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What is a Religion?

 

Molly Ann Luna:  At its core, a Religion answers 4 questions:

  1. What is Real?
  2. Who am I?
  3. What's wrong with the world?  - How do you define evil?
  4. How Should I Live? 

Any system that is consistently answers those questions functions as a religion. It may not look like one but it absolutely acts like one.  It is shaping what people love, how they behave, and what they're choosing to live for.

 "Expressive Individualism" as a Hollywood world view:

1. What is real? -  Ultimate reality is the self

2. Who am I?  Identity is discovered inwardly

3. What's wrong with the world? The problem is repression

4. How should I live?  Salvation is self expression. 

 

Michael Shellenberger defines religion not merely as a set of theological beliefs about a deity, but as a structural, psychological, and social framework that provides meaning, moral orientation, and a "grand story" for human life
. In his view, religion is a human necessity that, when absent, is often replaced by secular, ideological, or, in his words, "dangerously juvenile" belief systems
 
1. What are true facts and what are cherished falsehoods?  We face new fantasies, such as the idea that racism is increasing in society, or that climate change will make humans extinct.
2. What provides meaning?  Example:  "Environmentalism allows us to be part of something larger than ourselves that gives our life meaning"
3. What is the grand story of impending doom or utopia?   Environmentalists have created an apocalyptic vision of the end of the world where, unless we change our evil ways, we will destroy all life on the planet by polluting and changing the climate.  Conversely, we look back to an idyllic time when nature was untouched by human intervention and we all lived in harmony.
4. What provides a moral framework? A moral framework guides our choices in life, guides our behavior.
 
 Peter Bohossian and Michael Shellenberger:  10 components of modern religions.
1. Original Sin - What happened in the past to make things so terrible today.  ( Slavery, Fossil fuel use)
2. Guilty Devils - The people who made things so terrible. (White colonists, Exxon)
3. Myths - the creation story. (The earth's climate was safer in the fabled past. )
4. Sacred Victims - People who continue to be harmed by original sin. ( Indigenous people, small island nations.)
5. The Elect - Those chosen to make things right.  The high priests whose edicts must be obeyed. (Black Lives Matter, Climate scientists) 
6. Supernatural Beliefs - Beliefs beyond scientific understanding or known laws of nature. (Racism is as bad as ever.  Prisoners aren't guilty, the system is.)
7. Taboo Facts - Things forbidden to say, even though they happen to be true.  (Racism has declined. Renewables can't power a high-energy world.  A high energy world is safer and more peaceful and better for human flourishing.) 
8. Taboo Speech - Words that trigger anger among the elect. Blasphemous utterances that are forbidden. (All lives matter. Economic development outweighs impact of climate change)
9. Purifying Rituals - Acts perceived to make people innocent of guilt and responsibility. (Reparations/ Racial preferences.  Carbon offsets. Distributing clean needles.)
10. Purifying speech - Words people use to be perceived as virtuous.  ("People of Color", "Renewables", "Substance use disorder")

 

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