Polls tell us that roughly 7 out of 10 American’s believe in god. More specifically that 70% identifies themselves as  (religious group) and takes comfort in believing that some higher power is watching over them. The majority of the 70% do not worship regularly, or follow any religious practices. In times of personal  crisis many of these folks might reach out to religious leaders for council. The party of god that I refer to is the Republican Party. This party has courted and represented the opinions and ideologies of religious minded Americans for the last 40 years. The disconnect for many of us is that while being fiscally and socially conservative in our  world view, we cannot agree with or accept religious influences in our political discourse.

Religious morality is not compatible with secular thought.  When deciding on the rule of law, modern standards and sensibilities need to be considered. Legislators who use religious standards are doing us all a disservice. Devout god believing Americans are now faced with a difficult choice. If Mr. Trump becomes the presidential nominee, the Republican Party will be forever changed. It will no longer be the party of god.

Religion in the western world today is under attack because free thought and ideas cannot be controlled as effectively as they were in the past. The Catholic Church today would find it difficult to jail Galileo for his scientific discoveries. In countries where personal freedoms are denied, religious groups still commit atrocities in the name of their deity. The historical perspective of religious abuse has been understood and is well documented. The broader question is related to moderate religious practices as practiced in free societies today.

A majority of non-practicing Americans still see value in adopting a religious identity. They believe that religious holidays bring families together and the moral, ethical values espoused in religious doctrines are good for all of us. Many of these same people do not actively participate in religious life and yet hold in esteem the institutions and leadership of these religious groups. For many Americans living the reality of freedom, where church and state are separate, religious institutions take on an innocuous presence. Now that we have reached a place in human evolution where personal freedoms are highly valued and protected lets take a closer look at the effects of “innocuous religion”.

Is religion and its practices truly harmless in a free society. Can we strip away the “good information” from the bad, and is the ethical and moral teachings within the religions responsible for peoples choices and behaviors.  Attempts at reconciling religious ideas and faith in a world of people that is growing better aware of science and technology is imperative if religious organizations want to survive. Understanding science and technology has given us the tools to solve problems today that theologians grappled with in the past. Human evolution is the biggest obstacle to the survival of religion. Medicine has replaced the medicine man, and technology has replaced superstition.

As opposed to religion, Karma as a concept has made a huge impact among people today. Based on scientific principle, the word represents an idea that on a cosmic level you do “reap what you sow”. The implication is that positive energy released by an individual finds its way back to the source. Karma, or energy field equilibrium, is and has always been the moving force behind humans behaving in a way which is ethical, kind, compassionate and just. We are energy, our ideas are energy, and as such it cannot be created or destroyed. The energy expended will find it’s way back to it’s source.  Ethical choices made by individuals are mostly indicative of the quality and richness of their experiences.

Religious ideologies do contain with their framework moral and ethical ideas. The problem is that the ideas are not universally applied  and the focus is on the religious community. The community creates an environment which is as inclusive of its members as it is exclusive of those who do not share the beliefs. The members of a particular faith based community are exclusive in that they are following god’s law. These laws, regardless of the ethical implications  create an illusion that the observer is following in gods pathway. In the context of the “community” all other non believers are compromised, not following the pathway of the righteous.  The ethical considerations are applicable first and foremost to those within the community.

The humanistic values which so many of us deeply relate to, expressed within all the faiths, compassion, love, charity, justice are not religious values. These values were part of the human experience long before and separate from religious thought. Religious texts like to portray early humans as evil, self serving individuals who murdered, plundered and enslaved others in a survival of the fittest contest. Then god came along with his ethical value system and we learnt from him directly how to treat each other fairly.

I am fairly certain that ethical values such as justice and compassion evolved as a human methodology for survival. Early humans while facing different challenges and having different sensibilities than we do today, would have recognized the advantages of working together ethically long before the Exodus. The cultures and civilizations that preceded our monotheistic traditions were actually quite ordered, peaceful and existed for centuries. As they dealt with the challenges of survival they evolved and enacted laws and develop technologies to meet those challenges. The historical record as well as our observations of indigenous groups seem to contradict the biblical record. The fact remains that the “heathen cultures” wiped out by the crusaders of monotheism were for the most part peaceful, ethical peoples.

In a free society it is everyones right to choose with whom to associate with, without fear of reprisal. Racism is defined as a form of discrimination, prejudice, to accept a belief that one group is superior than another. Religious ideologies and rituals provide a vehicle wherein a person believes that they are in a special group of humans. By attaching themselves to the devine through a leap of faith, he acquires a favored status. The believer with the support of community and the guidance of it’s leadership, can participate in rituals where sin is forgiven, and afterlife is promised. Textual study, prayer give the believer further evidence and serve to enhance the feeling of the exclusive nature of the group. These people have an agenda. They need and want to preserve their influence on politics as best they can. Their leadership has a agenda too. By controlling their adherents they can form voting blocks that can further their interests. Any individual living in areas with large groups of religious people are well aware of the power they yield  on local politics. On a national level one of our two major political parties is beholden to religious influence. In a country where separation of Church and State was mandated this is an abomination.

