GodWars: The Battle for Humanity's Soul
GOD WARS: THE TRIUMPH OF THE JEALOUS GODS
The trend of the global religious competition for market share and influence is clearly towards the dominance of the two “Jealous-God” religions: Christianity and Islam. Both have replaced many traditional belief systems and continue to use any means necessary to suppress the animist religions of Africa, much of Asia and the Pacific Islands, and the surviving remnants of native beliefs in the New World and Australia. It is obvious that the dominant religious belief for the century to come will be quasi-monotheistic (if you ignore the angels and devils and the Christian Trinity and the Catholic emphasis on Mary) and based on the ideas that god is a creature that thinks and designs and plans (in other words, these religions idolize human traits just as much as any pagan Greek). Even those religions that have not yet been crushed (Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism) are being forced to adapt to the dominant ideology. Polytheism, Pantheism, and other worldviews are no longer politically correct due to the constant propaganda of Christians and Muslims.
If there is any threat of a “one world religion” it comes from Christianity, which shows little sign of slowing its assault on “false religions” using bribes, social pressure, political control of governments, local and national persecution, and a propaganda campaign that is second to none. Although Christianity has had little success against Islam except by direct conquest, how long can its supremacy in fundraising and firepower be held at bay by any other faith?
This dominance of our world by a limited set of beliefs is not a good thing for humanity. There are several important reasons why we should fear the loss of diversity in beliefs.
1. The spread of "world" religions such as Christianity and Islam has destroyed most of the world's traditional religions. Many beliefs once sacred have now been regulated to museums and anthropology texts. The loss of so many "living" religions is a profound blow to human culture. (The loss of languages and other cultural traditions due to increased secular homogenization is a similar issue). Beliefs such as a spiritual connection to dead ancestors, or a nature that is filled with spirits, or even much-maligned polytheism, have provided humanity with a rich and beautiful diversity of worldviews.
2. The benefits of religious diversity go beyond simply keeping the world "interesting". If all Humanity had the same religion, even a peaceful one (which Christianity is not), we would lose most of our creativity and the capacity for philosophical insight. Religious diversity expands the mind; when a single belief system dominates a society, it limits the mind. This is dangerous even in a modern, scientific society because the scientists themselves need to be able to rethink their (culturally-conditioned) views of the universe. Otherwise, important discoveries (such as the heliocentric solar system or the evolution of life) are delayed even though the evidence may be readily available.
3. There is an even greater danger in religious homogenization: it will stop the moral development of humanity. Most of the sacred values that Americans take pride in, such as Democracy, Freedom, and Equal "Rights" have little to do with any single religious tradition, while in every religion once-acceptable ideas (Slavery in Christianity, Castes in Hinduism, female inferiority in almost all faiths) have been thrown out. Our values are constantly being shaped and improved by the clash of new ideas against old; foreign ideas against native. But diversity in thought is required for future moral advancement. If, instead, one belief system starts to dominate the world, the open thought and debate required to improve laws and values will be extinguished. Even if freedom of speech is preserved, the absence of any source for new and different ideas will be fatal. Instead of becoming moral beings, most humans will simply follow orders as they have always been taught, and continue to do countless evil things just because the one dominant religion has declared those acts acceptable. Just as in genetics, a social monoculture of religious beliefs is a dangerous thing for the survival of a species.
If you believe that a "free market of ideas" is the best possible way to handle the existence of diverse views, it is imperative that the competition between beliefs be based only on the value of the ideas and not the ability of religious organizations to use political or financial advantages to establish a monopoly. Today, there is an unfair bias in the contest of conversions because the two largest, best-financed and most widespread faiths—the "Jealous-God" religions of Christianity and Islam—got that way by conquest and persecution. The monopoly that Christianity has on the Americas, Australia, and much of sub-Saharan Africa and Europe is a strength for that faith—they can keep these areas free of competition with little effort while pouring their propaganda and "charity" into targeted regions where other religions struggle to emerge and recover from the impact of European colonialism and forced conversions. Islam’s dominance of the Middle East, Indonesia, and North Africa is a similar fortress. If these two faiths continue to dominate, who will point out that their spread is not based on having a better message but because of unfair advantages caused by the atrocities and conquests of the past? [Of course one could argue that the bloody and repressive history of Christianity and Islam is the result of a few corrupt individuals hijacking a peaceful and tolerant faith.
This is wrong.]
It is clear that we face the elimination of much of humanity’s religious diversity in the next century due to the dominance of the two Jealous-God religions. We have a lot to lose if these intolerant ideologies are allowed to dominate the world. An effort must be made to protest all unfair conversions that are based on force, or economic or social pressure, or a huge disparity in advertising budgets (including charity “bribes”). This is not an argument against conversion itself; Buddhism for example has been a very successful missionary religion while avoiding these unethical tactics for most of its history; and every religion, even those that today restrict themselves to a single ethnic group, at one time had to spread from person to person. Conversion between worldviews is part of the human experience. But just like a Mafia business violates the ideal of ethical capitalism, or a One-Party Regime’s election violates the spirit of democracy, the current tactics of Christianity and Islam are unethical and must be reformed if we are ever to have a free and fair exchange of spiritual ideas. Otherwise, we can never consider the adoption of an idea by a majority of a nation’s people to be based on the merits of the idea instead of the ruthlessness of whatever combination of power and propaganda that was used to spread it.
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