Disconnect

The great disconnect that comes from being religious strikes most bitterly when disaster hits. If one believes in supernatural rewards for goodness, lack of rewards, or punishment, is an indicator of evil. This is tragic for those afflicted by the everyday problems of life. It can lead to depression and mental illness.

"How could this happen to me?" Ironically, this is often the question asked by the most benevolent who are also religious. It is also asked more often. You see, the most benevolent also tend to be the least aggressive. They are not cut out for material success in a competitive world. They are prone to poverty, poor health and the problems associated with living in the poorest parts of town. Religion's indoctrination makes their plight even more devatating emotionally and psychologically, no matter how many soup kitchens or canned-food drives the religious provide.

The disconnect between a person's actual worth in a community and that idividual's compensation is dismissed by religious indoctrination, which is often used to convince the disenfranchised to not rock the boat of commerce and statehood. As a Saudi Arabian royal once said to me in Cairo, "Hear that call from the mosque, Paul? That is how we get the masses to do our bidding."

As a nurse, I saw this disconnect manifested daily on the stunned faces of good people with horrible diseases. This disease of the mind, planted by religion, was more malicious and harder to treat than the wounds on their bodies. And, in most medical settings, the religious swarm in to reenforce the message.

Recognizing that my intrinsic motivations to do good for my own sake and the sake of my community is a natural part of being a human being brings liberation and joy. Nurturing that understanding and putting it into practice promotes peace and happiness within me and in my surroundings. This is an essential part of my humanist practice. Letting go of dependence on authority, both human and imagined, for validation is a first step to true freedom.