14...Cults & Religion Verses Science

Is a cult a religion, or is a religion a cult? I suppose it depends upon how far a leader is prepared to take it. An organisation that denies free movement and thought to its members, is a cult.

One of the biggest problems facing the human race today is religion, or rather religions. A technocracy would create a science based society, but there is no certainty that congregations that followed their particular creed would abandon it in favour of science, if life were found on other celestial bodies in our solar system for instance. People attend prayer meetings not simply to get closer to their God. Some meet in order to thrash out communal problems, get to know others socially, establish business links or even get their child into a highly recommended church related school. Up to fifteen hundred years ago, people in Europe worshipped the power of nature, their ancestors, stone idols or deities. Few people in the developed world, except those in the Far East, do so today, but the fact that all this has changed, mainly through government policy starting with Emperor Constantine, shows that superseding religion with science, namely the search for truth and wisdom, is not an impossibility.

Do we dispose of religion completely or create an alternative? Ridding the world of something which many people feel is an anathema would not necessarily bring an end to terrorism in the middle east for instance. I do however feel that religion should be replaced by a new order. Some people get their satisfaction from hobbies, such as football, athletics, sailing, model building, model racing, playing bridge, Do It Yourself, dancing, pub crawling or charitable work, much of which is associated with a religious order. Many of these interests are no substitute for religious beliefs, whilst financial based charity work would no longer exist, as money would no longer be in circulation. Voluntary charitable work would be replaced by state support, making government more responsible for care than it is today, including the work formally done by insurance companies.

When I look at the conduct of some refugees that have entered Europe from the middle east and north Africa, I am forced to conclude that there needs to be a legally enforceable social code backed up by a form of compulsory non-military national service, a cross between the scouts and adventure sports such as parachuting, wind surfing, scuba diving, mountaineering, plus travel, in order to open up people's minds.

I can see no reason why our civilisation cannot put belief in science first, together with a belief in improving the quality of life of everyone on the planet.

Christianity offers the repentant sinner life after death. Medical science will soon offer immortality, or close to it. Which do you prefer? Of course it won't be as simple as that. Those that want immortality will have to pay a price. Not only will they have to agree to their reproductive organs being neutralized, in order to prevent over population, but they will also have to agree to the creation of a crime free society, where there are no law courts, no prisons and no police. To enable this they will have to undergo brain reprogramming. Not only will people be more intelligent and self disciplined, to enable them to be sportsmen, artists or obsessive compulsive lab technicians, but they will also be more law abiding and religiously tolerant, to the point where they will embrace science, as a religion, and accept no other creed. To reinforce this, their sense of guilt will be enhanced, to the point where they will commit suicide should they break the law, known as the new social code. This will open up a renaissance in social thinking. There will be no crime, no wars, no domestic arguments. Only love for one's fellow man and nature. An objective which all main religions currently aspire to. A world free from sin, as God ordained. Of course there will have to be a referendum on the degree of reprogramming involved.

However, there is always someone prepared to throw a spanner into the works, isn't there? I of course refer to our neighbours, aliens, ET, extraterrestrials. When they turn up to this utopia, a number of questions arise. What religion do aliens follow? Would they be prepared to be baptized a Christian? Do they have direct contact with God? Would they want us to convert to their religion?

The Georgia guide stones was a monument erected in the United States by an individual who plainly believed in peace through a world order. As a result of intolerance it was destroyed. The United States is an intolerant God fearing nation, where the right to bear arms is more important than freedom of expression, be it on the internet or on stone tablets. It's plainly obvious that Moses wouldn't get a look-in today. Whichever medical scientist comes up with a way to encapsulate morality, intelligence and honesty into the brains of these unbelievers, he or she is going to be the most targeted son-of-a-bitch since Salmon Rushdie. History has a long way to go before science supplants religion.

Most people have heard about the crusades, and the conflict in the Holy Land in 2023/24 is little different. Israel's constitution dictates that Israel is for Jews only. There is no place in the Holy Land for the Palestinians. Over most of the last 75 years, the seven million Palestinians have lost their homes and land, or are about to. The UN can't put a stop to the genocide any more than it could in Cambodia. By its actions, the Israeli government has ensured that it has no place in the Middle East, and it's all because of religion. There is no difference in the DNA of the two protagonists. Due to recent violence, a two state solution is no longer viable. It is clear to me that the two sides need to be separated. Egypt and Jordan don't want the Palestinians. There are countries out there that still welcome immigrants. Maybe both sides should be transported there, as there are many people who do not want a peaceful settlement. In that case the Holy Land should be handed over to the Vatican, and the land offered to people who believe in peaceful co-existence. You know as well as I know, that this will never happen, as politicians prefer to sweep problems under the carpet, no matter how many people get killed in the meantime. In a world technocracy there would be no borders, no races. Your religion would be your own business. By creating an egalitarian society, there would be little reason for people to migrate. When will the penny finally drop?