Will Humanity Ever Escape the Grip of Religion?

It’s unlikely—we seem to be cursed with it forever

There are now more than eight billion humans on the planet, and a significant portion of this total has been indoctrinated by hundreds of different religions. The great irony, of course, is that these religions have never been able to agree about god(s). The supreme irony is that there are thousands of different Christian brands, and they differ significantly in their beliefs about god. This alone is evidence that religion is guesswork, which makes the fanatical attachment to it puzzling indeed. What can we do to escape this curse?
    
 
It is a curse because it is no benefit whatever that billions of people remain committed to ancient superstitions and magical thinking. Christianity has to be one of the major offenders, clinging to belief in a human sacrifice through which the devout have their sins forgiven. This is grounded in the naïve biblical depiction of a god that closely monitors the behavior and thoughts of every human on the planet—and is furious with all the sinning that goes on. The devout have been assured by the church and the clergy that this is the way the cosmos functions. But that concept has been losing ground for centuries. The laity is scarcely aware that the New Testament alone contains so many flaws, contradictions, and absurdities; this reality has prompted thousands of theologians and scholars to devote their careers to disguising—making excuses for—all these mistakes and distractions. 
 
But it’s unlikely that this dismal fact will be realized because critical thinking is rarely applied to religious beliefs. As a species, we seem to be far more committed to entertainment than education. I recall that my father bought our first television set in 1952 because he wanted to watch the political conventions in that presidential election year—but we got addicted to so many shows. It was in 1958 that Edward R. Murrow offered his appraisal of television: 

 
“This instrument can teach, it can illuminate; yes, and it can even inspire. But it can do so only to the extent that humans are determined to use it to those ends. Otherwise it is merely wires and lights in a box. There is a great and perhaps decisive battle to be fought against ignorance, intolerance and indifference. This weapon of television could be useful.”
 
But it seems that the battle against ignorance had limited appeal. Situation comedies were soon a prominent feature on television (I Love Lucy, 1951-1957, 180 episodes—and countless other such sitcoms); variety shows (The Carol Burnett Show, 1967-1978, 279 episodes); quiz shows, talk shows, soap operas, and endless sports broadcasts. The focus is overwhelmingly entertainment. I’m pretty sure that the impact of this has been the dumbing down of the population. These days, “wires and lights in a box” have been replaced by giant flatscreen TVs, with so many entertainment options offered on many different platforms. My publisher, Tim Sledge, of Insighting Growth Publications, has pointed out that the average length of best-selling books has dropped significantly in the last few years: attention spans are not what they once were. 
 
For religion to lose its grip on the world, curiosity, critical thinking, attention spans, commitment to education more than entertainment are essential. But we seem to be moving away massively from these essentials—and religion is not bothered in the least.
 
Ryan T. Cragun, in his book, How to Defeat Religion in 10 Easy Steps: A Toolkit for Secular Activists, offers this candid analysis:
 
“Because religion is normative, religious thinking is also widely accepted. And what does that entail? Religious thinking allows people to arrive at conclusions without evidence and often without even employing logic or reason. Theology may be the worst offender here.” (p. 119)
 
I gifted copies of my book, Ten Things Christians Wish Jesus Hadn’t Taught to a couple of devout friends—hoping for some dialogue, expecting engagement on the issues I raised—but in both cases, there was obvious panic: “I can’t read that, I’m a Catholic.” 
 
Cragun brings considerable humor to his critique of religion: “What’s the difference between Disney World and a megachurch? One’s a fantasy land that charges high entrance fees, and the other one has rides.” (p. 83) We do have to be stunned at the success of the megachurches, with their very wealthy pastors, e.g., Kenneth Copeland, Joel Osteen, Joyce Meyer. Is it possible that these leaders really do believe the trash—the prosperity gospel—that they peddle? But it’s hardly a surprise that their many thousands of gullible followers lack the critical thinking skills to figure out that they’re being fooled. “Megachurch services in the United States are basically like professional sporting events or concerts. They often have live, upbeat music, huge screens, and charismatic pastors who try really hard to manipulate people’s emotions.” (p. 72)
 
Cragun’s book has considerable value as a toolkit for secular activists, but the title could be improved: the ten steps he describes in detail—with an abundance of specific recommendations for action—are anything but easy! 
 
Cragun quite correctly notes that the “…lack of intellectual curiosity across large parts of society has implications for defeating religion. For the intellectually curious, education (within and beyond schools) may be sufficient to undermine religion. And as I have argued, we can emancipate women, provide existential security, liberate sexuality, and stop subsidizing religion. But how do we get those who are not intellectually curious to stop going to church?” (p. 86)
 
The eternal life gimmick is a powerful incentive, of course. But in many contemporary cultures, religion has faded substantially. Which is precisely why advocates of theocracy—especially in the United States—are in a panic. They are willing to exploit the lack of critical thinking and widespread unawareness of scientific realities. Theocracy advocates themselves, more often than not, are victims of these deficiencies. 
 
For those who want to see the curse of religion diminished, our primary focus still has to be finding ways to expose its crippling defects—and getting people to stop going to church. 
 
 
 
David Madison was a pastor in the Methodist Church for nine years, and has a PhD in Biblical Studies from Boston University. He is the author of two books, Ten Tough Problems in Christian Thought and Belief: a Minister-Turned-Atheist Shows Why You Should Ditch the Faith, now being reissued in several volumes, the first of which is Guessing About God (2023) and Ten Things Christians Wish Jesus Hadn’t Taught: And Other Reasons to Question His Words (2021). The Spanish translation of this book is also now available. 
 
His YouTube channel is here. At the invitation of John Loftus, he has written for the Debunking Christianity Blog since 2016.
 
The Cure-for-Christianity Library©, now with more than 500 titles, is here. A brief video explanation of the Library is here.