Why Technology is Destroying God-Based Religions!

CULTURAL CRISES FACING MANKIND!

Boyé Lafayette De Mente
It is, of course, a given that Judaism, Christianity and Islam have never been successful as arbiters of morality. These religions have, in fact, been the source of much of the immorality that has plagued the Western and mid-Eastern hemispheres of the planet since their inception. You might say that after men created God in their own image everything went to Hell!

It is no doubt true that Judaism, Christianity and Islam were founded with the best of intentions but it was not long before they were turned into instruments of discrimination, oppression, violence and murder. Throughout their history mayhem and war have been their primary legacies to mankind.

Over the millennia the vast majority of people who have accepted and attempted to live by the precepts of these three man-made religions—in other words, to live morally upright lives according to the precepts of their particular religion—have been the least powerful, the most downtrodden and the most victimized by the state and by the church.

The word God itself has been turned into a catchall term that is used to justify murder by individuals and mass-killing by states. Pathological killers as well as the most upright members of societies beseech God to aid them in the destruction of their competitors and enemies, and praise God when they succeed.

That this incongruity is ignored by many of those who profess to believe in and follow the precepts of a “loving God” is pathological to the extreme. To be more precise, it is a form of insanity. In virtually the same breath “God the Creator and Savior” becomes “God the Avenger, the Destroyer and the Bringer of Death” to one’s enemies and disbelievers.

In human history good and bad have never existed in reality as fixed polar opposites. They have always been circumstantial and were whatever was prescribed at the time by the ruling powers—the clergy, the government and the military, or whichever one of these entities was dominant. These three institutions have also traditionally worked hand-in-hand to indoctrinate, subjugate and control people for their own purposes.

It goes without saying that for the vast majority of people survival and some degree of security and comfort take precedence over all other things. And if professing to believe in something like Islam, for example, will provide this security and comfort, even to a small degree, people programmed in that faith will believe and obey even the most irrational and inhuman dogma.

When the United States was founded some of the teachings of Christianity that are humane, positive and nurturing were incorporated into the laws of the land. But institutionalized Christianity was not made a state religion because it was clearly seen as an enemy of intellectual and personal freedom.

In all Christianized societies then and now there is what could be referred to as a Sunday Morality for some people, mostly women, and a Weekday Morality for the rest, mostly men. While Sunday Morality traditionally represented the spiritual world, Weekday Morality represented the real world, where people tended to do whatever they needed to do, or wanted to do.

These two worlds have always been contradictory despite the efforts of religions to both persuade and force all people to obey their spiritual and social dictates at all times. That has never worked in the past. It is certainly not working now. And it will never work in the future!

WHY GOD-BASED RELIGIONS HAVE FAILED!
It goes without saying that people in God-oriented societies typically behave in ways that are contrary to religious teachings. In many cases this is because the teachings range from being impractical, to inhuman, dangerous, or worse, and following them makes no sense.

On the practical side, another reason for such behavior in Christianity-based cultures in particular is that the threat of burning in Hell for eternity may frighten young children, many women and a few men, but the realities of daily life in the past and today are such that the threat of punishment after death is mostly meaningless.

The concept that the “Kingdom of Heaven” is within the individual—not in some after-death place high in the sky—is probably the most important of all of the insights attributed to Jesus, but it has been down-played or ignored by all levels of God-based religions. In fact, according to the teachings of Christianity you can “sin” left and right and still go to Heaven if you confess and accept Jesus as your savior before you die.

In more ways than one, the God-based moralities of Judaism, Christianity and Islam have become an unfunny joke. The daily news is rife with references to God that are so irrational they go beyond being ridiculous. Preachers, politicians, military men and others are constantly calling on God to bless them and their countries, and to bring death and destruction to their enemies.

There are far more damaging mental and moral aberrations across the board in societies where the guidelines for human behavior are based on an irrational male-oriented theological concept—with so-called entertainment being one of the most conspicuous examples.

It is incredible that modern-day entertainment, one of the biggest and most culturally influential of all industries, is more often than not based on catering to the most primitive, savage and gross side of humanity. The Christian Church in particular cannot compete with this form of mass cultural conditioning.

This morass of immorality has come about because over the decades the laws of the United States have been skewered by politicians under pressure from academics, business leaders and others to favor and permit the debasement of humanity—and most people at large accept this situation for a variety of reasons: they tell themselves they can’t change it; that it is not their responsibility, and so on. It is also no doubt true that many people who publicly oppose this pandemic of cultural sleeze are actually attracted to it.

In the first place, Judaism, Christianity and Islam have never had all of the right answers for humanity—as history has so graphically demonstrated. I am not saying that spirituality is out. In fact, spirituality is in, especially in the U.S. But more and more so-called Christians are creating their own personal paths to fulfilling their spiritual needs.

