I like frogs
Thinking too hard
by , 08-13-2011 at 09:17 PM (1636 Views)
Claimer: I want to apologize beforehand for anything offensive that you may read in this blog. The following information is probably going to be largely based on a point of view that is not universal and potentially aggressive.
I recently read an article suggesting that modern atheists are not only more moral than most Christians, but also more educated in all things, including Christianity and other religions in general. It was filled with solid information that, by and large, supported the strong growth of atheism without accusing religious people too harshly. Very eloquent. It made me think about the future of Christianity a bit.
I recently watched Pitch Black with Vin Diesel.
It's a sci-fi, and the writer chose to make some of the characters Muslim. But they were peaceful Muslims, the kind that could be replaced with any religion that believes in a higher power that may take care of them, slightly evangelical. A completely different character plays the Jesus role. And the reform role.
Anyway, it seems silly to imagine a bunch of Muslims cruising through space in an intergalactic ship. Or any religion. I think it's funny to imagine a large painting of The Last Supper on the steely wall of a space ship or a planet reserved for Buddhist monks who tend to geared up astronauts at the spaceport. All the standard, old school religous garb. I don't know why exactly, maybe because I don't watch enough sci-fi (the more I think about it, the more wrong I feel, but I'm still leaning the direction I began at); continuing, I think our modern religions simply aren't a strong element in most sci-fi. Not in my experience. When religion is predominant in such a setting, it is usually attached to some sort of godlike alien beings who are far too apparent to require the kind of faith-based practice that is incorporated in modern religion (on our planet).
What I'm thinking is, even now, even among very religious and faithful people, the sci-fi future brings an atheistic image to mind. As humanity rolls on into the uncertain future and the infinite reaches of space, the expected thing is for religion to fade and science to dominate (although I disagree with those who believe that religion and science cannot coexist). It is expected that people will lose their desire to worship a supreme being as we acquire technology to infinitely expand our lifelines and provide Utopian worlds to live in.
But I suppose that is the problem with religion in the first place, especially a holy afterlife religion like Christianity.
All too often, we hear somebody give a testimony to the tune of: "I used to be a killer! I committed homosexual acts against those I killed, both before and after I fired the gun! Then I disobeyed my parents, coveted my neighbor's car, stole a turkey dinner from a hobo and lied about it priest! But now that I'm a Christian in a transformed, born again body, I give money to the poor, am healthier and happier with my lifestyle, have found a job as a CFO for the 8th listed Forbes 500 billionaire companies and will be going to heaven to live for eternity in a far lovelier environment than a pit of burning flames. If it weren't for religion, I never would have figured out that what I was doing was a hindrance to society!"
sigh...
The allure of Christianity has always been the moral code, eternal life, and the hope for "blessings" that generally equate to Solomon's God-given wisdom and Earth-given harem.
As the sense of desperation and horror is erased from our lives, hope disappears. Like I told my mom once, "I will destroy your hope by accomplishing this task for you. So, you know, you won't have to 'hope' I get it done before this afternoon."
If we do not need to hope- if we know that we can do what we need to do, if we do not fear an afterlife because our lives are good enough and long and healthy enough, if we are educated and socially advanced enough to understand how to act morally and ethically without the assistance of a higher power who judges us, then it stands to reason that "religion" should fade away.
When we have the technology and the social order required to travel through space, then we will have no more need for religion.
That may be simple fact. (Although, it is arguable that humanity will never get itself together enough to do that before self destructing in high-tech world war).
And maybe mankind is reaching that point in it's epic, evolutionary, revolutionary history. Maybe we are on the brink of successfully allowing science to fulfill all our needs and, at the same time, evolving socially so that we can act compassionately and with understanding of ourselves and others to the extraordinary degree that even theft would be considered an obviously bad thing without having to be called an obviously bad thing first.
When that time comes, the true Christians will finally be separated from the people who only pray and tithe and waste their Sunday mornings because they kinda figure that it's a worthwhile sacrifice if they don't go to Hell. The true Christians will be separated from the people who act kind and good in front of others and live like trash when nobody is looking, expecting some sort of God-karma to reward them for the brief moments of kindness that they loathe to display. Hopefully, the true Christians will also be separated from the "holier than thous" who use their religion as a tier from which to judge, control and persecute others.
And when all the allures are gone, when it is nearly impossible to witness to people because there is not enough despair in the world that cannot otherwise be fixed by men somewhere so that people cry out to God, the only true Christians will be those whom God speaks to directly. I do not know how much atheism will predominate in those times or as those days draw nearer, but I do not fear for Christianity itself, because I know that my God is a loving God; He is the living God; He sent His son to die for us so that our sins will be forgiven and not so that his pain would go in vain, unnoticed and forgotten after a few thousand years. Neither I nor anybody else can save anybody else, it is always God who speaks to the heart of an individual, and that will never change, which means that, in my opinion, Christianity will never disappear. Perhaps, only its gimmicks will disappear, and that is probably not a bad thing. Maybe the Christians of the future will all be much surer of their identity in Christ than the ones of today, many of whom stumble through their faith on the shaky foundations of men who advise them with ideas forged from personal agenda-inspired quotations from the Bible.
Ensuing, if Christianity never disappears, then neither will the devil, and that means that other religions will probably still exist also, ever confusing those who seek the true faith, even under the pressure of what may (though I hope not) be an otherwise mostly godless world.
So my ultimate hope is that this shift toward atheism may actually be a good thing (as long as it is temporary, of course). The witness will be forced to change toward a direction that relies on intelligent, educated, informed Christians preaching a ministry that, if it is truly Biblically sound, may be better unified and coherent in its teachings. If it takes an atheist revolution to bring about a revolution among the followers of Christ, I welcome it. Perhaps, contrary to the former considerations, Christianity (maybe faith in general) will not vanish but become stronger than ever before!
That would be exciting.
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