The US Conservative Republican party is imploding. A godless billionaire is now front runner of the party of gods influence for nomination to be president. Ted Cruz the love child of America evangelical christians is loosing big. America is undergoing a tremendous shift politically. Justice Scalia is dead and religion in the US is now finally on life support.

Our generation will be remembered for one of the greatest social upheavals in modern human history. In my life time we evolved from a society  of fear and racial ignorance to a society which now embraces and values diversity . Religious communities do not value diversity. Religious communities do not respect an individual to engage in a lifestyle of their choosing. Religious faiths resist human evolution because the existence of individual personal freedoms and ideas challenge a person to think for themselves. The last thing a controlling religious institution wants is for individuals to think for themselves. They want followers not thinkers.

Our great country protects the rights of it’s citizens to “believe” anything they want to. “Believing” is an important human attribute. It allows us as people to bridge gaps in our knowledge and make connections to move forward. “Believing” is a great tool that requires special care. What we believe in must conform to our collective ability to understand and substantiate.  When used this way belief can contribute greatly to human endeavors, and makes it possible for us to accomplish things never done previously. President Kennedy believed it was possible to put a man on the moon. This belief was not arbitrary, it was based on scientific knowledge of the time, and even though there was still challenges to overcome a reasoned assumption was made that we had the abilities to see it through. Religious traditions all differ on their “beliefs” because the belief is not humanly substantial. There exists no evidence or reasonable understanding of any supreme being. The bible is historically a popular tale, with very little evidence to support most of its claims.

Donald Trump is now popular because he is challenging Americans to think in a time where views towards religion are waning. We are throwing off the shackles of the old guard and loosing our faith in a supernatural salvation. As Americans we have the responsibility to guide and take a leadership role once again in our world. Big Brother Burt supports human evolution and making the changes that will enable us all to share in security, prosperity and peace. Lets embrace each other by understanding that we are all human and sharing a planet. Lets strip away the artificial boundaries that separate us. I envision a future time when these conditions will be possible.

Intelligence. it is everywhere. The underlying forces of our universe are chaotic and if left to it’s own influence there would be nothing but unbridled energy. Intelligence is the glue that holds it together, that gives cause and purpose to survive against all odds.

The Hebrew Bible gets that point right, “In the beginning there was nothingness”. Then in six days the universe is imbued with an intelligence. The sower of these seeds, is a supreme being known to us as “Hashem” the name. In the world view of the religious person the source of everything we have comes from god. Genesis tells the story of creation. Scientists call it intelligent design. That is what we call an opinion. I can’t argue with an opinion based on currently unknowable fact patterns regardless how attractive the concept may sound. 

Now here’s where things get very interesting. It seems that one night about six thousand years ago the supreme being holds a meeting at his heavenly palace. He has an idea and announces that time has come to make man, in his image, male and female. Religious people fully believe that God created man as told in the Bible, and the rest of creation is here to support humanity. In return for all this kindness bestowed on us by the creator an expectation of servitude and gratitude is demanded. To achieve that state of servitude a leap of faith, or as a good friend of mine put it to me recently, “every person has to choose when and where to suspend their rationality and just believe”.

Do we need to suspend reality to imagine that life may have come about on this planet as a result of a cosmic accident billions of years ago? That once established in a simple basic life form, intelligence slowly evolved as a methodology of survival. As intelligence continues to evolve, the eventual emergence of sentient beings with greater degrees of situational awareness emerge. Human beings then continue the process by applying their intellectual abilities to create new forms of higher “artificial intelligence”.  Are we god too? The theory of evolution was not developed by scientists who suspended reality. They carefully studied fossil records, species of plants and animals  and came to reasoned conclusions based on evidence. Though the original theory as posed by Charles Darwin has been modified and enhanced, at no point did mythology or fairy tales figure in the equation. To rely on a story of revelation that only a few were privy to at one moment in time is not evidence of anything.

If God is the source of all intelligence on the planet, then who created God? What then can we point to as the source of all intelligent life on the planet. 

As we understand more about the relationship between matter and energy we start to see a structure and order to our universe. The arrangement of atomic particles, molecules, DNA is something which we are only gaining knowledge of in the last century of human history. The advent of modern scientific principles  are continually disproving the basis and foundation of religious mythologies. The concept of a virgin birth, or any mythology that supports a deity suspending the laws of physics to protect the faithful is now greatly regarded as fantasy. For this reason and because religious ideologies are responsible for the worst transgressions in human history, most  countries and their populace have realized that religious thought and ideas need to be separate from our political systems. God’s laws and justice is only recognized as civil law in the few theocracies left on the planet.

Suspending reality leads to dangerous ideologies that can have catastrophic outcomes. The truth of this is self evident in our history. More murder and suffering has been and still is unleashed on this planet by groups of people suspending reality and believing in a religious or political ideologies.

