On Opting Out of Religion

[MineralMan]

Religions are about control. Control of self. Control of group. Control of thought. Control of ideas. Pretty much all of them have those characteristics. None, however, have control over individual human beings, really. None have control over truth.

In the United States, most people are exposed to Christianity. It's the dominant religion in these parts. It's almost impossible to escape learning about the story Christianity tells. It's easy to buy into it, especially when you're a youngster and have no knowledge other than what you are learning at the moment, and not much history to fall back on.

Many people simply accept the lessons and go along with those teachings. Maybe most people. It's easy to do. It's easy to "give god the glory," accept that "god works in mysterious ways," and believe that it all goes back to some deity, somehow, despite all the evidence to the contrary you learn as you grow into adulthood.

Many, but not everybody. Some people simply opt out at some point. They think. They reason. They compare other types of knowledge, and simply opt out. At some point, they look at those religious teachings and recognize them for the fables and myths they are. They learned a lot of good lessons for how to behave in society. They retain those, but simply opt out of the rest.

Some continue to participate in religious activities. It's a social outlet. Others just walk away and find other opportunities to commune with society. There are many ways to opt out. It doesn't matter how you do it, really. But, if you think and reason and ponder, it's hard not to opt out of old myths and fables. It gets harder the more you think about it.

I opted out at about age 20. Permanently and completely. I've never looked back. I can see no point in looking back.

Anyone can opt out at any time. We have agency over what we believe and what we do not believe. Truly we do. Think about it.

[PragmaticDem]

1. Most of my family opted out.

I never did but I take everything with a grain of salt, and I don't let anyone control my thoughts or beliefs.

[hlthe2b]

2. well, I think the Evangelicals have done themselves great harm, especially with younger adults

who see through the blatant hypocrisy. I predict a further downward spiral in support of religion in general, and that form of """"Christianity""" in particular.

[MineralMan]

3. You're probably right.

In many ways, we're better educated than ever. Education is the best defense against ancient myths and legends, really. That's why the religious right is so big into homeschooling, really. That way, they can control the information their children receive.

But, the kids are learning anyhow. The mean age of people in church is going up all the time. In some churches, the only people still attending are older people. As they die, congregations dwindle.

[wasupaloopa]

4. Emmnuel Kant said that in 1784

http://theliterarylink.com/kant.html

IMMANUEL KANT
An Answer to the Question:
What is Enlightenment? (1784)

Enlightenment is man's emergence from his self-imposed immaturity. Immaturity is the inability to use one's understanding without guidance from another. This immaturity is self-imposed when its cause lies not in lack of understanding, but in lack of resolve and courage to use it without guidance from another. Sapere Aude! [dare to know] "Have courage to use your own understanding!"--that is the motto of enlightenment.

Laziness and cowardice are the reasons why so great a proportion of men, long after nature has released them from alien guidance (natura-liter maiorennes), nonetheless gladly remain in lifelong immaturity, and why it is so easy for others to establish themselves as their guardians. It is so easy to be immature. If I have a book to serve as my understanding, a pastor to serve as my conscience, a physician to determine my diet for me, and so on, I need not exert myself at all. I need not think, if only I can pay: others will readily undertake the irksome work for me. The guardians who have so benevolently taken over the supervision of men have carefully seen to it that the far greatest part of them (including the entire fair sex) regard taking the step to maturity as very dangerous, not to mention difficult. Having first made their domestic livestock dumb, and having carefully made sure that these docile creatures will not take a single step without the go-cart to which they are harnessed, these guardians then show them the danger that threatens them, should they attempt to walk alone. Now this danger is not actually so great, for after falling a few times they would in the end certainly learn to walk; but an example of this kind makes men timid and usually frightens them out of all further attempts.

Thus, it is difficult for any individual man to work himself out of the immaturity that has all but become his nature. He has even become fond of this state and for the time being is actually incapable of using his own understanding, for no one has ever allowed him to attempt it. Rules and formulas, those mechanical aids to the rational use, or rather misuse, of his natural gifts, are the shackles of a permanent immaturity. Whoever threw them off would still make only an uncertain leap over the smallest ditch, since he is unaccustomed to this kind of free movement. Consequently, only a few have succeeded, by cultivating their own minds, in freeing themselves from immaturity and pursuing a secure course.


Much more at the link

[True Dough]

11. I think Kant

is just a sign of a defeatist attitude!

[wasupaloopa]

12. How so?

[True Dough]

13. Ah, the joke is lost

when one has to explain it.

Kant = Can't

[wasupaloopa]

14. When I was in college, a Catholic college

the philosophy profs were told they could not teach Kant.

It was in the 70’s and intellectual freedom was a cause to fight for then. The whole school went out on strike and the administration relented. They said you could teach Kant but it could not be on the exam and at the beginning of class students were told that the Church did not approve and they could skip the class with no consequence.

So for the Church Kant was can’t

[True Dough]

15. Don't tell me you went to

Kant State?!?

[wasupaloopa]

16. University of Dayton

[cilla4progress]

5. Very interesting post!

I was raised in the 50s-60s as a humanist in The Ethical Culture Society, by parents who were refugees from the Judaism of their parents - as many in the Society were. We were taught in Sunday School about all the world’s religions, did a lot of folk dancing, and the Sunday “sermons” were more talks, by intellectuals, on topics of current importance.

My parents migrated to the Unitarian “church” - use the term loosely, maybe more a fellowship, which was an easier drive from their home, exposing me to it - which includes the tenets of valuing all the world’s religions. I have never read the Bible, though I may, if I wish. A guiding principle of Unitarianism is supporting individuals in their own search for truth and meaning.

What these religious experiences had in common is the social aspect, which is not to be undervalued; spending meaningful time with other like-minded (or not!) souls, examining universal truths and questions. I am finding that this is very important to me in our ever atomized society - an intentional community of open-minded fellow seekers.

In recent years I have come to the feeling that divinity - sacredness - is found, for me, in nature. That is my sacred space. I guess this makes me a pagan, and I have a bookshelf full of books from that practice, all of which I have read.

I do keep coming back, however, to the underlying premise of Unitarianism: I am not forced to subscribe to, or participate in any one belief system: I may create my own theology, and I will be supported in that.

[MineralMan]

6. Creating your own theology can include

abandoning theology altogether, and often does.

[cilla4progress]

7. Absolutely!!

[Igel]

8. Lots of things are about control.

It's one of the nicer things about the US Constitution: The only controls are on government actors. They "get" people very little that's tangible.

After that, the majority of the laws are about control, and most newer "rights" are about controlling somebody and or some thing, and often about getting people something that's very tangible.

[2naSalit]

9. My immediate family

participated in the great religion war, as I call it, where the "adults" were literally arguing over which of their various religions I would buy into... unfortunately for them, I had rejected their beliefs at an early point when I was made to understand that they all claim to be the one true religion and that all the others are imposters and will lead me straight to hell. i think I was about twelve or thirteen. We had New England fundamentalist baptists, seventh day adventists, jews, catholics and some other group I chose to ignore.

I have no regrets making that choice and think it is what made me free to pursue my goals in life.

[MineralMan]

10. Sounds like a fascinating family.

My parents were Ozzie and Harriet.