The Supernatural: The arena of images and idols that do not exist in
objective reality. 

(08.40) A. RELIGION 

(08.41) Gods and the Origins of Religion 

All living organisms constantly compete for limited resources. Organisms
that are even slightly better qualified then others in coping with their
environment, have a better chance of surviving and thus replicating
themselves and their genes. This is the essence of evolution. Evolution, in
turn, is one of the three essential ingredients of life itself. Life on
earth began with the process of evolution. Without evolution, there can be
no life. (For the NASA definition of "Life", see Chapter 5) 

The evolution of man conveyed to him superior traits that positioned him
above other animals on the ladder of evolution. His primary battle for
survival, comfort and prosperity involved the constant competition and
conflict with his untamed environment, with nature. His existence was
constantly threatened, not only by competing human beings, but also by
adverse natural events such as floods, hurricanes, freezing, lack of water,
cold climates, lightning and many other perils. 

Man was able to adjust to some of the physical adversities, but he felt
powerless to oppose many other events in nature that filled him with fear
and awe. Thunder and lightning often turned out to be the precursor of more
serious events such as rains, floods or hail, which he had no means of
evading or avoiding. Thunder and lightning in the sky made him wonder if the
cataclysmic events invoked by nature might actually be caused by unseen
forces or beings that inhabited an invisible world in the sky. 

It would be natural for primitive man to try to talk to and appeal to such
superior beings in the sky in order to persuade them to help him. It seemed
reasonable to assume that these powerful, superior beings, these "gods",
were punishing human conduct for unknown reasons or merely for their
pleasure or displeasure. From this viewpoint, it was only one short step
further to try to appease these gods by appealing to them through verbal
submission, by means of prayers, or by requests for their goodwill by
offering sacrifices of men or beasts. 

Sometimes these prayers and sacrifices seemed to bear fruit and sometimes
they did not show any results whatsoever. Whenever these rituals seemed to
be effective, they were continued. Due to his lack of knowledge it was
difficult for primitive man to distinguish between cause and effect
relationships, as opposed to miracles: He merely assumed that prayers were
effective in appealing to the gods. Man attributed more influence to the
power of prayer as the reason for the easing of a flood or thunderstorm,
than the fact that a cold front had just passed through and was replaced
with warm, dry air. Man had no insight in the processes of nature. He lacked
knowledge, science and rationality. 

Since prayers and sacrifices seemed to be effective at times, their lack of
effectiveness at other times was ascribed to improper or insufficient
prayers or sacrifices. 

Such appeals to superior beings who could not be seen but who seemingly
could be appeased by direct appeals, represent the birth of the
"supernatural" and were the beginning of religious emotions in man: The
feeling of fear and of awe, of submission to the gods and prayer. 

These beginnings of religion can be traced to the prehistoric development of
man between 500,000 and 100,000 years B.C.. It was during this long period
of human evolution that religious emotions and motivations became hard-wired
into the human brain and genes. 

Right up to the modern age, there are three ingredients, which are essential
to the survival and prosperity of all religions. No religion can survive for
long without these elements although some religions are somewhat oblique in
addressing them or disguising them: 

1. There must be a belief in and fear of an omnipotent god who interacts
with the believer: A personal god. The existence of such god or gods has
never been established by objective evidence. On the contrary, all objective
evidence contradicts the existence of any god. This is the stick that keeps
believers in line with the wishes of the priesthood: God or the gods had
created man. The gods can reward or punish man as they see fit. 

2. Every religion must provide for a life after death. There has never been
any objective evidence that there is any life after the physical death of
man. All scientific and rational evidence points in the opposite direction
and makes it ludicrous to presume the continuation of life after death. This
is the carrot that is dangled in front of the believers, to assure their
ongoing contributions to the religious institution and its priests. Of
course, life after death is available only to those faithful believers who
have lived (their first life) in compliance with the demands of their
"faith": The demands of their gods as communicated by the priesthood. 

