“Faith” and Fundraising Part 3

But which do you think comes first: the chicken or the egg? Is it necessary that the myths, dogma and theology involving the afterlife necessarily precede doing good and loving humankind? Is it only the myths and dogma, then, that gives people faith, so that then they can be productive and be self-giving and have many positive relationships?

Or can people have lives that are productive, self-giving, self-assured, mature, reasonable, responsible and full of many positive relationships just by their own discerning and through their own nature? Is the only way we can achieve personal and societal charity, then, necessarily the result of priests deciding to invent the myths, dogma and theology involving the afterlife as a way to get people to conform their behavior in ways that ultimately can move society along in positive ways?

Question: Do we only get productive, self-aware, self-giving, positively relational human beings IF there is some myth that they can believe in about the afterlife? Is that the only thing that gives any of us peace? Clearly, if we look at what has been produced by some of our world’s religions, this seems not to be the case, since people are going around bombing each other because of this belief in an afterlife.

Or is there some natural state of being human, when all the factors come together just in the right way, that promotes health and maturity, and that includes productivity, self-awareness, self-giving and positive relationships all on its own without the myths?

I am inclined to think that this is actually the situation in which we find ourselves: that this kind of being that breeds generosity and love of humankind occurs naturally, though perhaps not as often as we might wish. It seems, as I observe the world, that the priests have attempted to manipulate people through the myths and dogma and theology in order to foster a "faith" kind of answer to life's Big Question that satisfies enough to permit human beings having this "faith" to set aside their baser nature and let their natural love and generosity come through.

I think this may be because I have seen and also read about people who had satisfying, productive, happy, healthy lives, full of good relationships, etc. who have not been people who "believed" the myths of religion, but who simply developed a kind of "faith" in the world at large and in they "way things are," quite aside from any particular religious myth and dogma.

Also I come to this conclusion because religious dogma, the myths and the theologies have the end-game characteristic of disintegrating into racial, class, gender, economic or political power wars and genocide. The work of the priests is taken by the priests themselves, and also the people, and used by humankind's baser, worst nature to bring about mob violence against unbelievers, economic wars, political power plays and other manifestations of greed, anxiety, fear, hostility and warlike nature.

So we now have, and have had for centuries, the Christians against the Muslims, the Muslims against the Hindus and Buddhists, and everyone against the Jews. And this is in response not only to humankind's essentially "sinful" or “baser” nature, if you want to use a Christian term, but also as a response to belief in the myths and dogma concerning an afterlife. Consequently, now we have people running around killing the guy next door because he has a different myth of the afterlife by which he lives. What kind of sanity is that? The very myth that was designed to help people be satisfied enough to feel nurtured and cared for has for centuries erupted as the reasons why we're out there killing and maiming and raping the people from the neighboring family, tribe, clan, village, state or country.

But one thing that we can see here in this country is that the myth about the afterlife, in all its various manifestations, has permitted also a kind self-giving of one's substance to help others who are needy, and this we call “philanthropy:”: the "love of humankind." Why do we love them? Because we have come to believe there is an afterlife, in which we can all feel secure, IF we do the "right things;" and we have been taught to understand this includes being self-giving and helping the poor, etc. called “giving back to the community.”

It is, I think, quite possible to figure out for one's self, quite apart from and totally without religious myths and dogma and theology, that such giving, right along with being productive, having will-power for the long haul, having a vision for the future, seeking well-rounded, mutually satisfying relationships, etc. will have a positive affect on the ability of humankind to grow and develop in positive ways. And, as such, we really don't need artificial insemination of the priests' myths, dogma and theology in order to make good things happen for the people around us.

See you on Monday! Have a great weekend -- and be kind to someone, give a little, or a lot.