Religion as art vs science
Feb 23, 2023
Growing up, I often found religion confusing. If religion is about being good enough in this life to gain acceptance into some sort of heaven / samsara / afterlife, then why has humanity spent so much time warring and killing one another over it? It seems as if religion, at its core, is just a code of ethics attempting to push us to live in harmony with our environment. As I learn more about alternate religions, the more I realize that their code of ethics are all fairly similar to one another. I have come to believe that if we view these religions as art instead of science and focus on their underlying intentions / guiding principles, that we could all feel more connected and would be better able to create a world that a supposed God would be proud of.
Art is powerful because it can inspire us to think differently, reflect on our role in the world, assess our relationships with others, and challenge us with new ideas. I believe that all negative elements of religion stem from it trying to be science instead of art. When religion mandates specific actions instead of teaching the underlying principles that guide it, people begin to lose sight of the ethical principles that matter, such as being kind to thy neighbor, not committing murder or theft, etc. Does God care whether or not somebody is circumcised?? Was man made in one day?? Probably not. That being said, there are beautiful stories and metaphors within religions that we can celebrate and learn from.
In the origin story of Adam and Eve, after having eaten from the forbidden fruit of knowledge of good and evil (consciousness), they are told that in order to reunite with God, they must consume the tree of knowledge to the fullest, and with that knowledge prove that they are good. If we think about religious stories as tools to influence people at large, we could interpret this to mean that the goal of humanity is to live our lives attempting to manifest the best possible version of earth. If we are good, we will create heaven on earth. If we are bad, the earth will become hell. Regardless of whether or not you believe in a heaven, it’s clear that what we do with our time on Earth matters. Everything is causal.
“The kingdom of God is not coming with things that can be observed; nor will they say, 'Look, here it is!' or 'There it is!'. For in fact, the kingdom of God is spread out upon the earth, and men do not see it.” - Jesus in the Gospel of Thomas Saying 113
Religion, as we know it, originates from a few prophets describing their encounters with God. Nobody knows what these prophets truly experienced or where these visions came from. Are these visions the work of God or are they merely chance experiences? We cannot know for certain. All we can do is evaluate the information given to us by those who came before us.
Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all originated with the same prophet, Abraham, and yet these sects have spent thousands of years warring. They split over time as new prophets and ideas emerged that challenged what came before, thus alienating some percentage of the religions’ followers. Instead of viewing these new prophets and ideas as a threat to the sanctity of the belief system, I believe that we should assess them based on how well they align with the ethical principles that God seems to care about. Do these ideas encourage us to be kinder and more humane? Do they push us to create the best world with the least amount of suffering possible? If all religions provide essentially the same script for how to spend our time in this life, does it matter what we call God or the exact ways we choose to serve them? Would God deny someone entry into heaven if they lived a sinless life but worshiped the "universe" rather than a God made in our image? I cannot bring myself to imagine an "all-loving God" who would do so. If we view religion as art instead of science we would all feel more connected and better able to create a world that resembles Eden.
Throughout life, we are creating narratives and stories about ourselves and how we got here. Sometimes these narratives serve us, but they can also hold us back. I hope that we can let go of the stories that limit us from becoming the best possible version of ourselves, and that we embrace the stories that push us to be kinder, more empathetic, and instill within us the belief that we are collectively capable of creating heaven on earth.