VII

Religion (Christianity, in particular): is it a tool for manipulation of the masses or (having already established it might not really be a fact, and not really wanting to go –there-) an innocent idea that turned out bad eventually? Maybe the bible really is just a fictional book and people back in the day took it way overboard? Come to think of it, it matches that profile. Every book you read has some sort of lesson to teach you, and the bible is full of those. Little stories teaching morals, social behavior, generosity and all around acts of good which are actually desirable in a society. The only thing it does wrong is trying to explain incomprehensible facts with simple-minded (for our times) answers. To actually believe in such things takes a lot of conditioning from a fairly young age, which is almost…like brainwashing. I don’t understand why we must fall into extremes. We should just take the good bits out of it and the rest for its belletristic value. I’m pretty sure going to the extremes is something mentioned against in that one book, but it seems like another case of people finding certain meanings in literature which were never there to begin with. I’m not a religious guy at all. I don’t follow tradition, or go to church. And though I am an asshole some of the time, I am mostly an all around good person. And I never needed the fear of being eternally punished instilled into me. It’s just another extreme.

Then there are the other religions that actually have awesome mythologies. Whether it is Greek, Roman, or even Norse, mythology seems to be always a collection of awesome stories, sometimes teaching something, sometimes just entertaining. They probably got dismissed as silly as time went by which is why they’re not really present anymore, which is maybe a shame, maybe for the best. Imagine if you actually did die and go get drunk with awesome she-angles and other warriors? I tend to like Norse mythos in particular too much…

The point where it goes wrong is when people wage wars on the claim their religion is right. It gets wrong when they ask money and make money off things like this. It’s a vile corruption of both ancient and modern society, and it should stop. But then again, I guess it just fits in the great scheme of a society centered on economy. And it’s true, it’s no longer governments ruling over nations, it’s corporations.  And it’s not even a shadowy scheme, it’s all face up cards:

“Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don't need. We're the middle children of history, man. No purpose or place. We have no Great War. No Great Depression. Our great war is a spiritual war. Our great depression is our lives.”

We’re all supposed to fit into this mold, this stencil of an average human that is fed to us repeatedly and exponentially.