3. All religions involve rituals and dogmas and always provide a rigid moral
code of conduct in accordance with the wishes of the priesthood or the
hierarchy of the church. This is the glue that binds religious people to
their particular religion. 

During subsequent periods of human evolution, from hominoids to Neanderthal
man to Cro-Magnon man, these primitive forms of religion became increasingly
firmly imbedded into human beings and their genes and remain one of the most
pervasive and powerful motivators of man to this day. Religion provides the
illusion of security and comfort in this life, the promise of a life after
death, and the illusion of control over adverse natural events. What more
can man ask for? 

(08.42) Life after Death: 

The survival instinct is deeply imbedded in the genes of all living
organisms. It attempts to assure the physical survival of the individual
under all circumstances and at all costs. The survival drive is so strong
and so powerful that it will even try to provide for man's survival after
his death. This feat, however, is not easily accomplished because it flies
in the face of everything that is known about death: Death is the cessation
of life -- by definition. When a person dies, the human body decomposes and
reverts to its inanimate, molecular constituents. 

This difficulty was overcome by the invention of a nebulous concept, called
the "soul": An ethereal substance that is supposedly a part of our body, but
has no substance and continues on to a higher plane of existence after our
death. Nobody has the slightest idea what the soul is, where it is located,
where all these souls go and what they do -- nobody has ever come back from
the land of the dead or the repository of the souls. 

After the illusion had been established by witch-doctors and shamans, that
gods had control over life and death, it required only a brief leap of the
imagination to extend their power to the ability to grant a life beyond
physical death: An "afterlife" seemed plausible and appeared highly
desirable. After all, nobody wants to face death; nobody likes to face a
state of nonexistence after his physical death. It is much more palatable to
think of death as the beginning of a new life in which the essential part of
our organism will continue on to a new and improved phase of existence. 

Since nobody has ever returned from an existence after death, it was easy
and natural to construct the belief of a more pleasant life after the short
and miserable existence that humans had to endure. It is understandable that
the concept of a wondrous life after death, a heaven, became very popular
and hard-wired itself into our human emotional behavior patterns because it
actually entailed hidden benefits for physical survival. (See: 08.43
"General Observations on Religion", below) Religion became synonymous with a
sense of awe as well as fear of the gods, who had become omnipotent not only
with regard to normal human existence but also with regard to a continued
existence after death. 

08.43 General Observations regarding Religion 

It is clear that a survival benefit must have accrued to prehistoric man
with regard to the deification of those aspects of nature that he considered
beyond his control: The Supernatural. Without such survival benefits, the
inherently irrational belief in gods and a life after death could not have
become permanently imbedded in the human brain and genes. 

As man found it advantageous to organize himself into small groups or
tribes, the emotionally imbedded religious belief system provided the glue
for the advantages of communal living. 

In primitive societies, definite survival benefits can be linked to the
belief in the supernatural: Humans who had a god, or a group of gods, whom
they mutually believed in and respected or feared -- and were thus willing
to obey - could be made to act with a high degree of cooperation. Fear of
punishment from this god -- or his priests -- would be a powerful force for
socialized behavior. Under these conditions, the urges and passions of the
individual would be subordinated to the commands of the gods, resulting in
cooperation, civilized behavior and a distinct benefit for his survival. 

Such commands by the gods or their priests would work in the best interest
of the civilization, as well as the individuals. Groups of people, organized
in this manner, would thrive -- enjoying the increased efficiency and
production that resulted from increased cooperation. 

This belief in the supernatural would also lower crime as a result of a
moral code of conduct, which was established by the priests and was enforced
by the alleged supernatural power of the gods. A fear of all-powerful beings
deterred or inhibited people from engaging in hostile or destructive acts
against other members of their society. The resulting low-crime environment
represents another very distinct benefit for survival in a primitive,
god-fearing society. 

This consolidation of a society around mutually accepted beliefs served also
to reinforce their resistance to external threats, such as attacks from
other tribes. By merging his resources under the promised umbrella of a
Superior Being, early man enhanced his chances of surviving an attack by
other societies. 