Without suspending reality, it is clear to me that Man created god in his image and then used that creation as a tool to subjugate others. Why is it that  religious organizations have to cover up one scandal after another to protect their reputation. Representatives of Gods moral and ethical words are caught up in so much abuse and sin. Theocracies today are the biggest exporters of terror organizations and promulgators of hate.

So what do people like me who refuse to suspend reality and just believe, do?

Big brother Burt considers personal integrity to be man’s greatest ally. Human comprehension while continuously evolving has it’s limitations. Our choices and decisions should always be based on sound rational principles. In life we must strive for solutions that will benefit ourselves as well as those we deal with. There is so much good in this world that we can afford to share it with others. Doing so brings peace, harmony and co-operation between different groups.

Suspension of reality is good fun in the entertainment industry when people understand reality from fantasy. Otherwise I suggest that we apply personal integrity to circumstances that are beyond comprehension by admitting unfamiliarity.

Sam Harris wrote a wonderful little book called Lying. In it he deals with some culturally difficult themes and insists that we as people strive to maintain our personal integrity even in the face of grave danger. Finding humans of such exemplary character is rare in this world. In my years within a faith based community I met a few individuals who embodied such values. They were the only religious figures who provided me with inspiration. To them I am grateful.

Personal integrity is a value that dies in many religious circles when faith is in question. The idea that it is ok to tell a lie to protect the greater good is simply unethical. I have borne witness to far too many mistruths within religious systems that discussion with religious people rarely yield truthful outcomes. When it comes to protecting the faith, religious people because of their “suspension of reality” suspend the truth as necessary.

The very premise of our western religions is to “just believe”. To ask a person to believe in an idea that is unknowable, implies a deception. It is in fact selling an empty promise. In any other business that would be defined as a fraud. In the business of religion we actually grant a tax deductible status. Local politicians look the other way as religious people organize into voting blocks to support their lifestyles. The lies just keep coming. No amount of rational thought can convince these people any differently. Anything opposing their self preservation is deemed an enemy and defeated.

Every generation will have individuals born who will succumb to religious ideology. It’s our job as a culture to see it for what it is. Every day we should be grateful that we are living in a free society, free from the tyranny of what religious people would do to us if they had the power.

Big brother Burt

The elements that make religious ideologies attractive, also make them so susceptible to abuse.  ” PAY ATTENTION Isreal, God is your master, God is one” is some of the most powerful words of the Old Testament. The oneness of God is a concept very few religious traditions pay attention to or even understand. God is portrayed as an external force which watches, judges and eventually punishes those who do not follow the protocols of the faith.

In that statement the word used for god is “The Name”. The ancient Israelites had the foresight to incorporate attributes to describe the deity. Not convinced with the physical manifestations other cultures used to represent forces which influenced their environment, the early Israelite tribes attempted to define the unknowable. Human attributes of justice, mercy, strength and intelligence are just a few of the terms ultimately used to describe their new invisible deity.  In this regard, Judaism, Christianity and Islam ultimately project a picture of the deity made in the image of man.

Oneness is a term that goes beyond any human attributes. Like infinity everlasting, oneness is a concept of unity which we have a sense about, and using logical deductive reasoning, we can better appreciate the concept. As scientists search for the unified theory in physics, a growing consensus of spiritually minded humans concur as to the oneness of our universe. Meaning that on a deeper level all things in our universe consisting of matter and energy are deeply related. Scientific research is proving that the our limited human sensory generated perceptions are not representative of our universe.

Religious ideologies fall way short of the mark when they describe their deities with human form, human emotions and concerns. The creation of a “personal deity” is nothing more than an immature attempt at coercion. If we understand human perceptions to be incomplete and flawed, then human emotions based purely on those perceptions have no place in gods world. 

Early Jews and christians referred to the polytheistic world around them as idolators. Stories abound in the traditions where they mocked and violated those who worshipped idols. There are stringent laws that orthodox jews follow today, just to differentiate themselves from idolators of old. And yet judeo-christian gods take human form, get angry, jealous, fight wars and they alter nature to protect their followers. Repackaged as monotheism, the big difference is that the new deity is now chaste. Debasing human sexuality, our new deity rises above the din of the older polytheistic gods that seemed to enjoy copulation with other gods and humans.

Big Brother Burt does not see much discrepancy between polytheistic and monotheistic religions. Both ways of representing god(s) to suit human needs has yielded the same catastrophic effects. Religious ideologies based on the unknowable, regardless of version, have an unacceptable high level of abuse potential. In each case unscrupulous individuals seize the opportunity to control others. The religious observant follower, having taken the leap of faith, is directed to take council from leaders within the faith.  We as the human community need to re-evaluate our position on personalized gods as presented to us by the great religious ideologies. Lets separate fact from fiction and focus on solving problems that will make life on this planet more enriching for all of us..

