More Thoughts on Religion

Lately I've been experiencing emotional conflict on the subject of religion. I have the proverbial little devil on one shoulder, and the angel on the other shoulder trying to win over my perception on the matter. It doesn't help the angel that my mind naturally leans toward pragmatism and objectivity, and less on faith. In an attempt to organize the debate on the merits of religion, my mind creates a courtroom scenario pitting religiosity against secularism. And I must say that secularism has more evidence to support its merits than religion; particulary during this day and age. My personal experience corroborates this, which I'll get into later. But, being a person who makes it a point to give both sides equal consideration, my mind doubles as a "public defender" for religion.

From what I can see, religion has the ability to divide people. It has the ability to divide families. It prevents family members from getting close to one another, if they all don't share strong religious beliefs. Religion by definition is exclusive. It has to be. In order to practice it correctly, you must make certain renouncements; for example, you must refrain from cursing, exhibiting sexuality, and sometimes dancing or drinking in public. Non-religious family members know this, and therefore act in a way that is not quite themselves when they are around religious family members. It creates a somewhat artificial, or distant feeling. One may be quick to say that the "behaviors that religious people renounce shouldn't be done anyways, from a moral standpoint." I suppose this is true. Then why do I, and others feel the way we do? The best answer I can come up with is, the religious method of behavioral restraint involves fear and punishment (of, from God) whereas the non-religious method does not. The religious approach is spartan and rigid; the non-religious approach relies on deity-independent self-restraint, which is quite possible, but perhaps less effective. I suppose that the religious approach is superior in this respect. Humans usually do need some kind of punishment in order to modify behavior, whether actual or perceived. It is a Pavlovian truth. But, for freedom-loving people, to willingly create a subconscious mental state of duress in order to keep oneself in line is an anathema. It is something we try to get around while trying to achieve the same result-- good behavior, good morals.

Religious people serve to act as a (Republican) voting bloc, and as a result can spawn change. They can, as a group change the quality of life in a way that is not acceptable to others. This has never been more true than in the Bush Years: whereas prior to the Bush administration I felt a sense of balance between the two ideologies of liberalism and conservatism. I believe that this is a healthy balance, a yin and yang existence of one force balancing the other to achieve harmony. But today, I feel that the conservative movement has broken loose. I feel that it's encroaching on my life on the personal level. I see an unstable future for the world, thanks to the actions of Bush (actually, the legions of conservatives who put him into office twice). They have opened a pandora's box, creating a "disturbance in the force," to borrow from Star Wars. I see financial hardship for local governments as federal dollars are spent paying for this and future wars. I see a weakening of our economy as we continue to slide into debt. I see global warming accelerating, due to conservatives' rejection and ridicule of the global warming theory. I see an increase in crime as unemployed and underemployed people resort to illegal means to make money. I see increased terrorism as the chasm between Christians and Muslims widens. I see stagnation in technology, especially green technology as resources are diverted to anti-terrorism campaigns. Basically I see a darker, more frightened, dangerous, polluted future.

I believe that overall, organized religion is a failure. I don't think that believing in god is necessarily bad; it's when the believers (the fundamentalists of the group) organize, achieve political power, and attempt to legislate their beliefs upon society.

Ode To James Kim

During the past week, people were riveted to the news of the San Francisco family who had gone missing from a Thanksgiving outing. James Kim, his wife Kati and daughters Penelope and baby Sabine did not return from their trip in Oregon as scheduled, and a missing persons report was filed by family and friends. Kim was headed towards Gold Beach, a coastal destination to the west beyond rugged terrain.

As the days passed with no word of the family, interest grew. Were they kidnapped? Did they get lost? Did they fall into a ravine? The uncertainty of the situation created intense drama. What made the story more urgent was the fact that a newborn was involved, and the fact that weather conditions in the area of travel were harsh. Five different agencies, including private helicopter service hired by Kim's family were busy searching for the lost family. It was like finding a needle in a haystack: vast wilderness and rugged mountainous terrain, with snow and rain hampering the search efforts.

Finally, Kim's family was located. Mother and daughters were cold and hungry, but in good condition. It turns out that they had turned off onto the wrong road: a long, windy logging road that basically led to nowhere. James had left the family a day or two earlier to find help. Now the search focused on finding him. People were very optimistic, because Kim was known as a very resourceful person. However; I had my apprehensions: a city dweller in rugged, remote Pacific Northwest terrain with inclement weather was not a good combination.

Well, yesterday hope turned to anguish: James Kim's body was found in an icy creek, just five miles from where he turned off from the main highway. It was determined that he made a circuitous route on foot, climbing through thick brush, over slippery boulders, and waded through an icy river in a desperate attempt to save his family. Rescue workers were devasted. It was not the ending everyone was expecting, or was hoping for. It seems that many were taken by surprise at the tragic ending.

I feel so sorry, so badly for James Kim and his family. A good man has died a senseless death. A woman is now widowed. And two girls will grow up not having a father around-- no dad around at graduation, holidays, and family outings; no dad to help with homework; no dad to give them away at their weddings. Only bad memories that are best forgotten. Their lives changed forever on that day. And San Francisco lost a fine neighbor.

There are lessons to be learned here:

1. Don't take your loved ones for granted. Make sure they know you appreciate them, every day. You never know if it's the last time you'll ever see them.

2. Realize that there is more to life than your immediate routine. Death can come any day, unexpected. Make sure there is balance in your life. Realize that the world is a playground that God has given us, to be explored and enjoyed and appreciated while you are alive.

3. Be prepared when you take long trips. Think worse case scenario. Play the pessimist role. Then, do what needs to be done to handle these scenarios should they arise. Here's what we all should learn from James Kim's sacrifice:

a) Research the weather forecast in the area of your destination. Go to weather.com. If snow and rain are in the forecast, bring tire chains, extra car battery, food to last a week, warm clothing, snowshoes, etc.

b) Tell at least two people your itinerary. Check in with them at each stop point.

c) If you will be traveling through rural roads, check in with the county sherriff and get as much info as possible on these roads. Check with locals; take notes of landmarks that will help you navigate to your destination. Use your odometer and correlate with your land map so that you can dead reckon your position at any time. Bring a compass (the navigation one and the geometry one).

d) If you have precious cargo (kids, wife) bring or rent a satellite phone.

That's it. You can never be too prepared.

So, to James Kim-- I didn't know you, but your terrible incident has shook me a little out of my state of monotony. You died too soon. I will say a prayer for you. I am not big on faith, but it's during times like this that I really, really hope that good prevails and there is some sort of heaven; and that there will be a reuniting of you and your family one day.

dp