How Laziness leads to Religion

I might as well start by stating where my allegiance lies, I don’t believe in any supreme beings, roads to enlightenment or any sort of post life immortality; in cloud and golden gates form or other.

Neither do I believe in anyone’s right to dismiss or impede anyone’s rights to express their beliefs and views. Thus if this comes across as all too preachy, insulting or demeaning in anyway, well shove it, you’re an idiot for reading this blog and expecting to find anything moral/ethical/factual or fair.

Everyone is essentially a sceptic, whether it is about shoe prices that are too good to be true or the Cern large hadron collider being a waste of time. (Which it isn’t by the way, we’ve all seen Disney's Black Hole, great film.)

But why is skepticism seen as such a faux-pas in today’s society? In fact skepticism as a word is probably misleading, I prefer to call it by its layman’s term; doubt.

Simply put: everybody doubts something.  It’s perfectly fine to doubt climate change apparently, according to most sitcoms we doubt our relationships hourly, its almost good taste to doubt a football managers credentials, but, pardon the pun here, god forbid I doubt the existence of Jesus Christ. That’s just not right, how dare you question our most holy of beliefs. Well.....

I woke up today and turned on BBC1, a tad late for the Match of the day repeat which was a shame, yet just in time to catch some “audience-participation-screen rant” which co-starred caring in the society types and a smattering of religious dudes. By dude I mean reverends, priests, Tom Cruise type dudes, but referring to them by such terms undermines the very fabric of this slacker site. So dudes it is.

What assaulted my senses as I continued to watch this poorly presented tele-visual entertainment was a nonsensical dismissal of scepticism and any form of intelligent questioning.

A gentleman of at least 73 from the semi circular audience surrounding the female religious dude, the black religious dude and the white elderly religious dude, asked a rather cutting question about the value of religion when dealing with the education of children. He was immediately dismissed by all 3 members of the dude alliance. His opinion was seen as laughable, senile and obviously incorrect. They each mentioned with an almost harmonious clarity that they were all raised in religious schools, as was the elderly gentleman himself as were 90% of the audience and “well we all turned out ok didn’t we?”

Well no not all of us did.

What a scathing and horribly bleak view of education they produced. Had they forgotten the numerous crimes committed against children by Catholic priests in the supposedly good natured and safe environments of schools? What about the many children massacred in the Sudan? Killings started and maintained by religious views on ethnic cleansing? Were these valid and horrendous points brought up and mentioned as the dudes laughed off the old mans doubts? Or how about teaching our children to believe in something fictional, with no actual evidence substance or fact behind it, yet implying its as harmless as Father Christmas.

Now this may seem like the usual internet rant against god. He doesn’t exist because there’s too much pain and suffering in the world. There’s no god because there is no evidence. God can’t exist because of scientific evidence disproving most of the biblical fallacies. Well yes true these are all good arguments. Each with its own solid and hard to answer queries.

However what if we stop asking why? And start asking who? That’s a far more valid and scathing critique of the religious.

Why does someone believe in their God? Or why do I, and almost all Atheists, find it so hard to understand, with all the abundant evidence to the contrary, that someone can believe in a God?

I always wonder, when someone talks of their unwavering belief in Jesus, where they get the evidence to support their views? Why don’t they look at some scientific evidence for the big bang, or evolution or the many very decent websites/renowned papers/Richard Dawkins categorically disproving 90% of the bible?

Simply put, why doesn’t the average football fan look up the exact tactics required to break down Chelsea’s heavily packed and defence minded midfield?  Why don’t I look up who the cinematographer who helped to make Green Lantern slightly watchable?

Because we are all lazy. Laziness is the very essence of slacking or being a slacker. It’s easier to go with what feels right and what’s easy than to question and doubt ones self.

It’s easier and lazier to not question the masses and your schools syllabus when they say you were born with original sin, or created in the image of a magical high father. I’m not saying that this is the sole reason that religion exists and that if everyone were to thoroughly research their beliefs with an open mind that they would suddenly reach enlightenment. 

There are some very intelligent, very sound people who are completely convinced in their belief of the supernatural, however I believe (ironically) that if everybody were to be at least a little critical of there own beliefs we may finally see a rise in the skeptic again.

-Chovey