It is easy to see that religion is responsible for a great many of world conflicts, pain and suffering, etc. But what if this is only part of the story? The more I read on politics and economics, the more I find my worldview shifting away from the perspective that religion is the central problem facing humanity. Shocked? Stay with me, and I think this will make sense.
What if the central problem facing humanity is imperialism (exemplified by America's continuing quest for world dominance, use of manifest destiny, heartless globalization, etc.)? We invade other countries to preserve our oil supply. We engage in covert military and economic operations to insure that less wealthy nations will remain indebted to us and that leaders who do not favor our interests are eliminated. Our decisions are guided by our economic self-interest and do not reflect any genuine concern for human welfare. We have no incentive to end world hunger because it gives us continued leverage.
In Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, John Perkins compares America's role on the world stage as that of a mafia don. I'd like to take this metaphor a few steps beyond where he leaves it. Imagine American imperialism as the personification of a mafia don. He is holding a double-barreled shotgun. One barrel is patriotism. A blast from this barrel and the American people start chanting "USA," waving flags, saying things like "love it or leave it," and generally acting like morons who blindly support our government no matter what they do. We are better than any other country. We deserve to have the best of everything, and screw everybody else. As an American, it is my right to drive that massive SUV and to hell with anybody who says otherwise. The second barrel is religion. You saw that coming, didn't you? A blast from this barrel and the American people are up in arms to protect their "culture." But what is their culture? Consummerism. Believe what the pastors tell you, and never ask why they are Republican. People from other religions are simply obstacles that get in our way. Praise god, and turn off that intellect! God speaks through Bushco, so fall in line. How are we supposed to behave after 9/11? Go shopping. By purchasing things that we have been convinced we need, we can avoid confronting any hard truths about the terrorists' motives.
Under this model, religion and patriotism are powerful tools used to maintain the power of the corporate-run government (what Perkins calls the corporatocracy). Maybe we who get so worked up over religion are missing the big picture. Just maybe it is not religion per se that poses the problem but how it is used to manipulate the people that is the danger.
Tagged as: atheism
