OMG!
So what is important?
It was a cold night in the forest. A group of hunters huddled together. Their prey was mortally wounded, they had tracked it to this empty cave. The prey would have sensed them coming and left some time back. Now the rain had set in and threatened to eradicate any evidence of the trail. Their tribe was suffering, there was much disease - only so many days you could survive on foraged berries. They needed this prey more than anything. Not just be for food it provided also the laughter it would bring to the village, laughter that’s been missing for the last few months.
The animal - a stubborn bull, was not going to give up its bounty that easily- its trail had gone cold, hope fading fast and then the youngest of the group decided to climb the rock on top of the cave a get an overlook. After a tough climb he stood up and surveyed what he thought of as his domain. He looked in every direction, all he saw was darkness all around. He let out a scream of anguish, it rang out against the forest trees. And just as he was about to climb down, a flash of lighting lit up the whole world and there he saw the bull curled up under a tree- nursing its wound.
It was an act of divine intervention - some power outside the tribe wanted them to survive and had sent that lightning. And so started the story of gods, us humans used them to explain phenomenon that was beyond our intellectual capability. As scientific understanding grew the scope of religion kept shifting. Until at certain point in history, religion started being used for political purposes. The origin of such thought seems to be among the Egyptian civilisation - the first pharaoh Narmer was proclaimed to be the son of Horus - god of kingship, healing, protection, the sun and the sky. Very convenient for Narmer who was also the first Pharaoh to conquer both Upper and Lower Egypt.
The start of the politicisation of religion also started its disconnect with science. People who sought power wanted to utilise religion to control the populace. The ‘divine right of kings’ was propagated for centuries leading to the rise of a ‘ruling class’. Religion was a method of mass control and a way to propagate the ‘right to rule’. So what was the world that modern religion helped build?
It has propagated a world were people of other religion are shunned - the divisions among them leading to clashes and lynchings. Those who follow the teachings supposedly superior to those that don’t. It has created an inherent superiority complex among humans that uses the language of violence to spread a message peace. An unwillingness to question or find the meaning behind commandments that were relevant centuries back.
“Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.”
Colossians 3:12-13
But its not all bad, religion has also made compassion a valuable resource. Speaking with compassion and acting with kindness has made humanity and much more likely to collaborate with each other. And this collaboration in the name of god has created many great works of art and architecture contributing to the beauty of the world. If this spirit of collaboration was nourished and celebrated and applied in the right direction a better world is very much within reach.