Religion's Greatest Enemy?

Decades after Monty Python came to an end, John Cleese is dapper, intelligent, freethinking, and still funny. I heard him give an impromptu talk and came away with one of his best lines: "The biggest enemy of religion is spirituality." The talk was in California among people who immediately applauded. On a certain level it's only a quip, because spirituality, in its truest sense, has no enemies. The same can't be said of religion. Nobody needs reminding of that, yet last week two sorrowful examples were added to the list. In Sudan mobs marched in the street demanding death for a hapless British school teacher who had allowed her class of seven-year-olds to name a teddy bear Muhammad. That incident ended only through the intervention of two Muslim members of Parliament flying in from Britain to beg intercession from the president of Sudan.

The second, more tragic example came from Iraq. 60 Minutes reported on the few surviving Christians in Baghdad, pointing out that under the screen of civil war, there has been a vicious purge of almost 90% of the million Christians in that country. As churches were systematically destroyed, their parishioners were either killed or forced to flee into exile. One was reminded by both these stories that religion has never needed an enemy outside itself. Or perhaps it has never learned to live without one, which is saddest of all. It would be easy enough to put the entire blame on fanaticism and fundamentalism, yet the question remains: what next?

What would fill the vacuum left if Islam and Christianity both folded up their tents and decamped from all the violence, intolerance, prejudice, and misery that exists in the name of God? Not just atheists but many believers have implicitly chosen secular society as the only solution to religion's failure. If science isn't already our religion, should it be? Rationality seems like a clean alternative to age-old dogmas and creeds.

Personally, I see two great objections. The first has to do with spirituality. It may not be synonymous with religion, but the two aren't opposites, either. Countless seekers have made a beginning in church synagogue and mosque. The uneasy relationship between organized religion and someone's personal search for God is still alive. Second, and more important, I don't accept that the spiritual impulse is an irrational alternative to science. Science has no patent on reason, and in the age of atomic weapons, to praise reason alone is radically foolish. Sanctity of life is being trampled every day in Iraq through technologies of mechanized death invented by objective science. Spirituality stands for higher consciousness, and that includes the consciousness of reason, imagination, psychology, and religion. Understanding the nature of God, which was an objective set by Einstein, requires the use of as much intelligence as any of us can summon.

The subtle trap we have set for ourselves is to equate Islam with the troubles of the entire Mideast. That would be like blaming the Black Death on the Vatican. Just as Europe in the fourteenth century was totally permeated by Catholicism, leading everyone to look to God as both the cause and the solution to the bubonic plague, so today masses of Arabs have no other world view but Islam. An act as innocent as naming a teddy bear has theological import. People threatened by the Black Death thought that their every act also had theological import. We need to see that the Mideast is a place dominated by despots and royal families, where secular education has been suppressed and a freethinking middle class disallowed. In the name of a privileged few, millions of people have been forced to live in ignorance generation after generation. If they cling to an absolutist world view that contradicts reason, what alternative was ever given them?

Which is not to let Islam off the hook, only to say that what spirituality has to offer -- the expansion of consciousness beyond rigid beliefs of any kind -- is the ultimate solution. The Mideast needs a massive dose of consciousness, but in saying that, the same holds true at home.

Click: www.intentblog.com

www.deepakchopra.com

Comments

[Pandu]

Spirituality is such a vague concept. Anyone can call themselves spiritual, and every living entity is actually spiritual. Even inert matter is ultimately spiritual. But according to people's ideas these days, being spiritual can mean practically anything at all. Even self-proclaimed atheists call themselves spiritual. How can an undefined concept have an enemy?

Choosing to be a spiritual person is like deciding to go on a journey with no set destination. Some of us have a definite idea of where we want to go.

Religion, or having a chosen destination in our spiritual lives, means to follow the orders of God for developing love of God with a certain kind of relationship. There may be some confusion about what those orders are, or how to properly implement those orders, and so there is disagreement. At least people are trying to develop a personal relationship with God.

Popular notions aside, although we are all spiritual, it's another thing to live a spiritual life, in other words to live with a purposeful connection with God. Again, everything has some connection with God, as God is the support of everything. Still, due to free will, the materially embodied living entities may choose to please God or to disregard God. As God receiprocates with everyone, He attends to those who want to serve Him, and disregards those who don't care for Him, helping them to forget Him, according to their individual desires.

