Rawen's Musings

“Rawi, are you sure you want to do this?” ”Yes, my already traumatised conscience. Yes, I am.”

I’ve indeed had this inner dialogue multiple times but only now with this outcome. I may have already hinted at my views when it comes to various philosophies or ideologies and mainly religions. The title pretty much sums my view up but also simplifies a lot so a longer and more detailed stream of thoughts is warranted. So, let’s begin.

As you have probably figured out, I’m not a religious person. Most accurate descriptor for me would be atheist-agnostic; I don’t follow or practice any but I don’t deny one’s wish to do so. Full-on atheists can and sometimes do go that extra step further which ironically makes them no different but I’ll get to that later. A lesser known personal fact however is that I am indeed baptised roman catholic which comes with a rather amusing “perk” of having a middle name (not that I ever use it). And yet I stay clear of “my” religion and these days I’d probably be crucified upside-down, doused in acid, burnt alive and my ashes would be thrown in a septic tank. Now that I have planted this rather distasteful image into your head, back to the scheduled programming.

People tend to cling to spiritual realm when looking for the things that are difficult to explain. Most often it’s related to after life or some guidance through hardships of life. This can be offered in various ways with philosophies or religions being the largely prevalent. Doesn’t matter if it’s the familiar (at least to my corner of the world) Abrahamic religion or the more philosophical religions of the Eastern Asia. In all cases, there’s a code comprising of thoughts and ideas for one to study and interpret. These ideas are there to provide guidance for one’s understanding of the world. And when one’s knowledge comes short, there’s likely someone more versed in the study who can help you along your path.

Sounds good, doesn’t it? Then how come we’re in the situation of today? How come many of these ideas have been twisted? Let’s try to shine some light into the dark.

Religion; Virtues turned into vices

We’ll start in the realm that’s more familiar and partly how this text is coming to be. Religions have been here with humanity pretty much since the dawn of civilisations; be it the ancient Mesopotamia of present day Persian Gulf, the largely anthropomorphic pantheon of ancient Egypt, the perfectionist ancient Greece/Rome or the familiar trio of Christianity, Judaism and Islam. Yes, I’m putting them together because if you study them a little you’ll find a lot of common traits. Sometimes uncomfortably common.

Each of these have had their own cults of followers. Yes, the polytheistic (religions of multiple gods) ancient civilastions were in the philospohical sense splintered into a many small groups, each following the teachings of their chosen deity. This must’ve been “fun” especially with those following the likes of Ares/Mars. Ok, I’m being needlesly edgy here but you get the idea. There were quite a few situations where the core ideas of various cults went against one another, making the conflict of interests inevitable and practically inviting a power struggle.

Solution? Or at least an attempt at one? Monotheism. Enter the Abrahamic religions. You know, the trio. And whoo boy were they not liked. At least the two of those weren’t; Christianity and Judaism. Followers of the former were used as lion treats in the Collosseum while the latter were basically slaves for ancient Egyptians. In both cases, they’ve turned things their way, for better or worse (looking at you, Israel, or at the very least those in your lead right now; and don’t make me start about the mess of Christian churches).

But let’s look at their respective codes. All of them teach understanding, compassion, forgivness. And if you read their respective scriptures, you’d actucally find tons of similarities to a point where sometimes you’d have a lot of trouble distingushing between one another. So what went wrong? How come the philosophy that’s built on the Ten Commandmets (which are already a pretty reasonable framework) or teaches humility can turn into a tool of oppression?

Well, let’s say someone who has good rethorical skills starts subtly introducing some less savoury ideas into the code. Slowly but surely bending and twisting the ideas with their interpretation and making sure that theirs is the correct one. Suddenly, you have “code” which can be used as an excuse to your actions. Crusades? It’s God’s desire to return his grave to rightful hands. Doesn’t matter that they sent literal kids (yes, that indeed happened). The Plagues of Egypt? It was God’s punishment for mistreating the Jews. Yup, actions that these days would be branded as acts of terrorism have been “normal” accoridng to that religious ideal. Ffs, the God literally commited an infanticide on an entire city. But hey, it was for “good” purpose. Islam and its Sharia Law? It’s the God’s (yes, the Arabic word “Allah” literally translates to God) sacred law. Who cares it’s incompatible with basic human rights.