My greatest hope is that humanity will adopt those attributes that you my friends have reserved for your deity. Let us be just and act compassionately. May we raise children that see the value in formulating their own moral compass, and continue to pursue just and fair causes. If there is a god or force that sustains the world, I am sure he would want us to effect these changes in the world. If not, it is our birthright to pursue a life of integrity and equality to  all.

Big brother Burt

Our brain, when it comes to conscious thought works very much like a computer. The mind to function properly, must have a set of rules or beliefs to work with. For humans to fulfill social needs and communicate effectively there needs to be agreement to the definitions we place on our perceptions. The primary communication tool we use is language. If someone says, lets meet by the oak tree at 5 pm, those involved would need to share the same beliefs about time and oak trees.

The nice thing about oak trees is that once they are defined, humans can easily identify oak trees.  If someone pointed to a palm tree and called it an oak tree, we would understand that the poor fellow was mistaken. A belief, like a computer program, determines what decisions we make. The individual who believes that an oak tree looks like a palm tree won’t be at our meeting.

Our three great western religions claim revelation. Orthodox jews believe completely that god revealed himself to the entire nation of Israel at Mount Sinai approximately 3500 years ago. Jesus and the Prophet Mohamed had revelation more recently. The events were then codified many years later. Today none of these traditions agree upon the nature of god.  They all disagree so adamantly with each other about god that they have been killing each other over this for millennia. Is god a palm tree or an oak tree?  To my knowledge no one has ever killed a person for believing a palm tree was an oak.

We consider a person to be insane if they claim beliefs that are unsubstantiated by the rest of us. Asylums are full of people whose internal personal beliefs are considered ludicrous. Revelation of god is unsubstantiated and yet to millions of people it is the core belief in their lives. Their decisions and actions are based on a system of belief (ideology) that is completely unknowable by human intelligence. 

In order to appear normal, religious beliefs have to be held by large groups of people. To accomplish these ends religious people have many children, raise them in sheltered environments and incorporate their values at a young vulnerable age. They see the secular world of science and technology as an enemy. Books of literature and history not written in their slant are prohibited.  Independent thinking amongst their followers is discouraged. To me it sounds like a cover-up. If god and his ideas were so great wouldn’t free people naturally gravitate towards it. Why in today’s world are so many people forsaking religious life.

Beliefs in things that are unknowable will lead us to actions that are unconscionable. The most horrible abuses in human history were done in the name of god. Social ideologies such as nazism and communism take their cues from religious ideologies. To control large groups of people to do your bidding, find a set of unsubstantiated beliefs and get people to buy into it. Since the belief is unknowable, logic and reason no longer need to apply to actions resulting from these beliefs. In god’s world a palm tree and an oak may be the same thing. In god’s realm ideas that are bound by time, space and human logic need not apply. Anything is now possible. All a religious person needs to do is preface what ever idea they may have with “god says”. When the Church said the world was flat, then that became the belief which guided geographical exploration for years. Sailing ships would never venture too far out to sea for fear of falling off the earth’s edge. In today’s world the Church tells us that the human soul enters a fetus at conception, this unknowable belief has become a limiting factor in stem cell research. Interestingly it seems that jewish talmudic law disagrees, in that they say human life starts at birth. Since no one has seen or identified a soul, who really knows. And yet Christian fundamentalists will defend killing Doctors who perform legal abortions.

Nazi fascism worked so effectively because it utilized a social ideology of taking different groups of people and classifying them as superior or inferior (us vs. them). Once people bought into the arbitrary belief that ethnically pure germans were supreme beings, the Nazi leaders were able to get people to make decisions and take actions based on those beliefs. The outcome as we know was catastrophic. 

Big Brother Burt encourages people to examine their core beliefs. Core belief that we ascribe to should be based in knowable, understandable phenomena, which strikes us as logical and rational. Beliefs based on mythologies, ancient texts or just something our parents or teachers told us at a young age need to be critically reviewed. Beliefs based on exclusivity, racism and hatred need to be rejected.

As free thinkers we have a responsibility to align our beliefs with reality. In doing so we can ensure that our decisions and actions will lead to results that make this planet a better place to live. 

Big Brother Burt

“Your Father is very disappointed in you”. This was the topic of the last conversation I had with my Mother. Mom is a 71 year old woman of sound mind and her intentions were clear. She was letting me in on the reason my Father was acting so cold to me for the previous six weeks. At the heart of the matter is that Father no longer approves of my lifestyle.

You may be wondering what horrible deed could cause a Father to disrespect a son. Did I commit murder, was I arrested for robbery, or is my chosen profession that of a hitman. What I did do, is, I finally came out of the closet.

From an early age I was raised in a strict Orthodox environment. I was sent to religious schools since kindergarten and was instructed in the laws of god. At home i was expected to follow the laws and as I got older took on more of the many of the obligations and responsibilities of someone seriously practicing religion. The message drummed into me from a very young age and imprinted into my psyche was you better do these things or god was going to punish you.

