Sunday March 28, 2021
I have been studying ancient Egypt and I frequently find myself wondering how they could have believed what they did about an afterlife. Then I think about our situation. How many people believe in heaven without any evidence?
It’s disturbing in that the true believers wish to inflict their beliefs, whatever they are, on others.
I also think about how many famous figures throughout history used religion for their own ends. Either they used it to control the populations they had sway over, or they used it as a possible insurance policy to seek eternal life.
Constantine the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity did so near his death. Genghis Khan seemed to believe in the great sky lord, or something like that, but his belief in this seemed to be more of an “Okay. Why not?” than an actual belief.
Then there are the pyramids of Egypt. Did they really believe or was it a giant works project to keep everybody busy? What about the pyramids of the Maya? Of Teotihuacan? Or any of the graveyards?
How many examples do we have of priests controlling the populations by ceremonies and wive’s tales?
And now we have a new belief system entering the world – Q’anon. It seems to be an extension of the game of Dungeons and Dragons with an element of disinformation thrown in. It has a group think cult like belief built in too. “Ya Gotta Believe!”
How we got here will no doubt be analyzed once we are past and through this period.
But not only are these people being led astray by the most bald faced of lies but there are much more subtle ones too. Okay, they aren’t so subtle, but still. Fox News, OAN, InfoWars, RT, and others say things that are untrue, verifiably untrue and yet People Believe!
These believers seem not to be reached by logic or reason.
In the same way that people who are dependent on the Federal government programs will vote for people who promise to abolish them. How does this happen is the oft asked question.
I have the answer.
People are stupid.
No? Yes? Maybe?
Many people seem to have a desire to have an answer for things. I understand that, to some degree, but to lie to yourself and others for the satisfaction of having an answer is disturbing. Yet, “we” do it all the time.
In “The History of God” by Karen Armstrong I got the impression that the explanation of god and the powers that god possesses is a constantly redefining as various statements and positions held by those in religious authority are shown to be provably false. This means the retreat forces religion into more and more of a position that is unprovable. Ya gotta believe because ya gotta believe.
I often wonder what the people who claim to be conservatives think that is and what they think their polar opposite, which the call either liberalism or being progressive is?
I mean many of those “conservatives” want no government interference in their lives. What do they think liberalism is but the ability to be allowed “to do your thing”?
Yet these conservatives only want you to do their thing! In other words, “Don’t tread on me, but I’m gonna walk all over you.” (Sorry Nancy*)
*Sinatra. Look it up.
The weirdest thing about it is that they are so dependent on the government for their existence.
Then we get to the conservative politicians. OMG! It’s not just here. It’s now coming to light that Boris Johnson and the whole Brexit thing is a travesty. He pulled people off of pandemic response to sell Brexit. Then Covid hit. Not only is Britain screwed economically but their response to the health crisis has been hampered by a lack of government oversight. That is to say no one was there at the wheel.
In our country besides the complete incompetence of the previous administration there was also a desire to explain away. How else does one understand the fact that Mike Pence replaced his staff with PR people? He got rid of anyone who knew or cared to do anything.
In Brazil they elected a strong man. He was going to fix things. He didn’t. He’s let the pandemic run wild in his country.
I have two suggestions for each one of us. This comes from the app Noom, which I am using to lose weight. Most of the time they are talking about psychology. It’s mostly stuff I’ve heard, but it is being presented in a useful way with practical suggestions how to accomplish stuff you desire. Like lose weight. What they suggest is: 1) smiling and 2) hugging yourself. Both they claim will physically make you feel better. It works! Try it.
Have a day!
PS “Does the crown make my head look fat?”
People are stupid has been a standard saying in my house for years. Back when I was working in restaurants and training new staff, one of the first things I’d say to a new trainee was ‘here’s something to always remember, people are stupid’. Some things never change.