Carnival Rides

Something occurred to me recently that most of us living in America tend to either ignore, forget, or never knew. Perhaps it is because most of us identify—75 %—ourselves as Christians, whatever that means in a morass of different doctrines, dogmas, and denominations. We identify the religion associated with Jesus as one of peaceful intent. But, consider carnival rides at the county fair, i.e. the rocket, the tilt-a-whirl, and the Ferris wheel. All work basically the same way with cylinders that go around and around on an axis. The most benign of those rides is the Ferris wheel, and yet all three can be equally dangerous if there are screws missing in the framework. The damage done by a cylinder full of people flying off into space will, in most cases, prove catastrophic regardless of which ride breaks down.

Three of the world’s ten major religions—the so-called Abrahamic religions of Islam, Judaism, and Christianity—revolve around the same axis that blood must be spilled to propitiate guilt and make the worshipper clean enough through that sacrifice to approach some variation of the same god in prayer or service. Each of these religions is patriarchal in nature and, although each one goes about how and when blood-spilling will occur differently, each reaches the same eschatology, which is the destruction of non-believers and/or the salvation/resurrection of the pure at heart. Even Christians, who have used the blood sacrifice of Jesus for two thousand years as an excuse to be forgiven of Bible-defined sin, still preach of a great army led by dead Jesus that will come back in the end times and destroy everyone on earth who has Revelation’s mark of the beast.

Fairy Tales and scary tales? Take a couple of minutes and read about the ride of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse as it is described by John, a favorite apostle of Jesus himself.  These types of blood-letting catastrophes are in much greater harmony with the nature of humans than with a loving god and seem to be a much greater focal point in the 21^st century than the more charitable doctrines in all three religions. What does that mean? Is religion a force for good or evil? It appears to me that the answer remains relative based on individual perception, collective nationalism, social mores, and the ability for humans to equivocate. I believe this way because I also believe that humans create gods, not the other way around. This is not a popular opinion for many people because it doesn’t provide and easy way on how to cope with the things that terrify us all such as the existence of evil and the inevitable end of each living entity. However, bear with me a minute more, and consider this reality.

First of all, the core of each of the Abrahamic religions is designed to make humans feel unworthy and constantly in need of atonement for their unworthiness. That atonement may come in a variety of ways including the murder of non-believers or to the donation of vast sums of money or voting. Whatever fundamentalist method is prescribed has a secondary benefit, and for me this is the key to understanding both foundation and motivation. The actions individual humans take are specifically designed to perpetuate the organization of their choice that causes those actions to be carried out. If a jihadist destroys a bus full of schoolchildren by igniting a suicide vest, who gains from the explosion and carnage? Mohammed, Allah? Or the terrorist group that gets the publicity and the recruitment video? When Israeli army tanks and bulldozers crush homes and Palestinian children to make way for Jewish settlements in occupied territory, who receives the deeds for those lands. Yahweh? Or humans who claim Yahweh gave the land to them? When a new jet plane is purchased by Joel Osteen while his donors go hungry or someone shoots a doctor in the head for performing an abortion, does Jesus dance in heaven?

I accept the fact that all three religions do some charitable work and that the work should be appreciated and honored. But even this charitable work reaps material rewards because the humans that run those organizations are exalted as princes and/or the property owned by them is not subject to taxation or government scrutiny, at least in America. Put that together with the practical aspect of being able to eliminate people who disagree with you or have something you want by popular influence of a political agenda and, as the British say, “Bob’s your uncle.”

Consider all the wars being fought by this “peaceful” Christian nation and how many of those wars have religious undertones in convincing people of their necessity. When Eric Prince contracted his mercenary army to U.S. government for huge sums of money to slaughter women and children in Iraq, he relied heavily on the image of that army as a new Knights Templar force divinely ordained to recapture the Holy Lands from the Muslims by his own admission. Look at the Jews bombing Gaza, research how long Jihadists have been attempting the destruction of infidels. Even this current election in the U.S. has not escaped this fact. Donald Trump has relied on a hypocritical sense of Christian Nationalism for support to get elected and is currently attempting to put Pete Hegseth in charge of the most powerful military of earth. Baptist News Global says, “President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to serve as U.S. Secretary of Defense has ties to one of the most chauvinistic and vitriolic leaders of the Christian nationalist far right…”

I’m not trying to make a case that this violence is called for in the sacred books of any religion. I’m pointing out that all sacred writings are subject to the interpretations of their authors and readers who are human. To make the claim that some god is inspiring the words written does not strengthen their truth. It only strengthens the validations for the actions of those that interpret those truths with enough power to see them realized. My father used to say “opinions are like assholes, everybody’s got one and their all different.”

So, here we are in the 21^st century at a time when the whole planet is on the brink of a catastrophic era and billions of people have chosen to ride these carnival rides without checking where their tickets are really coming from. I, for one, am very concerned about the fact of how easily the screws seem to be coming loose on all of them and how many people continue to buy tickets. This is not because the words of their sacred books are dangerous, but because we tend to be led by men who claim to know what they mean with a view to what empowers or enriches those men primarily. This is a complex dilemma in a complicated world. There are no simple answers. But there are no answers at all in blind credulity.

When I was in combat with the Marines, I was taught as a scout not to follow jungle trails blindly because the enemy would rig them with deadly booby traps knowing that many soldiers, by nature, would follow the easiest path they could to get to their goal. That advice saved my life more than once. There are no easy and yet safe paths left for humanity. It will require a lot of work to get through what we ourselves have created by getting on our carnival rides without first checking for loose screws. It’s time for us to do better.