Going Too Far

PSYCHOLOGISTS AND SOCIOLOGISTS have postulated that extreme religious zealotry and extreme political zealotry, especially far right extremism, is a form of mental illness, and may indicate brain damage. Regardless, my experience hath shown that conservatives and devoutly religious people in general tend towards narrow mindedness, intolerance of diversity of thought, intolerance of cultural and religious diversity, and hatred, disguised as piety. It is no coincidence that political conservatism and religious devotion go together, that people who embrace the former also tend to embrace the latter. How can political conservatives and religious devotees possibly be otherwise, when conservatism itself is antithetical to change, embraces tradition and the status quo, and requires that all religions other than the one embraced be deemed fallacious? Attacking and denigrating religious devoation merely because one happens to be irreligious is counterproductive to the pursuit of truth and wisdom. Religion serves the noble and necessary purpose of inspiring and comforting people, even as comfort and inspiration can be derived from many non relgious sources. But enumerating and explaining the detrimental effects of religion upon individuals, culture, and civilization is no less necessary, indeed, more so, for as Goethe said: "The world advances only because of those who oppose it". Religion, any religion goes awry when it posits itslef as the only legitimate authority in matters of moral terpitude, society, and human behavior in general. The demonstrable fact the all religions do this due to their inherent nature wherein they all assert themselvees as the only true faith and source of truth is to their detriment and the detriment of society, especially their own votaries. This characteristic renders dogmatic religion harmful to the human intellect. It causes people to form the pernicious attitude that all who oppose or fail to embrace the alleged one true faith are misguided, even evil. Most poisonous of all is the toxic combination of religionn and politics whether in an autocracy or democracy. American are fortunate that its political foudners, men such as Madison, Jefferson, and Paine, understood this, and took "pains" to build a "wall of separation" as Madison put it, between church and state, a wall which even today many Americans fail to understand, or refuse to accept. Theocrats invariably endorse the mistaken belief that things will only get better if the people in power are devotees of a certain religion. In America, that religion is of course Christianity. Religious zealots do not worship God,but own only their own limited perception of of God. In essense, they worship themselves. Blaise Pascal said it best: "Men never do evil so completely as when they do it from religious conviction."