Religion

Religion is something I discuss rather often because modern Western thought on the subject is hopelessly wrong and typical of dying civilizations. Secularism is not new, cutting-edge, or enlightened; it is merely the sign of a fragmented people who have lost any shared sense of purpose and strive for nothing greater than daily survival and self-gratification. Ancient Greece and Rome declined because their citizens -- grown fat and happy on the purposeful efforts of their ancestors -- could no longer coordinate their activities or compete with other, more robust peoples who had not devolved into the worship of ease. "Civilizations are born stoic, but die epicurean," noted Will Durant, and the modern West is epicurean to its softened core.

For the intelligent and educated people who cannot bring themselves to believe in religion because it has no basis in scientific fact, I say this: there is a universe of difference between fact and truth. Whether religion is factual means nothing to me, for it conveys fundamental truth that is invaluable to human nobility.

Even if we assume that religion is nothing more than a fairy tale in the believer's mind, consider the priceless gifts this fairy tale bestows (I will focus on Protestant Christianity because that is the gift my ancestors gave me).

• A true believer will not resign himself to the pronouncements or commands of others, since his internal dialogue is a higher source of authority that must be satisfied (i.e., the believer answers to himself rather than to others).

• A true believer ranks people not on wealth, fame, or erudition, but rather on character. Presidents can be wrong, and paupers can be right.

• A true believer will sacrifice relationships, pleasure, wealth, and even life to preserve an ideal. Jesus could have renounced his beliefs and spared himself unspeakable pain, but he refused because the soul is far more precious than the body. A true believer who swears an oath will keep it no matter what, making him reliable and enabling society to function (courts, marriages, public servants, etc.). Additionally, there is no more deadly warrior than one who is unafraid to lose his life.

• A true believer feels someone's eyes on him even where no human can look, motivating him to do what is right and refrain from what is wrong regardless of the lack of earthly consequences.

• A true believer strives to better himself and meet an ideal, not to ingratiate himself with the herd as it plunges over a cliff.

• A true believer is merciful to the weak, the elderly, and the condemned, enabling him to bring out what is best in others.

• A true believer does not succumb to addiction, psychosis, or other fugues from pain; he accepts pain as an integral part of life in this world.

Now, I'm sure that many people will counter that the true believer causes a great deal of harm as well, either through "intolerance" or terrorism. But the historical record shows otherwise. The greatest carnage and cruelty are the fruit of governments that make themselves into gods -- such governments are worshipped by masses of people who have lost faith in anything other than the material and yearn for what government can accomplish here and now.

Is religion perfect? No, there will surely be intolerance and occasional violence stemming from it, but it is far better than the alternative. A world stripped of religion does not look like Star Trek; it looks like the killing fields of Cambodia, or the mass starvation of the Ukraine under Stalin, or the millions ground up in Mao's Great Leap Forward.