The concept of security is an extremely important motivator for human beings
and takes a backseat only to the survival instinct and the sex drive. In
effect, the need for security is merely a projection of the survival
instinct into the future. It is a well-established psychological fact that
people who think alike, meet alike: Baptists congregate with Baptists and
Jews congregate with Jews. By coordinating their individual activities with
other persons whose sharing of religious beliefs represented common glue,
social activities within the religious group were enhanced and thus
contributed to the survival of the group. 

Atheists struck a deal with God: We won't bother you, if you won't bother
us. They mocked him and nothing happened to them -- for the simple reason
that God does not exist. 

Of course, without a god or gods, religion becomes meaningless and prayer
becomes an empty delusion. What is prayer, but the appeal to nonexistent
supernatural beings, to upset the laws of the universe on the behalf of an
admittedly unworthy sinner? Of course, in order to rely on prayer, a
believer must have faith. The word "faith" means to accept something as true
and accurate that has already been proven false and inaccurate -- otherwise
no reliance on "faith" would be required: The mere acceptance of facts would
be sufficient, without any requirement for "faith". The concept of faith is
not an extension of facts, but is diametrically opposed to the truth --
otherwise there would be no need for "faith". People need not have faith in
facts; people need to have "faith" only when they are faced with an
otherwise unacceptable falsehood. Faith is the unconditional acceptance of
the impossible. 

As man evolved, the survival benefits of a belief in the supernatural have
decreased. In the twentieth century, in this age of science and
enlightenment, more and more survival weight is being placed on increased
rationality. This century has seen a tremendous increase in scientific and
technological knowledge. The ability of the individual to deal with his
environment rationally, instead of emotionally, has shifted survival
benefits from the irrational and emotional to the rational and scientific. 

In prior millennia, men like Socrates and Aristotle lacked the basic tools
of knowledge and science to develop a clear view of objective reality. They
were groping in the dark for small kernels of truth. Since then, man's
scientific knowledge has increased by a factor of millions, not only in
regard to quantity but also with reference to the quality of information. A
rational, scientific person is able to align himself with objective reality,
with truth, much more appropriately than a religious person who is relying
on prayers to nonexistent gods. Therefore, a rational person is more likely
to achieve his desired objectives, especially profound and lasting
happiness, than a person relying on prayer. His quality of life, his
happiness and, ultimately, his survival advantage, will be enhanced. 

Adherents to religion often refer to the emotional benefits of a reliance on
life after death, or on other illusory benefits offered by organized
religion. However, this stance defies all common sense since it presumes
that irrationality can be superior to rationality in any aspect of life and
under any circumstances whatsoever. No matter what Henry James says in his
"Varieties of Religious Experience", or what Otto calls the "numinous" ---
the fact remains: Quackery of any kind, whether medical or mental, remains
quackery and can never be as efficacious as hard science. Marx had many
faults but he was correct when he said: "Religion is the opium of the
people". This pronouncement extends to all forms of superstition, magic and
the supernatural. 

08.44 Cost/Benefit Analysis of Religion 

The apparent dichotomy of rationality and irrationality within the same mind
becomes somewhat more transparent by means of a cost/benefit analysis. 

A. COSTS AND BENEFITS OF BELIEVING IN RELIGION 

1. COSTS of BELIEVING in Religion: 

The inability to clearly see the universe and the nature of human existence
prevents our alignment with Objective Reality and thus increases the
difficulty of achieving desired results, including the purposeful
achievement of happiness. 

Walking through life with blinders in order to avoid having to face the
reality of contradictions and inconsistencies presented by organized
religious teachings, such as the bible. This attempt to escape from reality
can lead to mental confusion and distress. 

Since reality is not seen clearly, it becomes difficult to achieve many
objectives that depend on an undistorted view of the way the world really
is. 

