Religion! Existentialism! A little bit of heresy!
If there's one thing this past year has granted us (well, the most fortunate of us at least) it is an overabundance of free time. The massive amounts of media consumption to eat away at said free time helps to cope with having an entire year plus of my twenties hamstrung by forces outside my control and to distract myself from the ever prodding mental question of "What is the point of all this?". A simple question yes, but one that we as a species have asked ourselves since we evolved to have the capability for complex thought . You could argue many of society's constructs sole purpose is to placate the masses from questions such as these so that we don't devolve into some apocalyptic anarchic wasteland straight out of Mad Max.
(Alright I really just wanted an excuse to post this pic because I recently re-watched Fury Road and this movie is so goooooood)
I know I sure as hell don't sound like it at times but I am a religious person. Even with how I will go to the mat for things like science that all too often will clash with the idea of religion and spirituality I just can't shake the fundamental idea that the universe, and by proxy, our existence is far too amazing and improbable to have not been crafted by something far beyond our human comprehension. Funnily enough, a significant amount of the people I interact with outside my immediate family are atheist/agnostic, and while it definitely doesn't come up often it is always an interesting discussion because I can understand the viewpoint and lines of logic even if I ultimately disagree (Civil discourse? In MY Internet?).
A little background info on me and my beliefs. I was born into a *very* devout catholic first generation immigrant household. The kind where my parents prayed every morning for a solid thirty minutes to an hour and we'd go to church every single Sunday without fail. We'd get there at LEAST fifteen minutes late, but we'd always be there. Me and my sisters went through all the typical paces for catholic youths, baptism, confirmation, church retreats and the like. Even if I hated sometimes because it would drag on for hours and I just wanted to play more video games on the last day of the weekend.
This was all fine and good growing up, but when you've been to as many different places as I have and encountered as many people with differing backgrounds, beliefs, and life experiences, it can be quite the culture shock being introduced to such a wide berth of perspectives. People practicing different religions was one thing but I couldn't comprehend the idea of someone not believing in god at all. While it was confusing and made me question my own beliefs at times, I don't regret having those experiences and difficult conversations as it helped sculpt my worldview and reaffirmed my own faith as well.
Deus Vult!
As I'm sure most of you brave enough to read this post are aware, Religion can be a touchy, explosive subject. Numerous wars have been fought over them with senseless blood spilt in the name of their gods, right or wrong. They are a constant flash-point at odds with burgeoning LGBTQ awareness/rights especially among those who take a more hard line traditionalist stances in their faiths. There is very good reason why America and many other countries explicitly state in their constitutions and other foundational documents the separation of church and state in the pursuit of religious freedom for its citizens (how effective that actually is in practice is certainly up for debate). Relating to Christianity specifically, Millennials have the lowest rates of church attendance rates and general identification in the history of the U.S (and limited data on Gen Z implies this only looks to get worse!). As someone fortunate enough to experience and interact such a wide berth of perspectives, I can understand to some degree.
Taking a step back and attempting to disassociate myself from my on own bias as a Christian and taking a more scientific approach, what are the clear benefits to religion? Humans are social creatures by nature. There's a reason why something like solitary confinement is one of the harshest (and long argued as one of the most inhumane) forms of punishment we have to offer in civilized society. Isolation from our peers literally drives us mad. To a much lesser extent its why we as children and hell, even as adults seek affirmation and validation from others, even if the some of these interactions may be toxic and detrimental to us in the long run.
Religion for as long as time immemorial has given people a sense of community, purpose, and the guidelines to live a more righteous life. Being human, however, we are flawed at our core, and all too often these basic tenets get pushed aside by some of our more base impulses of conflict, prejudice, and fear of the unknown. Personally, I believe this noticeable dip in the practicing of religion is not due to society collapsing into some godless hellhole, but that the visceral displays of these negative behaviors contradictory to the very teachings some claim to those in an era of general information overload, as well as just having first hand experience on the receiving end of these abuses, pushes people to find alternative means to ultimately the same fundamental goals religion drives us to, of living a peaceful, purposeful life. Those of faith do not have a copyright to morality, even if all too often we may act as we do.
While all sects of people are constantly evolving and refining their beliefs , I see no reason why they cannot co-exist instead of letting our baser impulses divide us if we just put in the effort to listen, something our creators have blessed us with the ability to be capable of. Whether you believe them to be God, YHWH, Allah, no one, or someone/something we cannot even begin to comprehend. We are all watery meat sacks trying to make it here on this floating space rock at the end of the day!
One of my personal favorite panels in comic book history, courtesy of Beta Ray Bill.