Why I protect your right of religion

What is the relationship between a band of bandits and a bazaar?

Initially there’ll be raiding, protection fees …etc. But if there were only one bandit party that stayed in one bazaar, sooner or later the bandits would realize, or the merchants would convince them, that the prosperity of the bazaar was in the interests of the bandit gang. If the bandits made life in the bazaar dangerous, it would scare off the customers and the merchants would be slim pickings. It is in the interest of the bandit gang to collect pre-ordained protection fees in an orderly manner. In order to further the prosperity of the bazaar and gain authority, the bandit gang would settle disputes between merchants. In a way, the stationary bandit gang would become a ruler of the bazaar.

If there were many bands of bandits and they were in a constant struggle for turf and profit, or if they went from bazaar to bazaar, the prosperity of the bazaar would be far from their thoughts. They would wish to plunder as much as they could because they wouldn’t know what the future would bring – they might be chased out by another bandit gang.

It is in the merchant’s interest to have a stationary bandit gang in their midst rather than roving bands of bandits.

This example is used in politics as a metaphor for governments. Some of the problems in today’s democracies lie in the fact that democratic parties are too often like roving bandits rather than stationary bandits. They plunder as much as they could because they wouldn’t know if the fickle populace may pick someone else in the next election. Victories come through successful campaigns – publicity that often has no correlation with how well the party will really be able to govern. So what matters most is how good you can make yourself look, and how bad you can make your opponent look. It takes effort to do the former, but you can lie on your back doing the latter.

I believe this metaphor can also be used in other areas, such as religion and our belief in them.

All religions I’m aware of offer a solution to life after death (tell me one that doesn’t). That is their function. Why is this function so vital to the advancement of civilization as we know it?

Imagine you were told that there was nothing after death. Nothing. You would simply cease to exist. All that you enjoyed in life – the very awareness that defined your being – would be no more in a blink of consciousness. Would that not make you cling to life even more? Would that not make you fear death?

Would that make you quit your job and decide to go for the hobo life? After all, there is so much in the world to experience, and jobs are very consuming. We can’t all have jobs that we would enjoy, can we?

And if death were imminent, would you not try your hardest to prevent it? For many who went quietly, they went because they believed there was something more after death. But if truth told there was nothing, that we would blink out like a light bulb, never to be lit again, how would we face it? Kicking and fighting, for many of us. For those with the means, it’s not unlikely that you would literally kill for organs and do many other unscrupulous things to stay alive.

And why should we care about others? There is no reward for breaking your back for the welfare of others. When you die, it’ll be nothing. So why shouldn’t we plunder the earth for our pleasures? For our descendents? You know they aren’t really your life living on; they won’t bear your consciousness so that you may enjoy the world anew. They are their own organisms. You are your own organism. Life is short. Plunder away.

Not all may think in this manner. Can we trust that humanity has sense and love in it still, even if we take away the support? In my opinion, there are two options – spread the understanding of the nothing after death, and perhaps people will learn to value their lives more instead of wasting precious time quibbling and killing over silly doctrines. Perhaps people will live their lives to the full, and love each other’s company as much as they can before they go. Perhaps we will understand. And go without trying to squeeze from others the last ounce of life and pleasure that we may extort.

Perhaps. I with little faith in humanity say nay. We cannot depend on each other to see sense, to choose wisdom over selfishness. We as humans are programmed to look after ourselves. And what is the organ that is so programmed? The brain. Flesh looks after flesh. Earthly existence after earthly existence.

So I may not agree with you, devote ones who love your God or Gods, but I will protect your right to believe in what you believe. If it at least fulfills some dream of mine – that this world can continue on in its incontrovertible beauty, terrible, as it sometimes may be.

We humans must each have some irrational belief to subsist on. Some may believe that if you eat a whole tub of butter when no one’s watching, the calories don’t count. Myself? I believe that there is more love in religion than there is hatred.