Strict adherence to religion forecloses opportunities to take advantage of
science, such as modern medicine. Witchcraft and faith healing are always
destructive and are poor substitutes for science. 

Reliance on prayers is counterproductive because it may reduce dependence on
solving problems with reliance on one's own resources. 

Religion eliminates the kind of personal morality that can be more
beneficial than a rigid morality in adjusting our code of conduct to
individual needs, such as temperament or risk aversion. The inconsistencies
and contradictions inherent in morality imposed by religious dogma can be
confusing and mentally disorienting. 

Valuable, productive time is wasted on unproductive prayer and
religion-oriented activities. 

Valuable physical and/or financial resources are diverted to the benefit of
the religious hierarchy and the construction of grandiose churches or
temples. 

2. BENEFITS of BELIEVING in Religion 

Improved socialization: More like-minded persons to meet. Saves time and
effort in socializing with other people 

There is no need to expend the effort of developing a personal morality
because religious dogma provides a predetermined system of morality 

A comforting belief in life after death, although there is no evidence of an
afterlife 

A comforting belief in prayer, although there is no evidence that prayer is
effective 

The potential for succor during times of hardship 

B. COSTS AND BENEFITS OF NOT BELIEVING IN RELIGION 

1. COSTS of NOT believing in religion 

Reduced socialization: There are fewer nonbelievers than believers.
Non-believers have no incentive to organize social activities because they
do not share common interests or beliefs. 

More time and mental effort are required in developing a personal morality 

Cannot depend on prayer but must go to the trouble of utilizing one's own
resources 

2. BENEFITS of NOT believing in religion 

Clear worldview and alignment with Objective Reality enhances chances for
achievement for desired objectives, including the purposeful achievement of
happiness 

Personal morality is uniquely adapted to individual needs, allowing for more
choices and flexibility 

Improved mental health due to a clear view of objective reality and lack of
conflicting dogma 

Non-dependence on prayer provides more choice of options and is more
productive of results 

More time is available to pursue desirable activities rather than to pray or
spend time in church 

No demand on limited financial and physical resources by religious
institutions 

Of course, a rational examination of the origins and sources of religion, as
well as the benefits and disadvantages of religion, is unlikely to change
the mind of anybody who is afraid to examine such concepts objectively.
People who approach the subject of religion with trepidation or who cannot
distinguish between reality and superstition, obviously lack the mental
ability or fortitude to apply logic to their thought processes. It is much
easier and it requires much less intelligence to belief in miracles and
pseudo-science than to acquire hard facts and engage in clear, rational
thought. 

There here are many members of society who appear to be very intelligent and
rational in the pursuit of their daily life. But, on Sundays they go to
their church or temple and participate in incomprehensible and irrational
rituals involving magic, prayer and other activities demeaning to their
rational minds. Their rational mind must tell them there is no such thing as
a god, and yet there they sit and pray to him. How is this contradiction
possible? 

It has been said that religious people compartmentalize their thought
processes in order to avoid otherwise inevitable and destructive conflicts:
Rational and irrational thought processes are carefully maintained in
separate, locked compartments of the brain without connection; and yet one
wonders if there is not some leakage from the irrational to the rational
compartment that surreptitiously contaminates rationality. 

Of course, even some bright people may feel too frightened to face life
without the consolations of a religion, cult or sect. Their upbringing has
imbued in them the belief that it is "safer" not to subject the religious
teachings of one's church or temple or mosque to close scrutiny.
Furthermore, becoming an agnostic or atheist can cut one off from the
comfort and companionship of co-believers in a religion. This potentially
damaging consequence of doubting one's belief system is a strong deterrent
to questioning any religious belief. 

Religion also seems to satisfy an irrational human need for cosmic
significance -- to be more than the grain of sand in the vastness of the
universe that man really is. As long as men and women feel week and
insignificant in the face of awe-inspiring natural forces, logic will not be
as important as religion and man will prefer the sanctuary of imaginary,
all-powerful beings. Thus, people tend to associate in communities of
like-minded people. Believers restrict their circle of friend and family to
other believers. They surround themselves with themselves. 

