Unnecessary Gods

I started a conversation with some Twitter participants yesterday with the comment that: Theists work diligently to define away a god’s omnipotence.   I may address this in a later blog with more detail.  This in turn led to a dialog regarding a statement that I raised regarding gods and religions being unnecessary, continuing on; also indicating that religious actions and resources collected by religious sects are also wasteful and misdirected. 

I was then asked the question, what is necessary?     My response was to indicate that the basic human needs are met (using Maslow’s hierarchy of needs) – there is really no need for humanity to neither accept nor embrace any religion.  Prayer has no effect on outcomes and is unnecessary.

I think there was some misunderstanding of the shape.  The shape of the hierarchy is a pyramid defined from the bottom up.  The bottom being the basis, or the foundation of human need being; Food, Water, Shelter, Sex - once those needs are met that can be built upon and establish the development of Safety and Security and the process goes on.  Maslow indicated that if primary needs are not met you will have difficulty, if not impossible, to get the higher order needs met.  This makes the persons who are lesser educated and in poverty highly vulnerable to cults, religions, and other con artists who work to obtain power and influence.

Religions were first formed for the need of making sense of the things that we as humans did not or could not understand.   Earth was a scary and unsafe place.  Religious/cultural leaders encouraged investment in an imaginary deity and huddling together sharing food, shelter, and meeting each other’s needs.  This was reinforcing the behavior of all parties and survival was enhanced.   As humanity becomes more informed and understands the dynamics of the space where we live, the need for religion to provide; Food, Warmth and Safety and Security are no longer necessary.   Many religions continue to use these as leveraging tools to keep their flocks attending or maintaining their commitment by controlling getting their parishioners needs met.

Given an entity (religion, church, or cult) is so influential as to use primary needs to control the actions of others; use of food, safety and security to elicit compliance to the dogma or tradition seems manipulative, unnecessary and bordering on criminal.    It is unneeded.  An argument that morals are delivered via religion is fallacious argument, morality is established by empathy and social reciprocity.  Religious morality is artificial and static imposed by sly hucksters.

Humanity will continue to exist without religion.  It becomes extremely wasteful of religions to construct building so that people can sit and listen to well-paid con men/women to convince them that the only way to survive death is to continue to come back and give them money, time and prayer.  If all that time, money and thought was invested in the development of a cure for some diseases or disabilities there would be far less suffering in the world.

Religion meets the needs of some persons.  Atheists (this atheist) do not need religion to feel safe and to have a productive life.  Defined: Atheism – A lack of belief, or faith in gods or deities.   It is not a religion.  There is no belief structure, commitment to any authority, and any exchange of funds or resources is typically done as an act of kindness and not a tithing to any deity or representative.  To define it as a religion is a projection of cognitive dissonance.

I am not my atheism.  I worship no man, deity, and do not waste my time praying or sitting in a church listening to someone lecture me on outdated, stagnant, and festering morality.