Imagine no Religion...
By
Roberto Diego
Chapter 3.
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Table of Contents
Chapter 2. Modern Cultural Paradigms
Chapter 3. The Principle of Progressive Benignity
Chapter 6. How Does Altruism Feel?
Chapter 7. The Psychology of Collectivism
Chapter 8. The War against the Ego
Chapter 9. The Psychology of Moral Triangulation
Chapter 10. The Influence of the Enlightenment
Chapter 11. A Culture in Moral Crisis Link coming soon
Chapter 12. The Tyranny of Organized Religion – Cult as Culture Link coming soon
Chapter 13. The Separation of Church and State Link coming soon
Chapter 14. Is Religion the Foundation of Society? Link coming soon
Chapter 15. Rationalism Link coming soon
Chapter 16. Cynicism and Chauvinism Link coming soon
Chapter 17. Definition of Religion Link coming soon
Chapter 18. Curing Man Link coming soon
Chapter 19. Disenfranchising Unreason Link coming soon
The disenfranchisement of religious cultural leaders Link coming soon
The disenfranchisement of the Suffering Savior paradigm Link coming soon
The disenfranchisement of the good/evil paradigm Link coming soon
The disenfranchisement of the chorus (collectivism) Link coming soon
The enfranchisement of the ego Link coming soon
The establishment of reason Link coming soon
Prologue Link coming soon
To a great extent, this book is about human psychology. Where philosophy has provided the fundamental ideas of metaphysics, epistemology, ethics and politics, we seek to supplement that knowledge by showing the psychological consequences of the religious movements that emerged from prehistory. I see prehistory as a period of disorganization, where mankind’s level of knowledge descended toward mysticism and the disintegration of organized knowledge. The ancient Greeks made a start on rediscovering knowledge and developing the philosophical foundations for the future, but the key problem was that man was still, during the time of the ancient Greeks, grappling with the psychological and cultural ideas that came out of the religions of prehistory. Plato’s advocacy of a separate reality of “ideals” (that existed independently of the mind) propagated and advanced the disintegration of knowledge even further and gave religion a philosophical base that it did not deserve. As modern people, we should continue to further understand the mistakes that ancient man made – we should continue the work of the Greeks and complete the process of understanding the consequences of religion.
As I wrote earlier in this book: Progressive benignity “…is the idea that, over the millennia, before what we consider historical times, as man confronted and struggled to make sense of the requirements of religion and mysticism, he progressed by means of cultural rationalization, from early brutal practices, that might, for example, have demanded human sacrifice, and, in stages, moved to a more benign form of the original demand such as progressive taxation or other “giving” forms of sacrifice in order to satisfy the demands of the gods and their “representatives.”
Through the principle of progressive benignity, what was once myth became ritual practice and then a religious moral code. The philosophical beginning of that compromise with religion in the Western World was Plato’s philosophy of ideals. Indeed, throughout history, man’s inherent humanity, in the face of religious domination, and his ability to think, led him inevitably toward creating more personal, less destructive expressions of early brutal religious practices, from cruelty toward more benign daily rituals, a form of religion with which he thought he could live. Each expression of progressive benignity, for example, amounted to the question: “Do I really have to sacrifice my first born? Why would a just god demand that? Why can’t I give a goat?” Through a process like this, the demand of religion for human sacrifice became charity and progressive taxation.
This principle has enabled man, throughout history, to rationalize the contradictions found in the religious life. Since religious morality is impossible to achieve, the principle of progressive benignity has enabled man to say, “They can’t possibly mean that.” From a starting point in early ritual human sacrifice, we arrive today at the suffering savior paradigm and altruism. From the cosmic struggle of the gods, we arrive at the need of man to cheat and find some happiness amidst a philosophy that says he is evil by nature. From the fear of the avenging chorus, the mob of religion, we arrive at collectivism and socialism. Since the days of the mystery religions and their rites, man has turned the precepts of religion into something he can live with, something not so bad and seemingly benign. The psychological turmoil however is still within most religious people; the damage done by the philosophical corruption that emerged out of religion is still being done existentially and psychologically.
The principle of progressive benignity is a psychological explanation of cultural rationalization. It explains how man reacted to earlier forms of religion and how he progressively challenged them while still compromising with their basic premises. It also explains why it is so difficult to uproot religion culturally; today we are living with the legacy of a cultural dictatorship and religion will not allow itself to be uprooted – it will only allow people to accept it on their own terms – as long as they do not question the fundamentals upon which religion has been founded. By arrogating its cultural authority to the basic principles of collectivism, altruism and moral dualism, religion has ensured that it can continue to dominate culture even while a secular society exerts its influence.
The principle of progressive benignity is a historical and philosophical rationalization of the premises of religion. It has enabled man, on the foundation of religion, to build a life and survive, such as it is. It has provided the loopholes so that he can focus on reality enough to be able to survive, but it still has man shackled to the rack of fear, guilt and altruism, still has made of him a suffering savior. As the chart below indicates, the progression from early religious practices toward today’s forms of religion are still rationalization and as long as man is rationalizing irrational demands, he has been seeking to make religion palatable and benign. What we have missed through out the ages is that any form of rationalization, any change that religion has undergone to meet the demands of its followers to be less cruel is still a rationalization, still an effort to keep the elements of religion that are causing harm whether they are rationalized or not.
The Principle of Progressive Benignity
|
The Chorus |
The Good/Evil Paradigm |
The Suffering Savior |
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1. Singing the Dithyramb – Hatred of The ego |
1. Cosmic Moral Dualism |
1. Prometheus Suffering – Hatred of The ego |
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2. The Chorus in Greek Drama |
2. Cosmic Struggle of Good vs. Evil – Hatred of The ego – Plato’s Idealism |
2. Ritual Human Sacrifice |
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3. The Will of the People – Democracy – Killing Socrates |
3. Moral Dualism – War and Ethnicity |
3. Ritual Sacrifice of Enemies – Killing Socrates |
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4. The Majority Rules – The Republic |
4. Kant, War, Ethnicity, Genocide and Competitive Sports |
4. Animal Sacrifice – Giving to the Temple |
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5. Kant, Collectivism – Socialism - Altruism |
5. War, Racism, Ethnicity, Genocide, Competitive Sports, Collectivism - Altruism |
5. Kant, Altruism and Progressive Taxation – Giving to the Collective |
The principle of progressive benignity teaches us is that man has been imposed upon by institutionalized ideas that are essentially cruel and hateful. It connects today’s ideas of altruism, moral dualism and collectivism to their sources in pre-history and the development of religion throughout the ages. It teaches us that the negative aspects of the primordial religious messages of sacrifice, conflict and collectivism are with us today in more benign forms; yet, those negative aspects are replete with the same high levels of fear, suffering and lies that supported the original messages; they should be analyzed and discarded as deficient and fallacious and as unfit for man and his happiness.
– Roberto Diego
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