h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Eat The Journey Or
The importance of Religion In the "Post modern" world.

Now having already read about my views on post modernity and how its a (load of dingos kidneys) pretty bad philosophy on which to base the next century on we come to a topic that darakat thought he would never ever write a rant about. In fact is quite likely that when people who actually read these rants see this particular rant they will take a look at it, and go "huh? darakat on religion being important? get it off, your pulling my leg, its got bells on." Thats exactly what I would have said to you had you, say been able to talk to me about 8 months ago. I would have likely said "I know as much about religion as a dog does about quantum mechanics". However thanks to the general weirdness factor of the universe it could in fact be possible that dogs are the best quantum mechanics in the universe and have simply used the barking, eating, drooling, playing and being cute as a general means of showing how great they are not at quantum mechanics. The basic premise here is that why it is or is not important and finally what should be done about it, as a whole.

First of all to state a matter of affairs in my generalized thinking in philosophy I used to be a great believer in the ideal of there being such a thing as a system of beliefs. There is to some extent. However is this a thinking from someone who does not understand thinking of religion or the customs involved? A "system" is by definition "system an assemblage of inter-related elements comprising a unified whole. From the Latin and Greek, the term "system" meant to combine, to set up, to place together. A system typically consists of components (or elements) which are connected together in order to facilitate the flow of information, matter or energy." Now as a definition of religion a system of beliefs does go pretty far to define a Religion but it does not define a religion. That is, what I am saying, it can define a entirety, but it cannot define a individual. This means that what you get is a generalization about any particular belief. So I think that a "system of beliefs" although a nice way of helping define what "religions" are and how they "work" its rather like the kettle calling the pot black. The simple fact of the matter is that some religions do actually have some importance in our modern world, its also a problem in many ways seen by some that there is no means of saying what is in the entirety. So what are the benefits and restrictions of religion and what do they actually achieve?

"They are simply not efficient"
This is an argument that has not really been dealt with by the religious world. How can we say that religion is efficient? Its NOT! its not meant to be, when the hell did it say in anywhere "life is a easy bit of nothing that you get through and have your soul saved by saying a few nice words and the occasional visit to your local parish". Or paying your local church kitty, etc. Money transferred to some cause, of course sometimes justified, and who knows how often not. I don't go to church, and actuly have never been to a church when in service at all. What is the deal with efficiency anyway?

"They produce wackos"
Ah yes, the old, its a hole bunch of fluff argument. Yes, some of it is crap, some of it is good, some of it is bad, some of it is squishy and contains small furry bits that you would rather not know about. Some of it is contained within secret and hidden orders or monks, 8 people who still know the secret language or whatever. The point is that the view that they are all wacko is a view I don't share, yes some are, learn to be tolerant of others, they are after all of the same religion as you are, doesn't that make them worth wile being around? You can get a lot of help when your down, a lot of hope when you up, and help out in the community while you can. The closer you are to it the better, but sometimes you have to be solitary. Thats ok to, you believe what you will and if it makes you happy, then I am not going to tell you your wrong, I will just nod and smile and let you go on your merry way. Meanwhile I will believe what believe in and hope that you can do the same for me.

"There is no solid definition within any religion as to what that religion contains or should not contain"
Some do, some don't, some are deliberately left well undefined as the point is that the definition takes away from what it was originally, as much as this is annoying and hurtful on your intelligence your the one who is meant to do the hard work. Long tired days of research, working in the garden, volunteer work, eating, sleeping, having sex, making money, whatever it is you do, your religion is in some way included. This is true if you are a atheist, agnostic, freethinker, pagan, christian, idiot, zain, moratorium, chin, catholic, whatever! Your religion is almost always included, somehow, someway, somewhere, and why not? There is no definition, I have come to a conclusion because, quite simply there is no need for one. You know what is in and is not in, and if you find out something else is in, and something else is out, well you adapt or you find a new way of figuring out what it is your goal is. And it is of course this process that is the important part, the process in itself is the idea. The journey if you will, and if you go on your journey, find a way to make you path and eventually you will succeed in having something that is whatever you are, whatever your religion is and whoever you are. Anything else you don't find, you couldn't find, or should not have found and someone else had a path that decided on that, in that, with that in it. Why not? How not? Who could say what it is that you do not have and I do not have? Only whatever it is you believe in, be it science, magic, ideals, hope, love, death, the elements, time, the great green blob that manifests itself in its infamy, a god, goddess, or several, a field of green grass, a room, a brian in a jar. It is in effect whatever you say it is and only it can call you wrong. If you find that you stop believing in it, then you may have to find a new way of doing so, or find something else to believe in. That is what life is all about. Or then again you could sit in your room and ignore all of it. If you so wish.

"Well X said Y and Y said X"
Religious debates get us somewhere sometimes, most of the time they end up with a "we were both right" or "we were both wrong" or "we didn't really ask the right question" or one side gives up in the hope that the other side will go away. Every day another argument comes along, another debate is used, of course its all energy spent and spent energy. In some ways the debates are a means to a ends, they all conclude with the transfer of energy. That is something that is within any religious system be it a prayer, ideals, magic, thinking, meditation, a small ferret in a cage, moving of small clicks of a clock. The idea is that there is a transfer of something, something that may sometimes be defined, and at other times not. This time is it is a transfer between however many sides of the argument there are. One side that says X, one side that says Y, one side that says X and Y, and so on. The transferal is felt by whoever is their and sometimes by some who are not there, there are theories regarding what can effect it, what can and cannot be done to help or stop it. Its all very complicated and I don't understand 99% of what is going on 99% of the time, however that does not mean that can't and wont. After all, if there is anything I have discovered in my learnings so far is that life is great if you make it great, and if you make it bad its bad. Its that simple. Weird it may be, but as long as you feel you can do as much as you can to help yourself then I think you will be ok. Wishy washy as it sounds, it works, and happen, rather to like it.

So in conclusion the point is the Journey I am on has been set affot, and if don't take the next train I will get there late, and you know, if I am late may never forgive myself.

Thats the last darakats rant to be posted on this page for a while. I will come back to writing my rants later on, when I have more time and actuly have somthing that I haven't covered. Its been a wild ride.

Enjoy the Journey.