roman Catholic Church is the one true Church of Christ.”
“Jesus is the Only Way to God.”
“The Eucharist, when celebrated by a validly ordained priest, alone is the body and blood of God.”
“The Bible is the only inspired word of God we have.”
These doctrines imply that thinkers who disagree are wrong and must be opposed. The Roman Catholic Church claims greater certainty in its truth than other Churches can claim for theirs. This provocative claim makes its kindness toward others superficial.
To teach that Jesus is the only way to God is to assert knowledge superior to that of anyone who claims another god—perhaps Krishna—is the true way. It also implies they won’t even bother investigating if the real saviour is someone else. After all, they’ve "already found" the only way—madness! It’s a beacon for sectarianism.
Many groups today claim to change food and drink into God—but a different God than Jesus. The Church of Rome commands that Catholics protect the Eucharist with their lives, but they won’t do that for the Eucharist of pagans. This shows how dangerous religion is—one religion’s good is another religion’s evil, and we already have enough to divide us.
Sectarianism is essentially claiming a monopoly on spiritual truth. Only force will bring about real change, because the Church will not change willingly.
THE SOLUTION: A DIFFERENT APPROACH
The State should require the Church to adopt a more Buddhist approach, and promote a Christian version of this logic:
“I am not saying my Buddhist faith is right or wrong, but I am saying it is right for me and works for me—and it might work for you too.”
This puts people first—not the Bible God, not Jesus, not the pope, and not the Church’s dogma. Humanists and atheists should also deploy this kind of logic.
It’s impossible to be impressed by religious faith when it makes harmful claims. And the virtue of most religious teachers is not impressive. Any help they give is meant to draw people to the “light” of their gospel, so their motivation is questionable. Those who command us in the name of God to serve the sick and do hard, painful things should be doing much more themselves.
CONCLUSION
Belief in religion is not necessary. Opinion is better—it is more modest. If Catholics only had the opinion that Catholicism was true, and Muslims only had the opinion that Islam was true, there would have been far less bloodshed between them.
Yet the Bible puts belief and faith at the top. It says that if you don't believe in God or Jesus, you will be lost in Hell forever and suffer everlasting torment. Its God says faith is a gift He gives. But if belief is harmful, then so is Christianity.
FINALLY
We cannot avoid having beliefs. But there are only so many beliefs we can hold—we don’t have time to develop beliefs about everything.
We should be aware that beliefs—often about relatively low-level matters—divide us.
Develop beliefs, yes—but keep away from religious ones.
And be aware that opinions, too, can close your mind.
The website is right that belief is an evil - but I advocate that apart from religion, it is a necessary evil.