God and country! Freedom and Religion! 
Are they connected? Are they inseparable? Definitely not! no matter what kind of fancy word games are used to pretend that they are. The proponents of religion and "faith" can wrap themselves in the American flag and patriotism and pretend that these things mean freedom which ain't necessarilly so. They can trot out the examples of good things which religious people and organizations have done; and, pretend that those are the norm. Still the facts remain that for every Salvation Army, an organization which is not without its critics btw, there seems to have been an Inquisition. For every person who opposed slavery on religious grounds, there were at least ten who believed that it is supported by the Bible. And they are right! Most American churches in 1776 opposed the American declaration of independence from Great Britain. Most churches have, at one time or another, opposed giving women the vote and women's rights. Many still do! Throughout history religion has been a tool of the established power structure. In my opinion, it still is; and, no power structure has any interest in gaining freedom for those it has power over. It may want to wrestle them away from some other power structure; but it will always try to protect and expand its own power base. "Faith" is, after all, just another word for "Take my word for it!" Are freedom and religion incompatible then? Not necessarily; but, the way that religion is practiced, it generally ends up that way. Particularly troubling is the emphasis upon "salvation," hell, and "the afterlife." If you believe that someone is condemned to an eternity of the worst kind of torment if they do not believe as you do, then virtually anything is justified in order to save them from that! That is how people once justified burning other people alive. What does the death of a body mean when compared to the death of a soul! And so, what does freedom on this earth mean if it means an eternity in hell? "Eternity" is the really important thing. Compared to it, whatever injustices and discomforts we suffer during our "temporary sojourn" on earth is minor. That means that it really is not very important to do anything about them. Don't worry if you are hungry; in the next life, you will dine at the table of God! Don't worry if you have nowhere to live; in the next life, you will have a mansion in paradise! Don't worry about such things as your rights or your freedom; just do as I tell you and you will have an eternity to do as God tells you! What I am saying here is that religion discourages people from doing anything about the wrongs and injustices of this world, either their own or those of others. In this way, it is a force in opposition to freedom. |