“Faith” and Fundraising Part 3

Continuing with our thread from the past two days, 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 live lives that are productive, self-giving, self-assured, mature, reasonable, responsible and full of many positive relationships just by their own discernment 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 sort of myth that they can believe about the afterlife? Is that the only source of grace and peace? Clearly, if we look at what has been produced by some of our world’s religions, this seems not to be the case. Far from giving us impetus to be kind and generous to others, religion with its myths and theologies has produced people who are going around bombing each other because of this belief in an afterlife. And, as I say, we've been doing the equivalent for centuries.

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 the sort of being who breeds generosity and love of humankind occurs naturally, without benefit of religion or "faith," though perhaps not as often as we might wish. Or else that loving and caring come from other than religious roots.

It seems 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.

Many people have had satisfying, productive, happy, healthy lives, full of good relationships, etc. and yet have not been people who "believed" the myths of religion. They simply developed a kind of "faith" in the world at large and in the "way things are," quite aside from any particular religious myth and dogma. Perhaps one can lead a moral, helpful, responsive life without religion.

We see throughout history how religious dogma, the myths and the theologies have repeatedly disintegrated into racial, class, gender, economic or political power wars and genocide. The mythical and dogmatic produce of the priests is used by the priests themselves and by believing persons, 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 basis for being out there killing and maiming and raping the people from the neighboring family, tribe, clan, village, state or country next door.

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 humans? Is it just 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?”

Many people have demonstrated that it is possible to figure out for one's self, quite apart from 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. That being the case, 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.

But there's yet another aspect of this thread that we must explore. That is the fact that even when we know (from whatever source or impulse) what we need to do to help another person achieve his/her best personal goals or values, making the decision to do that -- at whatever small or large cost to ourselves -- is one of the most difficult decisions to make.

Regardless of our best intentions, the extent of our education and understanding of the human predicament, the height of our belief in the myths and theologies, or the fact that we know how to make moral decisions, making that decision to help the other person, or give them what they need for survival and enhancement, is still the most difficult of decisions.

So we'll hopefully see you on Monday with more on this theme. Have a great weekend -- and be kind to someone, give a little. If you can bring yourself to do that, it will be internally rewarding.