During my teenage years I began to seriously question the legitimacy of these practices. I naturally gravitated toward friends who were from homes that were not as religiously strict as mine. When I became vocal about my objections Father knew exactly what to do to put me back on course. Verbal abuse was his specialty. Because if you make a child feel that they are worthless it becomes easier to control them. Father never truly addressed my concerns with religion, but made sure I knew that I was a complete screw up for thinking the way I did.

As a result of this upbringing I comply with my religious obligations until age 50, when I decide to “come out of the closet”. For all those years I was living a life of a lie. At no time was I comfortable with religious people, or any of their ideologies.

You see Rabbi Sacks, with all due respect for your position and your intelligence, I was never ashamed to wear a yarmulka or to walk proudly as a jew. Truthfully I just never wanted to. After all the education, and all the training I simply do not believe in your or my families “version” of religion, or anyone else’s “version” of religion for that matter. The great jews you mention in your speech about jewish pride, as you know, most of them do not identify themselves with the jewish religion.

As a result of my upbringing and what I learnt, the only logical position for me is a complete rejection of everything religious. The challenge for you and all great religious leaders is to realize that the values and ideology that you all hold dear are not for everyone. What puzzles me is that you seem to insinuate in your talk that there is a connection between lack of jewish pride and refusal to comply. I would bet that there are many people like myself who are not comfortable with the religious lifestyle they are immersed in. We are people who are deeply conflicted between what were taught at a very young age to be truth and our personal sense of integrity that now as adults differ.

The statement you make about non-Jewish people respecting jews who follow their religion, is true, in so doing they also poses a level of integrity and caring for all people. I believe that any human being is capable of possessing a moral compass which will enrich the lives of those around him. The level of personal integrity and the commitment to achieving these goals is naturally respected. As a religious leader I know that you support the position that respect and dignity should be practiced equaly to all and would never tolerate the abuses I have witnessed and been subjected to.

Rabbi Sacks, what I realize today is that my Father is simply following the example set by the god of the old testament. The conditional love of the jewish god is clear to any student of the Torah. To my Father i am nothing more than a rebellious, wicked son. and living in the time of the first temple I would be stoned in public. His last words to me was to repent.

My children know that regardless of their choices in life we will love them unconditionally. My god would be one that loved all human beings unconditionally and did not play favorites amongst the nations. This example emulated by all humans might bring us to a place where all religions would be unnecessary.

Big Brother Burt is responding to Rabbi Jonathan Sacks speech on Jewish Pride at Chabad.org. Lord Rabbi Jonathan Sacks is the former Chief Rabbi of The British Commonwealth.

For an ideology to be successful, it must include a compelling “us vs them” component. Ritual complexities serve to strengthen the sense of belonging to a very special, exclusive club. The added component of a personal deity conveys an entitlement to the worshiper, that creates separation from the uninitiated.

Orthodox Jews actually believe that they are endowed with a special sabbath soul that others are lacking. Christians imbibe the body of Christ. Muslims see all uninitiated in their faith as infidels.  As an adherent in one of these faith’s gets closer to the deity in observance and subjugation, they become “more holy”. The rest of us are “impure”.

The goal of “imatatio dei” imitation of god, is worth consideration. Used in the context of a religious ideology, the faithful is instructed to act as god does. Since no one has actually seen or heard from god, what they are actually following is a human projection of what their ideology believes god is. The initiated however does not see it that way and completely believes that through their faith they are walking hand in hand with the Devine. That creates a powerful sense of entitlement which is very attractive to the human ego.

In a community of the faithful, the concept of us vs. them is emphasized. In almost every sermon I heard, inevitably  a comparison was made between members of the faith community and others. Many prayers regardless of how harmless they seem, are brimming with “us vs. them” themes. The message received is clear, you the faithful are better than everyone else. The more extreme believers, who follow closer observance to the written word of god, a different standard of morality and ethics is directed to the non-believer. That can show itself as a polite indifference to full out Jihad in the case of Islamist Muslims.

“Us Vs. Them” is a central theme in every religion. I ask, other than support the ego what does it accomplish? It is nothing more than a self serving device that any human that conceived of an ideology knows will help make it a successful venture. From Nazi ideology of the pure German race, to religious ideologies that differentiate the faithful from the sinner, the common ground is the devices used to sell the goods. The lure of “us” being better than “them” in the face of human ego will always tempt man. Regardless of how irrational an idea may seem once it becomes aligned with a position that supports ego gratification, many will be swayed.

Big Brother Burt blogs have maintained that religious ideology is a tool that many have used throughout human history to cause a great deal of harm and destruction. In the past I have compared religion to a drug whose abuse potential is enormous. This blog shows the “addictiveness” of these tools. Many brilliant, and greatly intelligent people are lured into religion because people are searching for ways to feel better about themselves. What better way is there to feel good than knowing you are part of a community of people who are in line directly with the creator. You have risen above the common man and your version of religion is the absolute truth. Every time you pray you reinforce these behaviors by thanking the Lord for opening your eyes and elevating you away from the land of sinners.

