The Evolution of Religion. . .

Originally posted 01/23/08 - http://www.myspace.com/iheartdennycraine

The Bishops and high priests of the neo-darwinist-atheism circles are proclaiming that religion is a survival tool of cavemen and that as the human race continues to evolve, religion will no longer be necessary for survival. Therefore, it will soon be eliminated. This of course implies that they are bloody brilliant, indeed maybe even super-human, having already evolved past the homeo sapien species and into homeo dickheadian.But, I can't say they are altogether wrong in their critique of our most prevalent, organised religions. It seems to me (and many others) that the authors present in the bible and the quran dealt with a specific few issues. There is the weakness of man, nature of God, relationship of God to man, death, community, family, eternity and time and all of creation's subjection to it, and the dual nature of the world...good v. evil.Let me begin to address the latter by saying that I find it awfully convenient that "the evil one" appears almost out of nowhere in the New Testament of the bible. Where he (or his presumed likeness) does appear in the Old Testament, it is either under another name, form, or altogether sketchy circumstances (i.e. - in Job where God and the devil are almost good buddies - maybe even one, schizo entity...certainly not the devil of the N.T. at any rate)To me, from a historical standpoint, this points to a need among early Christians to adress the effects that an immediate and intimidating opponent (social, political, personal, professional, spiritual etc.) can have on every day life. Namely, the Romans. I'm out of my expertise (do i have an expertise?), but it seems to me that the development of the evil one as a separate and distinct entity, wholly opposed to God is a reflection of the common man's fear of the Republic. The Romans in the middle east would have been a great threat and source of great fear. If you think the neo-lib hippies are bad, imagine them with all the political, military, social, economic and spiritual influence that the Roman's imposed upon occupied territories.This theology continued into the middle ages where territorial rivalries grew ever stronger as power fluxed back and forth. The purpose of a doctrine of good v. evil was still necessary. It was therefore built upon by years and years of Catholic dogma drawn from the aforementioned sketchy references of the Old Testament (the morning star falling....how, in God's name, did this become the basis of an elaborate story such as that of the fall of Satan?????!!!!)Today, however, I question the necessity of a concept of a "kingdom of evil."With the dawn of a "global society", there are no immediate threats on our personal, spiritual lives. While there may still be risk and threats of violence out of many entities such as Iran, Afghanistan, Palistine or Al Quaida, they are not true threats in the sense that the Roman's were able to dictate and severely alter the ability of a common man to live freely.Without making this too awfully long, let me finish by saying that I think that this notion of good v. evil which is upheld by all major religions can serve no purpose today but to support the hatred and violence, name-calling (axis of evil anyone?) and brutal slayings of war that we see going on in the name of "good" over "evil"So, in the adaption of a religion to modern society, one ought to consider the origins of the ideas of good and evil. How satan came about. What he represents. . . in the context of the bible, in the dogma of the various churches and as a symbol of evil. What is embodied in the term evil as used in both the bible and modern religion. Is there a better way of taking care of the problem of being nice to people?It's time to stop thinking in the black and white terms of good v. evil. Final word: my pastor, last Sunday, used a verse (from Galations, I think) about a small amount of yeast affecting the entire loaf of bread. In his sermon, this was used to urge us not to have secular friends. That's silly. But the verse has great meaning here. All of us have a little evil within us. . . we're human. We all have that amount of yeast that will affect the entire loaf. We're all evil (10's on a scale of 10 if this yeast story is to be applied)...we're all good (inasmuch as we're able to be). Stop categorizing each other. Like I said, it's this division (created and upheld by philosophies/theologies and doctrines) that enables the hatred and physical violence that we've all experienced and probably have taken part in.Love,The Revolution