And then, of course, some two-thirds of the world’s population is not Christian or Jew—even if in name only. These are the Muslims, the Buddhists, the Hindus, and so on—most of whom have had good reason for disliking and fearing Christianity because of its intolerant claim of exclusivity and historical use of violence…not to mention the primitive, irrational elements of its theology.

THE NEED FOR A NEW CULTURAL PARADIGM
It obviously goes without saying that to truly meet the physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual needs of mankind the world needs a new, global, cultural paradigm—one that “fits” and enhances the lives of everybody in all societies.

But are there principles and policies that would ensure high standards of ethical behavior and would work on a worldwide basis?

I believe there are, but to create and implement this new paradigm would mean discarding all of the institutionalized and ritualized one-God cult religions…and if you question my calling Judaism, Christianity and Islam “cults,” look up the word “cult” in your dictionary! The only difference between these three cults and notorious little cults is that these three are very big and very powerful, and can ignore and squash criticism.

It is, of course, a fact that some of the social tenets of Judaism and Christianity are responsible for much of the humane morality that has managed to survive in the United States and other Western countries. But even the most casual glance at the level of morality in so-called Christianized societies reveals that corruption and immoralities of all kinds are thriving as never before.

There is, in fact, statistical evidence that following the end of World War II in 1945 Christian-based morality in the United States took a sudden down-turn, and by 1962 the shift was so dramatic that criminal acts, immoral acts and other types of socially harmful behavior had increased by up to 2,000 percent!

In his recent book, THE CHEATING CULTURE, Princeton political scientist David Callahan catalogs the rampant immoral behavior that goes on in the U.S. today. He identifies fourteen categories where cheating is rife, including: accounting, business, education, the Internet, financial services, insurance, journalism, law, pharmaceuticals, sports, taxes, the work-place—along with historians and academics! He could have included virtually every other category in existence!

An even stronger indictment of the failure of Christianity is the fact that the level of immoralities and violence in general has historically been higher in the so-called Catholic countries of Europe and South America than in the United States.

However, as ineffective and as inhuman as Christianity has been, Islam is even worse—at least in some respects. It remains caught in a time warp, with many of the same irrational and barbarous tenets that were the bedrock of Christianity for many centuries—the same Christianity that was responsible for the crusades against Muslims, for the Catholic Inquisitors who tortured and burned thousands over a period of several generations, for the depredations of the Conquistadors in the New World, for the European Colonialists and their campaigns to subjugate native populations in Africa and to eradicate them in North and South America, and on and on.

The anti-infidel war and “sacred terrorism” now being promoted by radical Islamic clerics—not to mention their cruel and paranoid treatment of females of all ages—are stark reminders of the dangers inherent in cult religions.

Of course, Christianity now presents itself as humane and nurturing. But it is still off-base in many of its teachings—and has never been and is not now capable of instilling and enforcing a desirable standard of morality even in “Christianized” countries, much less universally.

And there is another very conspicuous obstacle to the creation and implementation of a new code of ethics for humanity. This obstacle is a large number of professional people worldwide in think tanks, in universities, and in other organizations that have agendas that range from being anti-white, anti-black, anti-Jewish, anti-Islamic, anti-democratic, anti-capitalism, anti-globalism, anti-American, to anti-international business, and more.

As is also obvious, these groups now have the means to reach millions of people daily with their virulent messages. A recent book entitled Welcome to the Ivory Tower of Babel by Michael Adams presents a fascinating and frightening portrait of these think-tank and campus-based anti-everything groups.

GUIDELINES FOR A NEW MORAL PARADIGM
So what might a new social paradigm look like—one that all people could live by and achieve their fullest potential? Being as practical as possible, given what is known about humanity, the new cultural paradigm would have to include the following:

1) That all governments be based on the best principles of democracy.

2) That all societies acknowledge and follow the fundamental principle that females have an equal stake in humanity and must have the same rights and same opportunities as males.

3) That morality be based on dogma-free principles that recognize the true nature of mankind and are designed to nurture all of the elements in the make-up of human beings: the body, the emotions, the intellect and the spirit.

4) That the educational policies of all governments and all educational institutions be redesigned to inculcate all students, from day one, with a genteel standard of behavior; a moral value system that includes respect for others, honesty, truthfulness and diligence; a sense of pride in themselves; a sense of honor; the ambition to make the world a better place; and the courage to have big dreams.

5) That the economic policies of all governments be redesigned to further a global-based process of raising the living standards of all people on the planet to a comfortable level.

6) That the finite nature and fragility of Planet Earth be totally recognized and that universal mandatory directives be established to protect and sustain it… balanced with the profit-making that is essential for any business!