If this is done successfully, then the young and naïve among them hear
nothing but the desired belief. No reputable person in his or her sphere of
life ever disagrees or objects. As time goes on, it is just considered
"normal" that all good and intelligent people believe as the community
believes. 

When a believer encounters a non-believer, the shock may be great. The
believer asks, "How can they not believe? Doesn't everyone?" The believing
community usually provides an answer to that question: The non-believers are
"evil" or they are "possessed" by an evil power, and if you hang around them
long enough it might be contagious. 

As a result, the believer becomes paranoid and afraid of non-believers,
because he fails to understand that their non-belief is based on reason,
logic and factual evidence of the real world. Instead, the non-believer is
seen as "abnormal" and undesirable. Thus, religious belief is maintained
through self-affirmation, insulation and demonization. 

It is interesting to note that the degree of involvement with the
Supernatural, including religion, is directly proportional to the degree of
factual knowledge available to a person: To the extent of his involvement
with the uncompromising, hard facts of science. The bell curve, depicting
the graphic display of variances in intelligence within a population, places
80% of the U. S. population in the I.Q. range from 85 to 115 -- the median
range of intelligence. 

Is it really a coincidence that about 90 % of the U. S. population is also
involved in religious or irrational belief systems? The September 1999 issue
of the prestigious "Scientific American" magazine published a repeat-survey,
confirming previous surveys: Whereas 90% of the general population has a
distinct belief in a personal god and a life after death, only 40% of
scientists on the B.S. level favor this belief in religion and merely 10 %
of those who are considered "eminent" scientists believe in a personal god
or in an afterlife. Contrary to the notion fostered by so-called
"creation-scientists", Albert Einstein did not believe in a personal god. 

(08.46) The Benefits and Horrors of Religion: A historical perspective 

Ever since man started praying to gods, religion has become increasingly
institutionalized. It has organized itself into the dominant power governing
the mundane affairs of man. Until fairly recent times, all affairs of
society were under the powerful domination of religious hierarchies. 

In the process of wielding its enormous power, religious institutions have
held the human race in a vice-grip of irrationality and have made every
conceivable effort to suppress rationality and science. Thus it happened
only in 1998 that the Roman Catholic Church admitted its error when it
condemned Galileo in 1543 for pronouncing that the earth revolved around the
sun, instead of having the sun revolve around the earth. Only the complete
absurdity of its position forced the Pope to grudgingly admit that there
might be some validity to the "theory" of evolution. (We refer to a "Theory
of Evolution" merely for historical reasons. Evolution is a fact. It is not
a theory any more than the Theory of Relativity is a theory.) This
oppression of rationality and science by institutional religion has held
mankind in its devastating grip for thousands of years. 

Nothing can be gained by describing the horrors that religion has inflicted
on mankind in the name of their gods: From the Crusades to the Inquisition,
to its devastating cooperation with the aristocracy in fettering and
enslaving man's body and man's mind. 

However, the horrors of religious institutions are obsolete and part of the
past. As we enter the third millennium, the powers of the Church are waning,
albeit far from dead. The influence of organized religion on the affairs of
man is declining steadily as a result of such events as the French
Revolution, the United States Constitution and the inevitable spread of
democracy as the only political system compatible with freedom and the
innate nature of man. 

Man still interacts with religious institutions on the individual level but
the political power of the church over the affairs of man has been almost
eliminated (with the temporary exception of a few Islamic nations). This
change came about as a result of the Age of Enlightenment. This step up the
ladder of evolution was made possible by the rational intellect of a new
breed of philosophers like Voltaire, Rousseau and Locke, and their visions
of a Social Contract -- instead of feudalistic and religious slavery. 

