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‘Freedom of belief seems a better option than religious freedom’

Feb 18, 2019

Religion aside, we all have a perfect right to take whatever path we wish through life, says Brian. Source: Pexels

Although I’m not a religious person, I do respect the decisions and beliefs of those who are. We all have a perfect right, as far as I am concerned, to take whatever path we wish through life, just so long as what we believe and do doesn’t encroach on the lives of others.

I don’t wish to start an argument about religion, though I do feel organised religion, as opposed to an individual’s personal feelings, has much more to do with men’s (and women’s of course), power over other people than genuinely wanting to lead others down the ‘right’ path, a path I would contend is different for each and every one of us. Some believe, maybe rightly, that we do not die, but simply move to a new place, be it heaven, nirvana or paradise, the name is immaterial, it’s what is on offer that is! Others are quite happy to accept that the life we live on this Earth is all there is; we serve our allotted time and then like a used-up battery, we are finished. In either case I believe there is good and bad, the religious ones hope that by being good they will earn the passport to heaven and eternal life, while the other group, which I happen to belong to, still believe one should be good rather than bad, if only to go to our death’s with an easy conscience. There is no way of telling who is right or wrong of course, the believers in God rely on their faith, while the others rely on logic, both equally valuable, or valueless, depending on your point of view.

I believe that is the crux of every organised religion, the fear of dying and the fear of retribution! The people who invented the early religions made use of that fear (as most still do today), to hold and to control all the people who fall under their spell. They fed the fear of dying, with awful images of hell, purgatory and the punishments of sin. And to add to that authority, they imposed rules on everyone, some of them genuinely useful in themselves, while others appear to have been devised simply to stretch the credulity of members — the sillier the rule, the more important it was to ensure obedience, (and still is in many cases), like soldiers being trained to obey orders instantly, without querying of the reason for the order to be given.

Some of the religious rules appear a little ridiculous to an ‘outsider’ like me; for instance, in some Anglican and Catholic churches it is necessary for all women to cover their heads, whereas men have an exactly opposite rule, in that they should not wear hats at all. And why do the Catholics in particular, rely so heavily (though admittedly not so much now as they did previously), on using the Latin language, which most of their congregation won’t be able to understand. Look at some of the Middle Eastern religions — why did the founders of those beliefs have such little respect for women, leading to the way they are treated even today? Even in the Christian religions women have always been treated as less than men, despite the fact that there have been great female leaders throughout history, from Queen Boudicca to Elizabeth I and Joan of Arc.

Look too at the Spanish Inquisition, what right did those awful men have to inflict their beliefs onto others in such horrifyingly dreadful ways – where was the Godly goodness in that? Even the Crusaders, supposedly defenders of the Faith, seem to have gone to the Holy Land more for the pleasure of slaughtering Arabs than anything to do with God!

No, as I have already said, I have great respect for anyone who is religious and has faith in their maker, and the future they hope he will provide, but logic still tells me that the path of ‘live and let live’ is a good one, coupled with the one basic rule of ‘do good unto others, as you would have them do unto you’, a good old religious rule I know, but one that carries a great deal of truth wrapped up in it — it’s the one I try to live by anyway!