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Dear Yuyutsu,

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« … you can follow your childhood dream of serving God without any (illusions). »
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I never had such a childhood dream, Yuyutsu. That was how other people interpreted the fact that I spent so much time talking with the young priests at the local Anglican church. I loved life in the bush but there was nothing much to do except go fishing or hunting with my old army disposal 303 rifle. Conversation with my family and friends was pretty basic and never got passed practical mode.

I have never been much of a dreamer but though my formal education ceased at the end of primary school I have always enjoyed intellectual pursuits. My lengthy conversations, late into the night, with the young priests was an intellectual pursuit, not a “childhood dream of serving God”.

I am not a servile person by nature but I lend a helping hand if I can. I am curious, more of an adventurer and a battler. As a child, I always wanted to become a drover but, I’m afraid, it never worked out that way. I ended up becoming the international director of France’s largest multinational insurance broking group, based in Paris and spending most of my time travelling around the world.

I was determined to smoke out this question of God before I died. It took me the best part of my life to do so. In the end, I consider it was a stroke of luck, something like a flash of genius. All the pieces finally fell together and it became as clear as crystal: there is no God.

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God is not a childhood dream. It is a brilliant concept invented by primeval man that has been handed down to us generation after generation (it has stood the test of time), a natural anxiolytic and antidepressant, self-administered by auto-suggestion, accessible to all without exception. But it has a price, a price that many are prepared to pay: it only works if you truly believe in it, submit yourself completely to it, and serve it faithfully all your life.

In “l’Histoire de Juliette”, published in 1797, the Marquis de Sade referred to it as “ the opium you feed your people”. Under the pen of Karl Marx nearly half a century later, the expression became: "Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people".

It certainly is a powerful medicine and, in a few rare cases, is even thought to produce miracles.

Once the anxiety has been mastered, the natural forces take over and get on with the job of paving the way for salvation.

With a bit of luck, it succeeds. If it doesn't, that is deemed to be the will of God and the myth prevails.

It is what we commonly call a win-win situation. It can never fail.
 
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Dear Banjo,

Obviously you know better than anyone what your calling is.

Earlier I wrote:

"If indeed actions such as the burial of the dead were performed by the Palaeolithic people despite them not believing it to produce any material advantages, then I may believe that it was a "religious behaviour". If however, they believed for example that the spirits of the dead will help them in their hunts, then I cannot count such burials as religious."

Religious people put God first, not the world. If people think of God as a deity and approach Him/Her in order to achieve worldly results, including health and mental-health as you just mentioned, then this is not religion, then it's just ordinary worldly behaviour, just commerce: they don't really love God, they don't truly worship Him, they simply believe that there is some vending-machine in the sky, so they press the button and expect results, they pray for the world to change around them instead of having their own attitude and character transformed - that's not religion!

Sadly, that's how religion looks to those, theists and atheists alike, who lack the spiritual dimension, who therefore can only see the shadow or projection of religion over the physical and mental planes, believing this to be religion itself. This projection could be seen for example as "a powerful medicine", but those who only see it as such are incapable of teaching religion and should not be ordained. I am curious what those young Anglican priests that you met in your youth and had many intellectual discussion with, taught.

Dear Yuyutsu,

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Thank you for that thoughtful post.

« Obviously you know better than anyone what your calling is. »
Yes, but, in my language it was not a “calling”. As there is no God, there was nobody to do any “calling”. It was a profession which I chose as a second best when I finally accepted the idea that I could not become a drover.

« If indeed actions such as the burial of the dead were performed by the Palaeolithic people despite them not believing it to produce any material advantages, then I may believe that it was a "religious behaviour". If however, they believed for example that the spirits of the dead will help them in their hunts, then I cannot count such burials as religious. »

I suggest that that is because of your Utopian or idealistic streak, Yuyutsu. It is clear to me that the motivation of the inventors of the brilliant concept of God among primeval man, was a sentiment of awe and fear instilled in them by the various manifestations of nature (beautiful sunrises and sunsets, clear star-studded night skies, lightening, thunder, volcanoes, earthquakes, tempests , floods, bushfires, etc.). They attributed a God to each natural force, which, in turn, allowed them to offer worship, submission and sacrifices to them in exchange for their appeasement and safety. It was a trade-off. Nothing Utopian or idealistic about it.

I am persuaded that the vast, overwhelming majority of mankind, today, who believe in some God and adhere to some religion or other has exactly the same motivation. Except that the list is, perhaps, slightly different. They place their hopes in a trade-off for a place in heaven, a cure for an incurable illness, a more prosperous life, a happy family, to be rescued when in danger, or some other advantage.

Apparently, you are one of a extremely minuscule minority of truly authentic Utopians, Yuyutsu, whose belief is unconditional.

« I am curious what those young Anglican priests … taught. »
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Just the gospels of the New Testament (like Dan). Nothing else.

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