Nearly every religion on earth depicts a certain myth in which they ask their believers to ascribe. Maybe one myth has a little more truth behind it than another, but each one of them tells of a story about a mythical force known as a god, or tells of a prophet of said god. As commonly accepted knowledge, we understand that many gods of the ancient world were based on the elemental forces of the world - the ones we could not yet control ourselves. We developed a myth behind how we came to know fire, why the climates of our areas were as they existed, why we should or should not eat certain foods, and the list goes on. Fact is, back then we, as humans, had not yet developed the luxury of life to begin trying to understand the natural world around us. We were just trying to survive the year intact. As we progressed as a culture, we began studying the science of things. This allowed us to begin understanding how nature worked. However, as we grew in knowledge, we found we needed religion less. Granted, it's taken centuries, but give it time, and soon religion will be simply something of tradition and philosophical belief. It will take something great, something truly remarkable to help us push aside religious repressions for scientific progress.
But, I repeat - It will take something great.
We have come to know, as a human species, that a god exists who created everything. Where that god is and what it is doing is a complete and utter mystery. In fact, why that god places us here is also a mystery. Did we grow from nothing to gain awareness and understand ourselves through one of the most remarkable processes of creation? It's something everyone asks themselves at some point in life. Where did I come from? Why am I here? It's one of the most basic questions we ask ourselves. Some of us have an answer - our parents. Some of us look deeper - but where did they come from, and so on? Should I really believe that I was just some ultra-kick-ass sperm that managed to get lucky at the right time?
So, the conversation goes - There was this God up in the clouds who sent its (son/messenger/prophet/avatar/ananta) to us to explain what it wants from us... which is: respect life and love God, in a nutshell. Okay, I can do that. Then comes the religious dogma -
"Well, in order to do that with us, you have to go to (Church/Synagogue/Mosque/Temple/Religious Building), give the organization 10% of your monthly income (though they do have low-income arrangements), believe that so-and-so is the Chosen of God and all the religious tenets that go with him, deny any previous faith and believe that, of all the possible religious organizations that MIGHT have gotten it right, we are right and all the others just don't interpret things right." They don't say it outright - but it's there.
Turns out, a lot goes with that dogma. Each one of the religions center their beliefs on the idea that something happened some time ago that can be legitimized through historical documentation. Let's take the Jews. One of their beliefs states that Moses, a Hebrew born baby, was found in a basket near a river, nursed to health and lush life by a noble woman and adopted into the family of the Pharaoh only to find out the truth, turn on his adopted people and run to the desert for a period of time where he took a wife and a herd. During this time, he saw a bush that burned without burning speaking in a voice that penetrated his soul. He was to take his people from Egypt and into Canaan, where they would find lush valleys for fertile growth. So, he goes back, talks with the Egyptians - they don't like the deal. God called forth his wrath upon the Egyptians before they relented, letting Moses lead his people from Egypt to Canaan. As they were about to cross the Red Sea, they were set upon by Egyptian military, and Moses called once again on God to part the waters. God did so, and the waters parted, allowing them to cross. They traveled to the other shore, and that's when they hit the foot of Mount Sinai. People were turning on him, and he had to seek out God's advice. So, he traveled to the mountain top, and stayed there for a while. The people melted their gold down, and started praying to their familiar gods. Moses returned, and in a fit of anger at their betrayal, threw down the tablets, breaking them. He returned to the mountaintop - and came back with ten commandments, or laws, for which the people were to follow. He enlisted Joshua to help him organize his forces into a military, while Aaron saw to the scribes and became like a pharisee of Jesus' time. After this, they set forth, being guided by a flame at night and a pillar of smoke by day. When they ran out of food, they were given sweet bread from the ground - Manna from heaven. When they ran out of water, Moses drew water from a stone, after God told him to do so. He hit it twice, which meant he would not see the Promised Land. Then, from atop a mountain, he watched as his people were lead by Joshua to the Promised Land of Canaan, where they went on to slaughter the people who lived there and claim it for their own.
Now, what do we have to back this up? Well, turns out Egyptians don't like writing about things that happened poorly in their culture, so through a reference of number of Hebrew slaves they had at one time, and the number they had at another, we know there was a mass exodus. We know now that the book of Exodus was finalized as a written document some time in the 4th century BCE (399-300 BC). We know that Joshua did actually lead his people to retake their homeland in the valley of Canaan, where the clans of Israel once held sway, before "Joseph" brought them to Egypt...if that really happened. Because of these correlations, we are willing to believe all the magic happened. We attribute the magic to God - God, this all powerful universal being went out of its way for this one tiny little spec on a tiny little spec in the massive universe of creation. And so the myth becomes a truth. Because it really happened - I assure, word for word, the way it was written. It wasn't just some megalomaniac's way of embellishing the truth with a little mythos so the people of his time would think he was some chosen oracle of the divine principle.
Because it really happened, we will never allow ourselves to believe otherwise. So, why is it that all this happened for Moses, but nothing of the Greek, Egyptian, Roman, Celtic, Native American, Hindu, Chinese, Japanese or African myths were true? Was it because they used different gods for different things, and someone knew better - that only one god was doing everything?
Maybe it's due to the fact that in our early stages of civilization, we were spread out and relatively small in number. Each small civilization had their own gods and their feast days. As the small civilizations grew and began meshing with each other, they found they each believed in different gods, but held similar feast days. Eventually, as they grew into nations, they began celebrating the foreign gods' feast days out of respect for the other nation they might have conquered or befriended. With all those gods, it was hard to keep track of which god you were celebrating, and how to properly celebrate. Why not simplify the whole thing and say that One God exists and that each time we celebrate, we celebrate It, or one of It's messengers? There - the whole thing's solved, and all that rabble we were going on about for centuries is just that.
Here's the real Truth: The social construct of Religion was created by man, and so it is flawed by nature. Until we can see through the myth and into the reality of its belief, we will never accept the truth that it does not matter if there is a God watching over us or not. It is not for us to know what happens after death - it doesn't matter. Maybe there is, maybe there isn't an afterlife. Doing something to attain glory in the afterlife is only brought from the desire created by not having something in life. The only thing in which we are guaranteed in life is death. What I believe, what you believe, doesn't matter in the long run. We die, our bodies stop moving and start decomposing. Religion would have us believe many things about the afterlife, and why you should lead a positive life. Here's a good reason - when you're at the end of your life, and you look back on it, do you want it full of regret?
I'm not saying end religion - just saying, there's a lot of bullshit to wade through before you get to the Ultimate Truth. What is that truth? I don't know...yet.
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