As time goes on you develop a smug contempt for those less fortunate than you whose eyes have not been enlightened like yours have. In some instances it is ok to take advantage of, to cheat, to malign and even murder the sinner, the goy, the infidel.

Big Brother Burt knows better. He was once a member of your club. You cannot fool me as you do the uninitiated. Your religious ideologies are self serving tools that work best on the poor, the downtrodden and anyone who needs to lift themselves upward with high doses of “us vs. them” cures.

Can humanity live happily in harmony without the need for harmful ideologies. If we all became a little more giving and less concerned about ego gratification wouldn’t our planet naturally become a better, more fun place to live. Look around, in places where are religious observance is the lowest, we see the highest quality of life. The opposite is true as well.

The time has come for integrity to emerge. Let our hard fought values of human freedom and emancipation release us from the need to serve harmful ideologies and start to build a future based on bringing humans closer through embracing diversity within our cultures. Ideas which separate people rather than bring them closer need to be re-evaluated.

Big Brother Burt

To all the knowers of God, I say hello. I am just another human sharing space with you on this planet. I consist of matter and energy, and poses limited mental and physical capabilities. The boundaries imposed on me within this existence, limit my ability to know the deity as you do.

Speaking with other god knowers as yourselves, I am told just to believe.

Amongst your kind their is no agreement about the true nature of this deity you all know so well. You have all waged wars, murdered and tortured countless peoples to prove your point.

I wonder, when it became so difficult to state, I simply don’t know anything about a deity. is the honest truth that we are incapable of answering all the questions of our existance somehow too embarrassing to some?   It is incredible to me that as a species we felt the need to invent and perpetuate complex ideologies and mythologies to support a theory no one has any direct knowledge of. Granted we find ourselves living, conscious and not understanding the reasons and basis of our existence. The possibility of a higher ordered more intelligent being(s) than us is of course  plausible. To fabricate and define that being and then attribute authorship and authority to that being has been proven to have disastrous consequences.

Where many will see religion as a harmless diversion that gives many support and direction, I view it as the erosion of human integrity. Morality, ethics and spirituality can be invested in humans without the need to lie. Moral choices can be made by people living in societies governed by the rule of law, without the need to introduce super human interventions. Religious people claiming they need a bible or a spiritual leader to prevent sin are often morally corrupt.  Let’s take ownership of our own moral compass and teach our children to respect human diversity and live in a manner which enriches our lives and the lives of those around us.

When you adopt the lie of the god knowers, you will always have the problem of supporting an ideology which is in conflict with well being of others around you. Those who choose not to believe the way you do, are in your minds compromised. Your religion has developed many degrading labels with which you casually use to identify the non-believers. Attitudes and laws dictate a different standard that is applied to us infidels.

A person once they buy into the lie, is rewarded with ego gratification by believing they are following the dictates of a higher power. In their minds they become “right” and everyone else is “wrong”. Extremist god knowers will give their lives and take the lives of others to be “right”. In death they are fully expecting that their deity will continue to embellish their ego gratification!!

My own parents, strictly religious people, are happier to be right in their convictions than embrace the love of non believers around them. The level of ego gratification that these religious ideologies provide is amazing. Once a human believes that he is in sync with a higher power he becomes unstoppable. The problem is that when you start with a lie the potential for abuses is incredible. The god believer also gives himself the permission to believe in things that no rational human would, outside the context of their religion. When the unthinkable does happen and horrible deeds are performed in the name of the deity, even the more moderate amongst the ranks will find a way to justify the behavior.

Big Brother Burt is appreciative to anyone who takes the time to read these postings. Hopefully at some point we will start a conversation. We who are privileged to live in a free society, finally separated from the tyranny of religious persecutions, need to see religion for what it is, a fraud. According to polling it would seem that most people in our free western world have already come to this conclusion. These blogs along with the writings of many brilliant thinkers are seeing the light of day. As science and technology gives us more insight into the workings of our universe the allure of religion becomes more irrelevant.

To all you god knowers I say this, what gives you the right to tell anyone that you know anything about the creator. No matter how many books you write and how many statues you erect the simple truth is that no human on this planet has any knowledge of these things.

The bible story of the Tower of Babel is incorrect. Like many stories in the bible It was edited to serve religious ends. It makes no sense that the ancients were building towers to destroy God. More likely they were trying to get closer to God as evidenced by all the structures built to honor the early deities. It was the result of adopting God into their lives that caused the rift amongst them. As one group claimed they had the better godhead wars broke out and peoples were killed and separated not unlike today. The human ego when supported by notions of the Devine, becomes a powerful tool for hate.

May the innate intelligence of our species, combined with the nurturing loving kindness of our universe assist us in reconnecting and healing the wounds inflicted through centuries of abuse and persecution.

Big Brother Burt

Roughly 150 years ago, President Lincoln abolished slavery in the western world by signing The Emancipation Proclamation. Some 3500 years earlier a semetic tribe enslaved by a despotic Pharaoh was offered a deal to leave Egypt and serve a gracious deity in the desert.