Anyway, I’m not here to rant about this and go for the low-hanging fruit because that’s not the point. The reason I’m pointing these out is how the codes that were intended for guidance have been relentlessly warped into tools of oppression or cultural supremacism. Like, how do you explain the reformation movements in Europe when the Catholic church proved to be corrupt (and still very much is)? How do you explain the immense hatred and inhumanity coming from the very religion that was built on compassion? How can one excuse the absolute atrocities commited in the name of God? You shouldn’t be able to but somehow it happens because “God works in mysterious ways”. And here it is. You don’t ask “why”. You merely listen but don’t ask because God’s will is supreme. But that’s the thing. It’s not and it never intended to be. The God is there to guide you and maybe course correct if you venture into spaces that would harm you. The God isn’t there to use you as a tool because the God is almighty, right? Epicurean paradox wants a word with you.

But the core of the above thoughts lies in the supremacist interpretation. The idea that a deity isn’t to be questioned. But doesn’t that turn one into a slave? Looking at the story of Moses and freeing the Jews through this lens, would such a mindset make them free? Or did they just swap one slave master for another? One that helped them to achieve superiority instead of freedom? Do words “One nation under God” sound familiar? They’re from the US Pledge of Alegiance. The same pledge said in schools there. This in the supposed “land of the free”.

A personally puzzling thing is that I’ve never heard about a similar thing when it comes to for example Buddhism or Taoism. Is the supremacist view of religions a Western thing? Or am I just not invested deep enough (highly possible since I’m nowhere near an expert in the field)? Food for thought.

Philospohies and ideologies; Thoughts turned into WMDs

Alright, enough digging just into religions. Surely the word of more “reason-driven” philosophies is better, right? Right? Oh, sweet summer child, you’re in for a whiplash. Speaking of reason-driven, stoicism sounds familiar? Especially when in the context of a “traditional man”? One of the traits is to be stoic. And yes, having good reasons for one’s actions isn’t a bad thing but do you have to use cold logic for everything? Not even Vulcans from Star Trek can escape emotions and whoo boy does it make them dangerous for a while every seven or so years. Another popular choice could be nihilism. It’s frankly something really different than the distilled “nothing matters so why bother” thing many people tend to cling to.

With ideologies it gets even scarier. Let’s take the two extreme culprits of recent history to the proverbial chopping block. Imagine you’re in a country that’s been ravaged by war, lost and it’s being stomped on by the victorious side. People are mad and are looking for a way out. What if there was a scape-goat? An easy one that would have a hard time defending oneself? And let’s think about this in a prison because many will think the problem has been dealt with. Of course I’m talking about the Nazi Germany and its inglorious leader, both in his atrocities and his demise. He really managed to capture the anger of the people and direcet it towards an easy target. But you know what’s ironic? Look at the name of the ideology. It comes from the term National Socialism. Yes, you’re reading right. An ideology, which when put my personally despised spectrum sits comfortably on the Left, has been shifted to the absolutely despicable extreme Right. Even if it was “just” a name change, the damage is already done.

Now let’s look on the other end of the spectrum, to the crumbling Imperial Russia. People angry at the royal family for the incompetence and failure during the Great War. And here comes a person which promises workers paradise … except that paradise develops into such a hell that the actual Devil would ask Stalin “Buddy, are you fucking nuts?” And all that was built on top the ideology of communism, defined by Karl Marx when he was criticising capitalism and was trying to offer an alternative (a little utopian alternative but still an alternative). And you know what’s even “funnier”? When first “marxists” were starting to emerge, the man himself denounced them since he wasn’t really fond of the idea of the cult of personality.

Speaking of capitalism, the slow and steady human meatgrinder of today, even that ideology can’t be completely worshipped or denounced. Reasons for the former are rather obvious because we’re living in it or so far inevitably descending into it. But why not the latter? Because the same also describes the models of free markets and how these should be established and in some cases reined in so the system doesn’t implode.

Feeling confused? I would be surprised if you weren’t because all this is difficult to take in. But the gist of the above thought process is the following. Every ideology or philosophy, religious or rational, serves a purpose; be it source of ideas or examples of things to beware. It’s when the aforementioned becomes a tool of control and oppression “for the good of all” or to “elevate the chosen”. That’s why when turned into a religion or a cult it becomes the “weapon of mass destruction” which I use as an analogy. It’ll serve to exterminate the undesirable and subdue the innocent instead of providing the guidance one should seek.

All this is why I despise churches and cults and why I have issues with many people that identify with ideologies. Why? Because the rope they walk is extremely tight and falling into the pit of unchecked power trip easier than it may seem.

R.R.A.