[marko77]

Excellent article, Mr. Chopra. When you are right you are right!! Nothing more to say.

[HeevenSteven]

Deepak,

I appreciate that you are discussing the problems of dangerous religious dogma, as well making clear that Islam isn't solely to blame for all the problems in the middle east. I applaud you; but in order to prop up your own particular beliefs --which I agree we may be better off with than our current dogmas-- you erect a straw man to knock down --exactly what many accuse atheists of.

It's frustrating that you and others keep using the canard about science inventing weapons. People invented weapons using methods of science. Science does not provide motivation for their use. Humans look elsewhere for that.

Even your brand of spirituality can descend into dogma and be used by others to manipulate susceptible minds.

The golden rule does not need spirits to function. We need to embrace our humanity through it.

Since the Enlightenment no ground given to Reason has been returned to Belief. (Credit to vugo for that one.)
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/users/profile/vugo

Agape anyway :-)

[Dap]

Dear Dr. Chopra,

An enjoyable essay/post. I still think you're kinda mixing apples with oranges in this argument, because of *OLD* antiquated philosophical reason, but you're getting closer. Agape.

[amamomofsons]

I wish that all my friends and family were as open to new and introspective thinking as you dear people are. I have asked close friends who hold positions of great power in the community or in their work "just why do you believe what they believe." These folks always come back and say that they were raised to believe this or that and it is their families or societies tradition. This legacy of religion is what gets us into trouble. Power is the goal and religion is the tool used to keep us humans unenlightened and afraid by using the "Dragon in the cave " mentality. Now friends, how do we help our fellow humans find their true spiritualism? Unfortunately my experience is that most are too lazy to try and don't really care.I do feel that we have an obligation to implore people to look within for their answers because religion kills and excludes and decimates whole populations of humanity without conscience. Obviously we humans can not handle religion so it should cease to be a part of our lives at all in my humble opinion.

[mbaty]

I am glad that Deepak has a voice on this site, because the only thing that will work is a spiritual solution, one that transcends religion, where religions become like flavors in the search for "God," all a different way of viewing reality, and none completely correct, but admittedly so.
The spiritual path is a path of awareness not belief. True things remain true even when all beliefs are abandoned. The connection people have with "God" is real in any religion, but it's the fear-based beliefs people attach to that connection that causes trouble.

[avicenna]

One of the most enlightening books I've read that has articulated the chasm inherent in the exoteric aspects of organized religion and the basic essence of the hard to conceptualize essoteric part is by Nader Shah Angha called Sufism: The Reality of Religion.
Having both travelled through many Muslim countries (which are by no way dominated by Arabs - Arabs may make up the majority of the news in the West as they happen to live in oil rich regions of interest to the US - but they are the minority ethnic make up of all Muslims in the world) - I found that a stress on education is of utmost importance. In fact, Iran was swimming with doctors and engineers (and I would bet they probably had more highly educated women - at least before the revolution - then America). The areas where education has been ignored are those that have been thrown into continuous war - like Afghanistan. Iraq had a very secular and educated society - but over the last couple of decades, most of these folks have left (and many are here in Canada now trying to get licenses to practice as physicians).

[stevesrant]

Dr. Chopra - Nice post; I've always loved John Cleese. When you quote Einstein (on the true nature of God) is where you reveal your Eastern education, and pinpoint the problem with religion as it is understood in the West. Christians, Muslims and Jews understand God as seperate and exclusionary; Buddhists do not, as you (obviously) know. Even though you have written exctensively on the subject, I still think this would be an excellent subject for subsequent posts: the radically different approach that Buddhists take to the concept of god. It would be intresting to Western believers and atheists alike.

[DemandTruth]

The thing about religion- its basic tenet and what drives it and makes it work - and what makes it dangerous is FAITH.

Faith is belief without proof. Believe what your pastor tells you is true. Believe what your father tells you is true. Believe what your president tells you is true. Believe what your favorite news channel tells you is true.

Do NOT question.