The events of January 1, 1863 are recorded by humans using tools they invented, paper, pens, photography,  and still exist today. The events of The Exodus as believed by Orthodox Jews, was recorded by the deity himself and transmitted generation to generation as an original text that exists today.

The idea of slavery, to our modern sensibilities is abhorrent. Is servitude to a deity in a religious context a form of enslavement. What comparisons can be drawn between human bondage and serving the demands of a religious ideology.

In the more extreme (fanatical) religious communities, who claim greater authenticity and observance to the original texts, children are raised in isolation from the greater world around them. Religious training and observances, often trump the need to train these children with tools necessary to survive and contribute to the greater world. Members of these communities who feel a need to pursue secular goals or higher education are strongly discouraged and may even be threatened. By limiting choice, by keeping members of the community uneducated and ignorant of the greater world the chance of people straying from their religious obligations is less.

The attitude in many religious communities is that the secular world is the enemy. Televisions, internet is discouraged and even banned. One young lady told me that she had to sneak off to the public library to read books of english literature and science. We may argue the merits of television and the media, the point remains that people raised in a free society have the ability to choose for themselves. My wife and I choose not to have broadcast television in our home, and yet we are not enslaved to anyones ideology.

The slavery of the mind observed in a religious community is far more dangerous than most of us imagine. People when they choose to believe, allow themselves to suspend reality in the context of their faith. These people as a consequence of this decision can now accept ideas and participate in behaviors directed by the leaders of their faiths. Examples of this control will affect every aspect of these peoples lives. Believing they are acting in step with the Devine these people then become slaves to the whims of their leaders. I have seen entire communities go out and vote in a democratic election for local politicians who their religious leaders favor. What does that have to do with religious observance?

Those amongst us who reject this proposal should consider the power of ideas when people truly believe they are following a directive from god. It has been shown countless times that these people will stop at nothing in achieving their goals. Countless parents have abandoned their own children who refuse to believe like they do. While parents whose children who have murdered in the name of god are now celebrating their children’s martyrdom. What else in this world could have such a decisive effect on the deepest bonds of close family members. Even in the more moderate religious communities, choices are limited and lifestyle expectations are demanded. Once you break away from the narrow minded thought that governs your religion you become an outcast, an infidel. 

The reality today, as a person tries to leave a repressive religious organizations, the family will often turn their backs and ostracize the individual. We re seeing suicides and abandoned children as a result of this horrific situation.

Besides the obvious comparisons to slavery, another question can be posed. If your religious ideology is so great and wonderful, why would there be all this fear of the free world? “These truths should be self apparent”, obviously they are not. The only truth is that religion has fooled many people for a long time. As science, technology provides greater insight and the resulting secular world becomes more sophisticated, religious leaders are going to have to fight harder to hide  the truth from their followers. That fight, in the Judeo-Christian world for the most part, is no longer being fought with bullets and bloodshed. It seems for now that that they have made peace and can co-exist in free societies. “Render unto Caesar” and other statements in the Judeo-Christian literature exist which have instructed the faithful to behave more or less civil amongst the rest of us.

Big Brother Burt sees a correlation between religious ideology and enslavement of people. It is my hope and prediction that a day of enlightenment is coming when people no longer have the need to harm others with the tools of religion.

In pharmacology drugs are classified by their potential for abuse and addiction.  Substances that show evidence that they can harm the user, are either highly restricted or eliminated completely. The benefit of any drug must be evaluated carefully against it’s “side effects” before it gets approved by the FDA.

We as humans seem to have an innate desire to invent tools and products to serve our needs. Medicine, technology are tools we invent to improve our quality of life and satisfy the needs of many. What happens when one of these tools become subject to abuse and malfunction. We recall, we re-engineer or we eliminate the product because it does more harm than good.

Some humans throughout time have obviously felt the need to invent religion. We looked around and had questions without answers. Suffering, disease, death, effects with no known causes. So people began to organize themselves in religious groups, supplicate themselves to a deity, find comfort and answers in their particular beliefs. This invention of religion, was a process of taking one set of unknown variables and repackaging itself as a more palatable idea. These “ideas of religion,” themselves unknowable, work so well because we all love stories with happy endings.

When stories and fables are elevated to the level of true ideology, the potential for abuse becomes enormous. Snow White and Cinderella are harmless, because we all know it’s not real. Adherents to religion believe completely  that their “stories” are real. They believe that their religious leaders are representatives of gods word on earth and their ideology is the only true path. Adherents are rewarded with ego gratification that they are walking hand in hand with the creator. Terminology has been created to identify the rest of us. Infidels, unholy, epicures, goyim, damned, certainly not very complimentary.

The great ego of the religious adherent has a need to lift himself higher by diminishing others. With Judaism and Christianity today it’s mostly a matter of smug superiority, others in the Muslim world can justify murder to satisfy their religious ego.

I submit that religion is and has always been used as a tool to harm others. In our western world where science and technology is providing more answers to the unknowable, religion is clearly loosing it’s foothold. In many impoverished areas of our planet holy wars are still being fought so that few can control and enslave many.

