contradictions

The lead article in today's NY Times Magazine is another one about religion. Religion in this country is still a big thing as so many people not only want to be part of something, they want to be part of the RIGHT thing.

But this article, by Robin M. Henig,who writes about neurology, takes that view that a human brain is more comfortable when it feels it has answers, even if they may be the wrong answers. And there is a great deal of truth to that.

But, what I want to say, briefly, is that religion. like so many other human endeavors, is full of contradictions. It offers the promise of a better life, of a life lived through moral reasoning, of loving and caring for each other, of a brotherhood for all people, and a feeling of being a part of something that is greater and more meaningful than each of us alone, as mere selfish individuals.

And, on the other side, it divides us into angry camps of distrusting tribes, with each camp willing to kill each other over issues such as how to end prayers, who needs a Pope, cartoon characterizations of a deity, and especially which God left which lands to which people. Religions seem to be very adept at handing down strict rules to follow (I guess that's why they have followers), with the threat of very dire consequences if the rules are not followed in the manner that some hallucinatory lunatic decrees.

In that way religion is a great, long lasting example of all things human. It is full of potential that is hardly realized. To be done right it takes thought, reason and discipline. But most people, and this has been true to centuries if not millennia, seem to go quickly for the easy answer, and remain pretty sloppy thinkers. It's not that they really lack in "native intelligence." It's more often the case that most people have never been really taught how to think, especially how to value long-term gains over short-term pleasures. There are reasons for that too, evolutionary ones.

But, one thing that I have learned as a therapist: It is easier to believe than to think. Just as L, who strongly believes that "some nut broke into her house and cut the stitching out of the inside of the sleeves of four of her new sweaters." And she is totally convinced that the same person, or group of people put that tiny hole in her boot to allow the water in.

It would help if she would think about it.