Religion is viewed as a moral code by which to live as well as a source of solace and support. Yet, in the name of religion have been committed the worst atrocities against humanity; war, terrorism, persecution, political manipulation; creating hatred, suffering and upheaval. We establish a moral code in its name and abhorrent acts on its behalf; the definition of hypocrisy; the history of human civilization.
BELIEFS
Explanation of the unknown, moral codes, tools for power
Ours is a curious species, always seeking answers. As our ancestors observed the natural world and its phenomena, stories were created to explain them, passed down through generations becoming a set of beliefs. Religious ritual has been a major part of human culture since well before settling down to till the soil. As cultures became more sophisticated, religions established ornate rites and rules of behavior that defined civilizations. Leaders adapted it to maintain control and often, as a rallying cry for conquest and motive for horrendous acts.
In many places today religion is still prioritized. Most societies however, are more secular. Rituals and dogma endure apart from government. Yet, religion still sustains a powerful influence throughout the world. Although rites and doctrine vary, all seem to reach the same conclusion; there is an ultimate truth.
In Western religions it is belief in a spiritual being, God, the embodiment of truth. In the East, it is primarily belief in a pathway to truth. Thus, the basic concept leads us to the same conclusion. Whatever religion, it should be clear; regardless of how we express our beliefs we should all be working toward the same goals. Yet, despite our scientific and technological advancement, we are still socially primitive creatures, unable to internalize the concept. We have only just begun this journey.
There is one concept that is common to all major religions today. It is one that is well known, one that, if adapted in practice; person to person, nation to nation; can level and straighten the otherwise bumpy, winding path to what we seek.
THE UNIVERSAL CONCEPT
The Ideal
A second generation Jewish American born shortly after the last bomb ended the nightmare that was World War II, among my earliest perceptions was an awareness of the holocaust and the horrors behind the numbers imprinted on so many arms.
As inklings of awareness of the outside world entered consciousness, brutality against Afro-Americans in the south and mistreatment throughout the nation, there was a connection. Clearly, racial prejudice and anti-Semitism were built into the fabric of our society. Thus, this parable from the Talmud had a distinct effect on my world vision.
Once there was a gentile who came before Shammai, and said to him: “Convert me on the condition that you teach me the whole Torah while I stand on one foot. Shammai pushed him aside with the measuring stick he was holding. The same fellow came before Hillel, and Hillel converted him, saying: “That which is despicable to you, do not do to your fellow, this is the whole Torah, and the rest is commentary, go and learn it.”
I am not a Talmudic scholar nor am I observant in any traditional sense. Science and reason rule and this is a concept that defies contradiction. Although the wording may vary, a belief common to virtually all religions, it tends also to be the most ignored in practice; the Golden Rule, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”
In essence, the conflict is humanity vs. dogma; common good vs. self-interest. Hillel lived around the time of Jesus and Mohammed expressed it as well. Also embraced within Eastern religions, it is a universal concept. The world has undergone drastic changes since it was first expressed but the lesson forever stands the test; the Golden Rule is an essential truth; respect each other, work with and for each other; the bond that we live by together as one; together for the common welfare of humanity and our world. This is the marriage of religion and reason. Anything else is heresy.
Yet, there is a powerful force diverting us from this basic reality, drawing us in the opposite direction.
ESSENCE OF THE BEAST
Technology with no limits controlled by basic instincts
The struggle began with the first living cell on our young planet about 4 billion years ago; a lonely struggle, competing against an environment devoid of other life, its sole purpose to survive. As environments changed, often becoming hostile, life evolving into ever more varied and sophisticated forms, tools for survival took on different methods to respond to the number and variety of challenges. A wide range of creatures developed specialized traits and skills to adapt.
Survival of the fittest; the ability to endure; has been the key to the existence of every life form. As plant and animal kingdoms divided, the brain became the control center of most animal life with the primary purpose of acclimating to environments. Those who could not overcome fluctuating conditions and upheavals fell to extinction. And so, today we live in the world of survivors; life forms capable of evolving to thus far adjust successfully; those with the specialized abilities to live within the boundaries of nature.
Challenges are numerous; competition for territory and reproduction as well as from other species, environmental changes and disruptions. Each has evolved strategies to deal with their surroundings, procreation and security. Once prey for stronger predators, the specialization that has allowed humans to reach the top of the food chain is the acute ability to reason.
