– Let's talk about religion– said my guide suddenly.
- A delicate subject - I answered timidly.
– That's where we'll start. Why is it such a touchy subject? Why are people talking so cautiously about it?
– Because it is something that is considered sacred.
– Sure, what else?
– Because they are the beliefs that people consider most important.
– Very well, what else?
– Because people can be offended and upset.
– You are doing well, why do people defend their religious beliefs so much?
– Well, because in some way they explain their lives, they explain where we come from and where we are going, who we are, who our father is, our mother… they explain life and death… They explain the meaning of our life!
- It's. Our religious beliefs are included in the concept we have as people. So if someone talks about our religion, we believe that they are talking about us too and we feel that we have to defend ourselves.
– That's right, they are the most important beliefs.
– Well, don't you think it's strange that, being so important, we haven't chosen them? That we do not have the possibility to question them?
– Didn't we choose them?
– No. If you are born in a Catholic country, you are Catholic. When you are born you are baptized, then you are circumcised, you are confirmed and you make your first communion when you are just a child.
– However, when we are older we have the option to change it.
– Only if you are able to overcome the fear that they instilled in you, if you have the strength to overcome the guilt that it would cause you and if you have the courage to open your mind.
- You exaggerate.
– I don't, one of the basic premises of most religions is the dogma of faith, that is, that what they tell you is unquestionable.
- Well that's true.
– He who questions religion is a heretic and a heretic is one of the greatest sinners. When the religion started they burned hundreds of thousands of heretics. They killed and tortured anyone who got in their way. Especially those who questioned the faith in an intelligent and consistent way.
– Well, that's also true.
– Now, how many religions do you know?
– One, of course.
– Wait, you said that religion explains the meaning of your life, that it explains your life and your death?
– And beyond death.
– And did you accept the first explanation they offered you?
– I had no choice. Ha! You said it yourself. Or… maybe I'm satisfied with the explanation they gave me? - I said feeling as if I had scored a point in my favor.
– It gives you peace and comfort, doesn't it?
"Yes…" I said hesitating.
- You lie. It fills you with fear, guilt, self-rejection...
– Hey! You're already getting smart! - I said angry. Don't mess around there...
- Why not?– He told me challenging me.
– Because religion is a good thing, it is something sacred. One of the few good things left to man.
- Well, I do not agree.
The leaders of religion do not seek to give you peace and comfort. They seek to manipulate and exploit you. They fill you with fear, with guilt, with self-rejection; those are your tools. They have you terrified with their threats of hell and greedy with their promises of paradise, that is their system.
They are ruthless: first they convince you that you are bad, that you are a sinner, that nothing good can come of you, that you need to be saved, and then who do you think can save you? Themselves of course.
They have no scruples: they preach about love and compassion sitting on mountains of money and not lifting a finger to help those in need. They talk about peace and brotherhood and their institution has killed more people in the history of mankind than all the world wars put together.
- Because? Why would someone do something like that?
– Due to unconsciousness, ignorance, fear. Because they were treated the same. Because it was up to us to change the state of things, not them.
– But… if religion is one of the pillars of society – I comment dejectedly.
– You are right, without religion society would not be what it is now, human beings could not be so brutally exploited and manipulated.
Religion keeps the poor quiet because: “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. “
Religion keeps the exploited calm because: “There is a better life beyond death for the poor in spirit. “
It calms the one who suffers and prevents him from fighting for his rights because: "Suffering exalts the soul."
Without the self-rejection that religion promotes, it would be almost impossible to send young people to war.
– What self-rejection? - I said exhausted, this was too much for me.
– The rejection of your sexuality, the guilt around everything that is natural in you, the energy that moves you, the energy that brought you into this world. That self-rejection.
- No no no. Wait - I said energetically -, without the limits that religion puts this world would be a disaster.
– This world is a mess!
– But would it be worse? We would all be perverts
– Quite the contrary. The fact that you think that sex is bad, that it is dirty and sinful, is what causes so many problems around you. If it were seen as it is, something as natural as eating, laughing, sleeping; there would be that obsession that has been created.
– It is very difficult for me to accept all this.
- Do not accept it. Question it, put it to the test. I told you that questioning your beliefs is not easy.
- I'm just beginning to understand.
tomorrow we read...