Religion – The Answer

With the Pope’s visit this week I thought it was about time to get religious. Normally this conversation takes place after about 7 pints. So writing this with a sober head is refreshing and hopefully quite coherent. When asked what religious persuasion I am, I say the most ‘sitting on the fence’ answer there is. ‘I’m agnostic’. In other words, I’m saying I’m a man of science but I don’t want to write off completely the prospect of an afterlife. One of my favourite comedy lines of recent years is from the BBC3 sitcom ‘Hyperdrive’ where one of the agnostic characters is reunited with a former love. It went along the lines of …

Agnostic: ‘Since you left I’ve given up my religion’

Former Lover: ‘You should never give up your belief that there may, or may not, be a God’

I’m a fairly cynical person, who believes, that the origin of religion was a primitive form of law. It plays on a fear of the unknown that we all share ‘what happens when you die?’. We’ve made such huge advancements in science that we now believe we have all the answers. This is surely getting ahead of ourselves? There’s still so much to be discovered. I’m not making my bed until I’m absolutely convinced. And even then there will be some small room for the thought of a magical land called heaven.

Frankie Boyle: ‘Nothing matters. We’re essentially all highly evolved monkeys clinging to a rock that’s falling through space and the rock itself is dying.’

What’s worrying me at the moment is this current wave of anti-religious feeling. I think the press (again) has to take some responsibility for it. The recent Pope aide story was made out to suggest that Cardinal Walter Kasper thought our atheist nature made us a 3rd world nation. That’s not entirely accurate. He stated that flying into Heathrow (shit hole) sometimes gave you the impression of flying into a 3rd world country. Also that there is a worrying wave of atheism. I couldn’t agree more. I’m not anti-atheism but with any wave of media frenzy, there may be consequences. We’re currently lucky enough to live in a multi-cultural and TOLERANT society. The more stories bashing religion the more this tolerance is under threat.

I’ve just realised the title of this post has ‘Answer’ in it. Unfortunately, as I’m a mere mortal I have no answers for you..sorry. I think no matter what beliefs you have, you have to follow your OWN moral compass. Too often people hide behind things to defend their own actions. It’s the old Nazi argument of ‘I was just following orders’. The Catholic priests could argue perhaps that the 10 commandments doesn’t specifically mention anything about whether you can or can’t abuse kids. I think the most important thing is CONSIDERATION. Put yourself in the other person’s shoes but remember that they aren’t you so accept their differences. Stick by that and everything else will be cream cheese.