Thought to be the sole realm of our species while all others act purely on instinct, we have since learned better (Animals are People Too). It is amazing how so many parallel our emotions and thought processes. Even one as distantly related as an octopus is capable of using reason to adapt. Specialties of others might be superior; greater sight, smell, hearing, strength or other ability, but our capacity to reason, along with the specialized bodies to use it, is by far the best developed of all of our fellow creatures and has created the ability to dominate our planet.
But what about instinct? As but one of so many species on earth, are we pure reason devoid of instinct? Did reason create our penchant for causing one calamity after another? Has reason created the psychotic environment we face today?
With many similarities to other species, we tend to think of ourselves apart. Rather than instinct, ego is how we define our motivation; the driving force behind survival and success, a major dynamic in our emotions. Ego drives us to create and destroy; find the mate most fit; rise within society as well as challenge our competition. Ego has brought us to the point of holding the future of life on this planet in our hands. Ego is our instinct!
As social animals, ego projects well beyond the individual to virtually any group to which we connect. It is our pride in nation, locality, organization, family, our favorite teams. It takes control of our emotions and overwhelms our ability to reason.
Balancing ego is fear, instinctively protecting us. Whereas ego is motivation to move forward, fear is restraint. Often, however, balance is lost, reason fades, judgement fails, decisions defective. Real dangers are ignored or minimized and the unknown raises misplaced fear.
With social development lagging well behind technology, we are children with unrestrained power. We have the ability to save our planet or destroy it. Emotions dominate actions preventing us, as individuals and as a society, to develop the wisdom to control ourselves. Thus, the hypocrisy built into our character drives us beyond our instincts, beyond reason, often to the brink of destruction.
In our complex society we study the various sciences and social sciences; each one having its place in understanding our ever expanding universe. At the root however, the answer is within the core of our being, the essence of the beast. We are but one among countless species acting on instinct.
Each person views things with different perspectives (The Universe Within). In order to reach the potential of our intelligence and ability to reason we must yet conquer our instincts to create the necessary balance of reason and emotion; of ego and fear. Most difficult for an instinctive being, taming the beast within would be the greatest advance in our social evolution.
Turning those bumps in the road into mountains though, the sins of our past have been catching up with us.
WHAT NOW?
Since emerging as the dominant species on our planet, taking control of our immediate environment, it’s been one cataclysm after another; natural and self-inflicted. Great civilizations have risen and fallen; some leaving their mark; others crumbling to dust with little, if anything, to remind us of their existence.
Consistent throughout history has been a pattern condemning us to repeat the same destructive mistakes. The world today is globally connected yet we are dominated by the essence of the beast; competing with each other rather than working together to confront the monumental crises before us.
For every problem there is a solution. With many solutions come previously unknown complications; too often ignored until critical. By putting off solutions, we push the limits, challenging reality.
We’ve conquered all other species we can see and many we can’t. We control the destiny of our planet. Yet, ego overrides reason, dominating our global society, compromising our very existence.
Our success depends on conquest of self. Theoretically, we are making progress. Our knowledge and understanding is moving forward at a phenomenal pace. Conceptually, we comprehend yet are unable to rise above.
Ignoring the consequences of our technology we have created climate problems out of control, doing immense damage to life on our planet and disrupting societies. Individuals, corporations and governments are concerned with obtaining and maintaining power rather than work together toward realistic and immediate solutions. And we still have those in our midst who cling to superstition and myth, denying rights and taking lives to enforce their hold on a barbaric past (Humanity at War with Itself).
To tame the beast requires a comfort zone where we can live with ourselves in harmony with each other; where we can set aside ego and fear, making decisions using criteria and reason without the intrusion of emotion.
Some today live as hunter gatherers while others explore the far reaches of the universe. With the population of the planet about eight billion individuals, it is currently well beyond us to establish the mutual trust to adjust to the universal cooperative necessary to save planet and soul. Only then can we hope to straighten the road to truth.
With extremes in thought and lifestyle among eight billion; egos dominating reason; it is still but a faint concept, far from today’s reality.
Will we ever be capable?
How much will be lost on the way?