THAT folks, is brainwashing. All cults, no matter how large and pervasive and ancient, work that way. Very hard to deprogram as well.

The ones who are born into it and never allowed to question have it the hardest. I feel sorry for them at the same time I accept they will never change.

Religion is the use of natural human inquisition and spirituality to control human nature. For better or for worse.

[whillice]

A near quote from a very religiously fulfilling movie, which also stars a rubber poop monster:
"So, do you believe?"
"No, I but I have some really good ideas."
--Dogma, Kevin Smith

The problem with any belief system, whether religion, rationality, science, etc is that it has inherent limits. Don't believe there's limits to reason or rationality? Try some Kant some time (Critique of Pure Reason and Critique of Practical Reason are especially good). Or most modern philosophy.

I disagree that religion brings nothing-- it can innervate one's entire soul to be worried about something other than their own selves. It can also be used to stir up hatred and violence. Religion without reason is dangerous and dogmatic. Rationality without religion/s­piritualit­y/purpose is useless.

How many people have you seen start a charity because they think it's a *rational* thing to do? Or is it because somewhere along the line someone indoctrinated them with the idea that you should help those people around you? The Social Contract, in all its glory, is just as much a "myth" and axiomatic as The Bible, but it makes for a good organizational principle. Ideas that permeate our entire society come from religion, from the principle of equality of all humankind (as opposed to Nietzsche's "reason" that we are all sheep/slaves with the Ubermensch to rule over us) to something like "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." (See Matthew chapter 5 in the New Testament for that gem)

The real problem with most religion is people simply won't live it in a quiet dignified manner. If we had more real Christians and Muslims, rather than the wolves in sheep's clothing we have, things would be much better.

[seniorsguidetocomputers]

Religion is more harmful than cancer

[True]

Quote from Frank Herbert's Children of Dune:

'Religion is the emulation of the adult by the child. Religion is the encystment of past beliefs: mythology, which is guesswork, the assumptions of trust in the universe, those pronouncements which men have made in search of personal power, all of it mingled with shreds of enlightenment. And always the ultimate unspoken commandment is "Thou shalt not question!" But we question. We break that commandment as a matter of course. The work to which we have set ourselves is the liberating of the imagination, the harnessing of imagination to humankind's deepest sense of creativity.' Frank Herbert.

[Nommo]

All religion is evil and miserable. It brings nothing to the table except for bubble headed self righteousness, along with some of the most ridiculous tales ever penned or vomited over and again on whatever day of the week is conveniently "holy".
Oh, and the US is dominated by despots and deciders, with pretensions to royal family status.

We have only us to deliver [us] from evil.

[ORSunshine]

Very interesting. My very racist and conservative grandfather (who did business in the middle east for Howard Hughes selling satellite technology) has oft been heard spouting his view that the "Arabs" as he refers to them are the most ignorant people in the world. Now, I am usually embarassed by his statement and try to get him to not be so ridiculously stereotypical of an entire region of the world and the people that inhabit it. However, your post provides a bit of insight into his view -- if those areas are indeed controlled by such a radical religion and their societies don't allow a secularly educated middle-class, he might actually be telling the truth.

[MagisterLudi]

I agree with all the major points of this blog.

It is no accident that wherever religiously inclined take over governance, the government immediately becomes belligerent.
Certainly, Iran and to some extent USA are examples of that.

To me, spirituality is the "looking within."
Perhaps those who become masterful at understanding learn to blissfully dissolve artificial walls of dualism--the illusion of 'within' and 'without.'
Those people display (apologies to Kundera) a certain lightness of being. Nietzsche talked about the wiseperson as a laughing dancer.
And it is the dour, the serious and self-righteous who impede the spiritual development.

A quote from Hamas Charter:"All this [art] is utterly serious and no jest, for those who are fighters do not jest."

How this dour spirit is opposed by the folk wisdom of Hoja Nasredin!

Nasredin, ferrying a pedant across a river, said something ungrammatical to him. "Obviously you never studied grammar?" asked the scholar.

"No."

"Then half your life is wasted."

A few minutes later Nasredin turned to the passenger.

"Have you ever learned how to swim?"

"No. Why?"

"Then all your life is wasted. The boat is sinking!"