Friday, December 09, 2005
Excerpt from "Why I am Not a Christian"-by Bertrand Russell
Fear, The Foundation Of Religion
Religion is based, I think, primarily and mainly upon fear. It is partly the terror of the unknown and partly, as I have said, the wish to feel that you have a kind of elder brother who will stand by you in all your troubles and disputes. Fear is the basis of the whole thing -- fear of the mysterious, fear of defeat, fear of death. Fear is the parent of cruelty, and therefore it is no wonder if cruelty and religion have gone hand-in-hand. It is because fear is at the basis of those two things. In this world we can now begin a little to understand things, and a little to master them by the help of science, which has forced its way step by step against the Christian religion, against the churches, and against the opposition of all the old precepts. Science can help us to get over this craven fear in which mankind has lived for so many generations. Science can teach us, and I think our own hearts can teach us, no longer to look around for imaginary supports, no longer to invent allies in the sky, but rather to look to our own efforts here below to make this world a fit place to live in, instead of the sort of place that the churches in all these centuries have made it.
What We Must Do
We want to stand upon our own feet and look fair and square at the world -- its good facts, its bad facts, its beauties, and its ugliness; see the world as it is and be not afraid of it. Conquer the world by intelligence and not merely by being slavishly subdued by the terror that comes from it. The whole conception of a God is a conception derived from the ancient oriental despotisms. It is a conception quite unworthy of free men. When you hear people in church debasing themselves and saying that they are miserable sinners, and all the rest of it, it seems contemptible and not worthy of self-respecting human beings. We ought to stand up and look the world frankly in the face. We ought to make the best we can of the world, and if it is not so good as we wish, after all it will still be better than what these others have made of it in all these ages. A good world needs knowledge, kindliness, and courage; it does not need a regretful hankering after the past or a fettering of the free intelligence by the words uttered long ago by ignorant men. It needs a fearless outlook and a free intelligence. It needs hope for the future, not looking back all the time toward a past that is dead, which we trust will be far surpassed by the future that our intelligence can create.
A full text of the essay can be found here.
So what do you think?
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5 comments:
The premise that religion is based on fear is a fearful thought in and of itself. And it is ill informed, but if that premise holds I find other issues with the piece. Science is not a proper replacement or "savior" from our emotions and personal problems. Hiding away from the world in a cocoon of intellectual escape will not solve the worlds problems, but of course neither will becoming a religious fanatic.
The auothor here obviously has some personal issues with religion that he has, ironically, allowed to become clouded by his own fear. Religion is not for the ignorant, fearful masses, though most of us are ignorant and fearful at times, and science will not save us from that reality.
God is love, and love is the opposite of fear, and if fear is the basis for religion than it does not speak to God.
He needs to re-think his premise.
Thanks Mark! Spoken like a true Monk of Laramie!
First, let me say that this post is geared mostly toward the Abrahamic religions, and ignores the other world religions like Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, etc. The impetus of those religions is certainly not fear, but more curiosity or wonder/awe.
Secondly, fear is a natural human emotion, and as such, it must be dealt with. He would substitute the mind for god(s), and in so doing, you simply place your hopes on an equally unreliable ally. The mind often doesn't come through in the clutch, and it actively plays tricks on us - no better than the invisible man in the sky.
Thirdly, although I agree that religion and force can be a deadly combination, so can the combination of science and force. Many of the greatest discoveries of science are now the greatest weapons of the world's armies, and their uses are not any more legitimate there than in the hands of a "righteous crusader".
Finally, the god that I see having a positive influence in the lives of people on a daily basis is not an "ally in the sky" as he put it. That god resides within, and no amount of logic can dislodge him. There are more things in the heavens and earth than are explained in your philosophies, Bertrand.
For a counterpoint, see the work of C.S. Lewis (not Narnia, but The Screwtape Letters, The Wormwood Chronicles, and others).
Thanks Linus! Eloquently put! I will look into C.S. Lewis' other works. I agree very much with your point of view.
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