7) That these goals be made the basic charter of mankind and be pursued on a global, coordinated basis.

Of course, there are hundreds of other factors, real and imagined, that would have to be a part of this paradigm shift. What I am saying is that all societies on the planet must become interconnected to the point that they are, in fact, members of a global society. An old idea…a global village!

We’ve gone from a Cold War of political ideologies to a Hot War of religious ideologies. And that is the new reality of the 21st century. We must therefore strive with everything in our power to bring all countries into the same rational, logical, humane, human family.

And the United States, despite its many short-comings, is the best hope for leading the world in a crusade for a sane, rational, comprehensive, universal morality. The world is, in fact, waiting for us to create and demonstrate a morality that would lift mankind up and out of the religious, political and economic muck and mire of history.

We have very obviously already attempted to start this crusade. But we have failed to do enough of the educational groundwork necessary to bring the mass of humanity on board the effort, even in the United States!

I fault all of the Establishments for this failure: the Political Establishment; the Business Establishment, and most of all, the Educational Establishment. I could have added Religious Establishments, but all of them have already failed in every facet of their self-proclaimed mandates.

The Educational Establishment is the guiltiest of all in failing to provide a foundation for a truly humane, ethical, world society because the majority of educators know—or should know—what is good for humanity and what is not good!

But most of the people making up the Educational Establishments worldwide, like people in many political institutions, are more self-serving than society-serving—not by choice but by the systems we’ve created. Furthermore, academia, like religion, has always attracted zealots whose goals do not serve mankind.

Of course, there is a lot of complaining and wailing about these systems. But like religious and political institutions, the educational organizations are too divided, too hemmed in by laws, too entrenched, and too bureaucratic to reform themselves.

TECHNOLOGY AS GOD!
Given all these negative influences, I believe that the only salvation for humanity is technology—which by itself is already rapidly changing all of the world’s cultures. In the long run, even without forward thinking and forward-acting leaders, the world’s cultures will become more and more rational, and more and more democratic because of the universal, objective, unemotional, impersonal, influence of technology.

But given the fact that primitive religions and authoritarian political forms still have at least a partial death-grip on the majority of mankind, these transformations could take generations because educators and political leaders will not take the heroic steps necessary to change today’s morality and today’s policies…even if they want it to happen!

And, of course, there are many national leaders who are dead-set against freedom and against a humane morality for the people they rule over.

As a result, most people may continue to be oppressed and prevented from achieving their full potential for generations to come…unless these changes are aggressively promoted by huge numbers of people blogging the world’s bureaucrats and leaders in business, in politics and in religions with criticism and advice! And even more importantly, by simply refusing to go along with stupid, insane policies and the people who promote them!

Of course, there are thousands of things one can point to in the U.S. and elsewhere that are encouraging. I saw in a recent news article that American entrepreneurs have established etiquette schools to teach young kids basic, good manners…something that parents used to do in their homes.

But how many schools that teach manners and the accompanying morality do you think it will take and how long will it take to counter all of the course behavior and lack of ethics that are being programmed into the minds of millions of children and young people seven days and nights a week by the so-called entertainment industries?

Of course, the majority of people everywhere are sickened by all of these cultural failures. But survival, power and profit-making…not moral behavior…are the overwhelming goals of most leaders in politics and business. And as already said, there is no way that the weak, divided and often irrational spiritual-based moralities of today are going to change that!

We therefore need to teach and follow a philosophy of living and working that is based on common sense, on the fragile nature of the Earth, on the real physical, emotional, intellectual, spiritual and philosophical needs of human beings.

Of course, there are people already espousing these philosophies but with so little impact that contemplating the future is frightening. Despite the misuse and abuse of the Internet by hate mongers, pornographers and radical religious zealots, this new technology also makes it possible for the average person to make his or her voice heard on a large scale for the first time in the history of mankind.

Ordinary people can now vote and express themselves online at any time on very important issues of the day! If enough rational, educated, morally enlightened people will bring more and more pressure against leaders in every field to force them to give up their self-serving ways—or force them out of positions of authority and let a new breed of people have a go at it—the ancient religious promise of peace on earth might be achieved.

Two of the more obvious things that we in the United States are now talking about—and could do if we had the will—is to reintroduce discipline and a reality-based future-oriented curriculum into the educational system, and to boycott purveyors of obscene, immoral and harmful ideas and behavior instead of rewarding them with fame and great wealth.

Just as obviously, it goes without saying that the First Amendment of the Constitution should be amended to prohibit its abuse by the so-called entertainment industries. In addition to being morally inexcusable, the present system is socially insane.