The harm and abuse of religion certainly outweighs any benefit. No deity who is representative of loving kindness would bestow upon creation a set of values and ideologies that are so prone to human abuses. It is clear that we are all imbued with an intelligence that is used to improve the quality of life through tested and proven means.

When we us humans understand the intelligence, and the nurturing nature of our universe that we are all part of, the need to separate ourselves from others through fictional means will disappear. Big Brother Burt hopes and predicts that the day will come when the stories of all our great religions will be just that. Religious ideologies and their proponents will be forgotten.

Big Brother Burt

The only weapon available to man to combat religious ideology is his intellect and his ability to reason.

Orthodox Jews ascribe to a fable at the time of recieving the Torah at Mount Sinai. Hashem, (the name) the deity revealed himself to the entire nation of Israel.  He raised the mountain over the nation and gave them the option to accept the faith or die. The nation of Israel responded: We will do what you request, and follow your laws.

This may be the first recorded version of the “leap of faith” concept. Of course getting out of the way of a mountain would require a substantial leap!

Every faith based ideology must demand a leap of faith from their followers. A leap of faith is exactly where these adherents give themselves permission to abandon logic, reason and knowable phenomena. Ideas that would prove implausable outside the context of the faith, are now acceptable. Since for many religion becomes the highest priority and the ideal, the ability to temper their position is compromised.

The adherents to a religious ideology are rewarded with the knowledge that they are following the true pathway. They believe they have aligned themselves with the deity and his wishes. With an adopted moral and ethical plan these adherents can also relax their need to evaluate and consider many choices in life .The more closely someone adheres to their faith the less they need to think or make decisions for themselves. As a matter of fact in the most fanatical “religious” communities individuality, thinking and even education is limited and shunned.

The leap of faith is the moment when a person chooses to abandon logic and reason. It is as though a switch is thrown and the individual decides that they no longer need to rely on the only tools they are given as humans, logic and reason. Human intellect is no longer sufficient. Yearning for the comfort of a loving, supreme being we interject a story, a mythology and an ideology filled with rituals and commandments. Now we have a higher power where we place our hopes and dreams. The only problem is that there is no revelation and no human alive has ever experienced one.

If we rely on our intellect then we understand that the specific gravity of water is not adequate to hold up the weight of the average human. To believe that the opposite happened even once is inconsistent with our reality. There is no precedent that will allow us to believe humans can walk on water, unless we abandon reason.  It is dangerous to create a context that gives people permission to accept that which is otherwise ludicrous. The leap of faith is what turns a fairy tale into a religion. What takes ordinary conscious people and turns them into fanatical adherents who have wagered  their entire existence on someone elses unknowable, unsubstantiated version of a deity and ideology.

Some may be tempted to say that a leap of faith is desireable and even necessary to bridge the gap between the known and that which is unknown. People tend to make leaps in their personal lives all the time. Sometimes these actions do result in surprisingly good outcomes. In this regard I would agree. The distinction however is like understanding historical Jesus as a man who said many incredible things, who challenged the values and the authorities of his time.  Jesus the man made a leap and changed humanity through his vision and foresight. However, those responsible for turning Jesus into a god were looking for ways to subjugate others. They bare responsibility for wars, murders and decades of corruption.

Human beings are capable through our great gift of intellect, reason and logic to make breakthroughs and provide insights that will improve and benefit the lives of many on this planet. Scientific inquiry is often based on leaps and intuition that is then tested and modified to prove useful. The distinction is that religious leaps of faith are based on stories and superstitions that are thousands of years old. They are based on times when people knew very little of the natural world. Most people were uneducated and any hope to relieve their condition was welcome. Intellects of their day were well aware and used their position to control and influence others. What better way then to convince people that they were doing gods bidding. In the process the prevailing religions acquired a great amount of wealth and influence.

In todays world choosing a lifestyle of subjugation to a deity that was imagined by people thousands of years ago is ludicrous. The result  is that  the savagery and corruption of that era is visited on us today.  What other force other than religious intolerance can tempt an individual to blow himself up in a crowded place. For a parent to praise a deity for selecting their child to be the latest suicide bomber or to abandon a close family member because they choose not to worship as you do. Freedom to choose a lifestyle and the respect and dignity that accompanies those choices is the hallmark of a modern life.

Big Brother Burt sees the leap of faith as the defining moment, the slippery slope as people choose to take leave of their minds. He sees faith based communities and those who encourage the ideologies as forces which do more to harm than heal our societies. It is natural that we as humans search for answers and understanding in a world which is difficult and posses many challenges. It would be very comforting to know that there is a loving deity with one pathway to eternal bliss. The problem is that we as humans do not know and cannot comprehend any real answers. I assert that most wholesome way to live is to use our facilities to the best of our abilities, to accept what we do not understand, and strive to make this existence as comfortable and bearable for ourselves and those around us.

BIG Brother Burt