Religion:
Humans have struggled with the idea of God since the beginning of time. Hence, we have had thousands of religions over the centuries.
I am no different than most; I struggle too. However, my struggles are taking place in a globalized world driven by a data revolution.
My Reasons
Reason and logic don’t exist in most religious arguments. Most arguments include incomprehensible mythical elements, which end up driving away anyone with a scientific mindset.
Those mythical stories and answers drove me away. I couldn’t and I can’t ever subscribe to them, but I do understand their appeal. It took a while to understand their significance in the philosophical development of religious arguments.
It is not religion’s fault. It is the individual’s fault.
Show-Don’t Tell—Copy-paste Culture!
Most humans learn by watching, observing and/or experiencing. It doesn’t matter how many times someone shares a fact with another, most won’t accept it until they observe it on their own. In communication, storytelling, and many other fields, we call this show-don’t tell.
We must create a story around a message. We must create a story around a purpose. The story must stir emotions or some reaction, positive or negative.
Remember, there is no such thing as bad press if the story is roaming out there. It becomes a matter of relevance. In today’s language, it is a social media post going viral.
To achieve this end during the pre-internet era, humans copied and pasted so much from one another without accrediting the source.
“Knock on wood!” is a notable example of how certain behaviors or patterns traveled across the globe.
Do you know its origin?
Patterns
One of our never-ending patterns is the shock value to trigger a reaction. We are doing so now on all social media platforms, and our ancestors were doing it back when they were using stones. We love and seek attention, and that is one of the ways to draw attention to a message, tell shocking stories.
Over the centuries, our predecessors added their mythical touches to gain more likes, comments, and engagements. Our ancestors had to spice up the narrative for bigger followings, and in doing so, they borrowed and revived antiquated ways of thinking.
There is a limit to original and creative content. After a while, the ideas’ tank runs on empty, and the demands of the followers must be met.
What does one do?
Mix and Match!
Exactly! That was the solution then, and it continues to be so in today’s social media world. Mix some content from here, add to it some content from there or from many other places until you find a winning combination that sticks.
This is pretty much what humans have done to every message. It is our pattern, and religion is no exception.
Cancel Culture!
I like to think of Adam as the first human who metamorphosized into a human being. That was the first time we received the divine message—free will.
The human experience, physique, and psyche underwent stages of development, and so did the messages. Each message came to reinforce the one before while canceling everything we added in between, to protect the divine brand.
I often wonder what if any of the prophets or messengers were to visit the world as it is today. Would they welcome today’s versions of their messages? Would they embrace them? Or would they be repulsed by the numerous additions?
Would you welcome them?
The Message!
To my knowledge, the message, in all its manifestations, has always been simple: There is a creator to this universe, and you should abide by the basic rules that govern your relationship with yourself, others including the environment, and the creator.
Be mindful of the creator and the guidelines put forth for the entire system to maintain balance and peace.
Pollute the air, and it is us who pay the price—that’s God’s law, accountability.
Pollute the water, and it is us getting sick drinking it—that’s divine justice.
Our devastations and traumas are always users’ errors.
Back to the Message
The message has had various manifestations over the centuries. However, it maintained a factual and an abstract simplicity that can’t be replicated. The message had one name all along, and we gave it subtitles or sects.
” Indeed, the religion in the sight of Allah is Islam. And those who were given the Scripture did not differ except after knowledge had come to them – out of jealous animosity between themselves. And whoever disbelieves in the verses of Allah, then indeed, Allah is swift in [taking] account.”
Islam in Arabic or its English translation, surrender: An action-based message.
Meaning, each prophet or messenger asked their followers to believe and surrender to God, however that may have looked at that time and place. After the death of the patriarch or matriarch of that message, people gave it other labels that stuck.
In a similar fashion, we have labeled many religions as paganism.
One God, One Religion, Many Sects!
I like this idea because it recognizes our commonalities and differences.
God!
With the above said, I will move forward in making my personal case for God and religion based on experiences and research conducted over 20 years.
I believe in God!
I believe in the oneness of God!
I believe this God to be the ultimate scientist, architect, designer, and knower of all things.
I believe it was God who put this universal system, life, in rotation.
I believe in evolution. We went from humans to human beings. In our human stage, we were much closer to animals. We didn’t have cognitive abilities or free will.
In our human state, we may have been able to see the energies or waves that govern life.
That leap in human history is divine intervention through teaching.
I believe that all sciences originate from and in nature, and we learn by observing and breaking down their patterns. Those patterns were put in place by the divine.
I believe that we don’t have the brain capacity in this realm to fully comprehend God or the nature of God. We can only draw analogies and create stories. God is not a person; God is not a thing; God is beyond our cognitive abilities.
I believe that God has given us general guidelines to follow. Those guidelines are the true foundation for laws, constitutions, and much more.
To Be Continued!