However, it is easy to deceive ourselves: The advances in the enlightenment
of man over the last five hundred years have been pioneered by a few
intellectual giants and by a minority of rational, intelligent philosophers,
scientists and visionary firebrands. The vast majority of mankind still goes
to church on Sunday and prays to God. The masses of men remain
emotion-driven animals that have neither the intelligence nor the fortitude
to throw off the shackles of religious irrationality. The man who prays to
god and goes to church on Sunday is still carrying the demon of religion on
his back. The next step in the evolution of man must wait until the mass of
men has evolved to a higher plane, which will allow his rational mind to
exert its full powers and will enable man to assert a higher degree of
control over his primitive emotional system (See 08.45, "The Future of
Religion", below). 

(08.45) The Future of Religion 

The primitive belief systems of religion and the supernatural are the
dominion of primitive, prehistoric man. Modern man is engaged in the
accelerated process of replacing religion and superstition with science and
rationality. Superstition and religion will eventually be swept away in the
dustbin of human history by the relentless process of evolution. However,
evolution is an excruciatingly slow process, and the institutions of
witchcraft, religion and the supernatural are in no eminent danger of
demise. Evolution is unappeasable and relentless, but it deals in centuries
and millennia, not in years or decades. 

What does the future hold for the conflict between rationality and religion?
We merely need to examine the underlying trend of evolution. Evolution will
continue to exhibit the same trend that is has exhibited for the last four
billion years: Increased specialization by means of increased complexity.
Human beings who utilize an irrational approach to living will gradually
become more and more disadvantaged. Eventually, even their survival and the
perpetuation of their genes will be diminished. An illustration of this
trend is becoming obvious in Africa: Due to their intellectual disadvantage,
the natives are unable to maintain civilized governments and health care
facilities. Aids is ravaging the population in Africa. The inhabitants of
this continent are weak and at risk because they lack the complex mental
resources to compete with other members of the human race. They are thus
unable to provide for even minimal healthcare, and even less for the
educational facilities to bring about an improvement in the future. The
process of evolution will inevitably reduce their numbers and allow only
those to survive who are sufficiently intelligent to compete with the rest
of the world for limited resources. The same principle of evolution applies
to the irrationality of religions and the world of the supernatural. 

A believe in a god or gods, mythology or astrology represents negative
survival factors and is most commonly found in persons of relatively limited
intelligence and initiative. These underprivileged members of society will
be at great risk in the centuries to come. The future survival of the
individual, and thus the human race, will be enhanced by high intelligence
and a rational worldview. In the millennia to come, it will no longer be
physical prowess and irrationality that will enhance survival; it will be
intelligence and rationality that will enhance survival and prosperity.
Ditch-diggers need not apply. 

(08.46) Conclusion: 

Achieving happiness in life depends on our ability to align our emotions,
enhanced by our rational thought processes, with Objective Reality -- with
the way the world really is and the way the world really works. 

Religion provided important survival benefits during the early evolution of
primitive societies, at a time when man lacked even the most rudimentary
knowledge of the reality of his world. 

With the exponential growth of knowledge and science, as applied to
rationality, logic and scientific inquiry, religion hinders man in achieving
desired results, including the achievement of lasting happiness. If we wish
to free ourselves from ignorance and superstition, it is incumbent on us to: 

1. Accept the irrefutable fact that there are no Gods who have any effect on
human existence. Gods do not exist. 

2. Since there are no gods: Prayers, rituals, sacrifices, incantations and
other resorts to magic are a waste of time and valuable resources. 

Irrational reliance on prayer and the unwarranted belief in a life after
death is less efficacious then rational thought processes. There are no free
lunches in life: If we want to embrace life and live our brief life to its
fullest extent, if we desire lasting and profound happiness, we must abandon
superstition and irrationality. 

The American journalist-philosopher Henry Louis Mencken is famous for his
common sense perception of the true and the bogus in this world: 

"Religion is fundamentally opposed to everything I hold in veneration --
courage, clear thinking, honesty, fairness, and above all, love of the
truth". 

"A man full of faith is simply one who has lost (or never had) the capacity
for clear and realistic thought. He is not merely an ass: He is actually
ill"