Harold Camping, the head of the American Family Radio broadcasting network, calculated the apocalypse would erupt on May 21st 2011. I was concerned for about 10 seconds. Some people here in LA threw “It’s the End of the World” parties to celebrate. Of course the apocalypse did not happen. Unless those of us who weren’t part of some invisible ‘rapture’ and floated up to Heaven, I guess we are all dammed, and Hell must be life here on Earth, but no surprise there.What is extraordinary about Harold Camping is the multi million-dollar fortune he accumulated over the years with his religious non-profit family radio station. In addition to this there are hundreds of billboards around the entire country and abroad that advertised his doomsday prophecy.
So did anyone believe Harold’s ranting? You betcha – hundreds sold their belongings, quit their jobs, left their churches and their families and were sitting at home listening to Family Radio, waiting for the end on May 21st at 6pm EST. Makes you wonder what they are doing now, doesn’t? Poor buggers. How depressing that they don’t have a retirement package or even a toaster in some cases for those who sold up their entire homes.
How can this be, in this day and age that so many people could buy into such a lie?
Well, hang on a second. Are you religious? Spiritual? New Age? I used to be. I was God fearing in my twenties, then I discovered Wicca and I turned in the face of Hell and rejected my lifelong love of a male god in favour of a funky female ruler. By the time I turned 35 however the whole subject of God, male or female was stretching a little thin in my psyche.
I am 45 now and I find it hard to believe in anything, except the fact that my backside has finally lost the fight against gravity.
But what disturbs me most of all is the passion with which we believe in our religions while we embrace them. It is not a surprise to anyone that most wars throughout history have had at their foundations a basic difference in the deity followed. Yes, of course power and money play a huge part but religion is a driving force in violence and wars around the world and always has been. Stunning to think that all the religions that have ever existed, going back to the Aztecs, Egyptians, Romans and the Greeks have all had deeply profound belief systems that are all but fairytales for us now. Complete fiction. But they weren’t to the Aztecs – they were sacrificing people to their gods.
And interesting that almost all religions come with the promise of life after death, and most with great stories similar to the basics of Christianity. Our virgin mother, resurrection stories and burning bushes are not uncommon in many different faiths from times gone by. They all hold common motifs of such extraordinary tales to reassure the believer that this is indeed the one true faith. Many are so similar with names even translating loosely to Jesus that predate Christianity that it does beg further investigation, once your curiosity or fears are stirred enough. My question is why so many people continue to believe in a God that creates only one church and that therefore all the others are wrong and dammed. Over the centuries, millions of people have followed different faiths with this one caveat at this centre. How incredibly selfish and ignorant, what is wrong with us?
Why can’t we look back over thousands of years and except the premise that all faiths are one – yes the ideologies are different but the basics are the same – be good to one another, do not murder, etc etc. I think this is my major issue with God or religion. If God exists – it is super smart I imagine. Assuming this simple fact, would a deity with such intelligence make it that difficult and confusing to follow it? Can we get a reality check here? And why does it have to be male or female –why can’t God be sexless?
So many different beliefs – I think God would make it clear, wouldn’t he/she/it? Maybe a divine appearance to millions all at once every 50 years or so – that would do it, I imagine. That can’t be too complicated for the deity of all creation. But this is not why most humans follow their chosen religion. Instead the faith we follow is 90% solely dictated by the country and culture we are born in or that our parents dictate we should be. So it would seem there is no divine leader guiding the world to one common spiritual identity – resulting in peace and understanding? No, you suckers – you lazy lunatics – I have a suggestion for you - that fairy tale ending is up to us - not “God”. We are the captains of our souls. We have to find the way to peace through compassion and love, not through some outside force – but through our own force of ‘being’ – our own higher consciousness. I don’t need a god to tell me to be kind to others or that I shouldn’t steal from my neighbor and if you do – you need to see a doctor not a priest.
So please if you are religious or spiritual or new age – spare a thought for us agnostics and atheists in the world – because many of us are trying to be kind to one another and change the world with no promise of life after death or fear of hell – but because we simply believe we should be good people for ourselves, for our children and for the generations that will walk over our graves. And we don’t generally start wars or blow ourselves up in the name of Agnostics Unite, although maybe we should – maybe we should unite and start our own faith. ‘The Church of No God’. The church of, “Let’s all live in peace and make each day count because that’s all there is”. Now wouldn’t that be a unique idea. People prepared to sacrifice themselves with the understanding that there is no afterlife. How different would that be? To give ones life with no promise of anything to gain from it – I bet that would alter some outcomes.
Forgive me though, for I think I understand for many whose lives are stricken with severe poverty or tragedy, for those who feel alone or persecuted how powerful the idea is that ‘someone’ is there with us. A force guiding us and that life will be better after we die and how we will be reunited with loved ones. But there is another side to this. I wonder how stronger we would be and ultimately happier if we devoted our lives to just helping each other - if we accepted that this one life is all there is? Hey, if you find that depressing, maybe you are living in denial? Just remember we can convince ourselves of anything we choose – ghosts, aliens, even a virgin birth – so how about an earth of humans all devoted to today, all working together to make each day the best it can be for everyone? Maybe the belief in a God is actually holding us back?
For me believing that this is it and there is no God has set me free from the hamster wheel of religion. I try to embrace each and every day, with a deliberate sense of gratitude and a determination to make a difference to the lives of others – because – well, it might be my last and I want it to count in a positive way. And it is a fact that now I am so much happier than when I carried a bible around in my bag.
Try it sometime, or check out Bill Mayer for further fun:
Religulous
© Words - Samantha Robson
Church of No God