AN EPIC CHALLENGE FACES MANKIND
Of course, striving to transform the many cultures of the world and create a global Earth Culture is a challenge of epic proportions. In addition to the religious obstacles, there is the automobile industry, the oil industry, and the use of sex as the foundation of the advertising, marketing and entertainment industries—all of which fly in the face of common sense.

The profits involved in the automobile and oil industries alone virtually rule the world, and in today’s world profit comes before morality, before sanity, and especially before the future! It goes without saying that these two industries are not going to change their stripes anytime soon! They will surely milk the oil cow until it goes dry!

The blatant, gross use of sex in business is another of the most negative legacies of the religious distortion and repression of the sexual impulse. Even once straight-laced Asian countries have picked up on the American way of using sex to sell. This misuse and abuse of human sexuality is also not going to go away until we manage to create a new ethic for sexual behavior that is rational, satisfying and doable.

GOD DOESN’T NEED MORE PEOPLE!
We also need to obliterate the religious commandments for people to go forth and multiple. God doesn’t need more people, and the Church-based obsession that it does is another kind of insanity! Who in their right mind can believe that the Earth needs more millions or billions of poor, oppressed people? Why? For what purpose? For the support and glory of self-serving religions?

Furthermore, the religious-economic-political concept that prosperity and the quality of life is based on a continuously growing population is not only out-dated, it is one of the primary factors in the poverty that plagues over half of the population of the Earth, including millions of people in the most prosperous nations.
Over-population is also one of the primary sources of much of the violence that afflicts so much of mankind.

Mexico is a good example of a country in which Catholicism promotes population growth, thereby contributing to the poverty and suffering of some 70 percent of its people—a major factor in the reason why so many Mexicans come to the United States illegally.

In fact, the world needs some kind of parental code of ethics that people be required to agree to before they have children—in or outside of wedlock. To start with, courses in parenting responsibilities and skills should be made a mandatory part of the education of the young.

The political, economic and social policies of promoting growth and more growth for the sake of growth and power must be eliminated from the human mindset. Economic growth should first of all be designed to raise the level of the living standard of all people on Earth to a comfortable level and thereafter ensure that it is sustainable.

All of the prevailing reasons why men go to war—religion, the hunger for political power, the obsession with wealth, territorial ambitions, oppressive government regimes—should be eliminated by a coordinated universal effort that now seems to be so far beyond the ability of mankind that it is not even a dream. But that is exactly what at least 95 percent of the people on Earth want! So why can’t it be done?

It can be done but it will not be done until religious and political leaders are no longer in the dark ages where ignorance, irrationality and inhuman behavior are the norm—the norm for them; not for the people at large.

One of the most positive factors that is already raising the living standard of people in China and India—two countries that represent some two-thirds of humanity—is work out-sourcing from the United States, Japan, South Korea and other developed countries.

As controversial and as painful to some as this phenomenon is, it nevertheless is the most efficient and practical means of achieving economic parity between nations—not tearing any of them down, but building all of them up.

The more affluent China, India and other developing countries become, the more they contribute to the economy of the countries out-sourcing to them, the more stable their governments, and the more likely they are to cherish and work for peace and prosperity.

Of course, there are many other things that should be done. And despite all of the gloom and doom scenarios I’ve harped on the great majority of people on this endangered planet are good-hearted, well-behaved and hard-working, and want only to live peaceful, comfortable, secure lives.

The truly evil doers—those leaders and their henchmen who are actually well-known to the world—number only in the thousands. If the world could somehow get rid of them and prevent others from taking their place the Earth could and surely would become a sane, safe habitat for humanity in a very short period of time.

It is obvious that the material quality of life is primarily determined by knowing what to do and having the political and religious freedom to do it. This makes it imperative that all people be freed from the destructive religious, political and economic shackles of the past.

During much of the Administration of President George W. Bush it often seemed to me that he had only a few words in his vocabulary. One of these few words was freedom. It is a great word; a wonderful word.

But his Administration’s efforts to export freedom have failed because it did not take into account the extent to which some religious and political leaders will go to deny freedom and prosperity to their own people and to eliminate other people or force them to bend to their will.

The Obama Administration's efforts to export freedom remain just as constrained because freedom means freedom from all cultural, economic and religious restraints that prevent people from fulfilling their potential...restraints and bars that are imposed upon people by the very same institutions that must be changed.

Copyright © 2010 by Boyé Lafayette De Mente. All rights reserved.

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Boyé Lafayette De Mente, a graduate of Jōchi University in Tokyo and Thunderbird School of Global Management, in Glendale, Arizona, is the author of more than 50 books on the business practices, cultures and languages of China, Japan, Korea and Mexico. His primary publishers are McGraw-Hill and the Periplus-Tuttle-Berkeley Group. See: www.boyedemente.com, and/or www.amazon.com.