I have stated my opposition to religion many times on this blog. (My essay in Salon, “Religion’s Smart-People Problem,” generated much hate mail.) However, let me add that religion—while I believe it to be generally as harmful and untrue—is not the only cause of the world’s problems. Any fervently held ideology—social, political, moral, economic—that is immune to rational critique and the scientific method is inherently dangerous. Those who believe they possess the truth invariably want to force their beliefs on others.
Furthermore, there are other causes of our difficulties as well—we have reptilian brains, medieval institutions, and 21st-century technologies. Give human animals easy access to powerful firearms, much less nuclear weapons, and the results will surely be disastrous with or without religious belief. Clearly, we need moral and intellectual enhancement to assure our survival and flourishing. Supernaturalism holds us back, but so do our ideologies, our institutions, and our evolved human nature.
But can we say anything good about religion? Yes. Believers have done some good things in addition to all the harm they caused—the creation of schools and hospitals is a primary example. Moreover, for some people, religious beliefs provide great comfort, and if it does who am I to try to convince them to think otherwise?
But seen in its best light religion is transhumanism at a childlike stage. Lacking a germ theory of disease, clean water, sewer systems, vaccines, and antibiotics, what else could we do but pray when we fell ill? In a world deficient in truth, beauty, goodness, and justice, what else to do but hope that a supernatural being ensures their triumph in an imaginary heaven? Arising before science, technology, and transhumanism, religions had to advise their followers to accept death and hope for the best.
So religion and transhumanism emanate from similar sources. Religious people want to overcome the limitations of the body and mind and live forever, as do transhumanists. The religious want infinite being, consciousness, and bliss as do transhumanists. The problem is that religion originated before science, and thus it can only offer promises and not the real thing.
Finally, let me say that longings for truth, beauty, joy, justice, meaning, and immortality are praiseworthy. These are good things. Now if you want to call such values religious, fine. Personally, I wouldn’t do that because the desire for these good things has natural origins. But even if you call these desires, religious, John Dewey told us precisely why the distinction between “religious” and “religion” is important,
If I have said anything about religions and religion that seems harsh, I have said those things because of a firm belief that the claim on the part of religions to possess a monopoly of ideals and of the supernatural means by which alone, it is alleged, they can be furthered, stands in the way of the realization of distinctively religious values inherent in natural experience. For that reason, if for no other, I should be sorry if any were misled by the frequency with which I have employed the adjective “religious” to conceive of what I have said as a disguised apology for what have passed as religions. The opposition between religious values as I conceive them and religions is not to be abridged. Just because the release of these values is so important, their identification with the creeds and cults of religions must be dissolved.
Absolutely correct. Religion is (as I said in my high school classes) a “prescientific explicatory scheme”. My apologies, but a teacher must rock his students’ boats.
Religion was (and is, for true believers) one of the great control systems ever devised.
“If you will be quiet about your plight, even though you’re standing lip-deep in sewage, then you will go to Heaven! So shut up and don’t make waves!!!”
Wait ’til you die and then you’ll be happy.
Doctor John, since you have a definite ideas of what Religion is, perhaps you could share your definition of Transhumanism? for instance, Does Transhumanism mean that the human organism will no longer author it’s own thoughts?, as seems to be implied by the term ‘Transhumanism’, Will the Computer do the thinking for the people because, having no emotion the Computer completes its tasks without distraction, and to the satisfaction of the programmer and the person who employs the Programmer?
Perhaps the humans will also have no emotions and therefore will have no concerns or worries?
You don’t (as you say) believe in Religion, I’m not personally an adherent to any particular Religion but I do see that, like any system of belief based social control, depending on the Ideology that motivates it, at times Religion does bring benefits to society, at other times when it represents different ideologies, perhaps not so much!
What is the Ideology behind the newly aborning Religion of Transhumanism, and who will, at least initially, control it and what are their motivations?
Many people long to enter the machine and be relieved of the burden of thinking, I’ve met more than a few who are anxiously awaiting the ‘Singularity’ so they can upload to the Cloud and live there forever, perhaps, as yet, not as many as are waiting for the Rapture, but both of these phenomenon are products of belief systems that seem to offer relief from our unrecognized ‘free floating’ anxieties!
Human life has always been laden with ‘Anxiety’ ergo Religions are created to bring the Illusion of certainty to Human Minds, Will Modern man seek to remove the minds from men as a final solution to Man’s anxiety? What an interesting time to be alive!
The common denominator of religion and spirituality is not love. Can anyone guess my one-word description of the denominator?
Excellent post. I believe The Bible and its story were made up by men/women who wanted to scare and control people.
“Any fervently held ideology—social, political, moral, economic—that is immune to rational critique and the scientific method is inherently dangerous.”.
Perfectly said. As for religion, I always keep thinking how I believe every “unbeliever” wishes that really there were a god, gods, or god-like entities, anywhere. I bet even scientists wish there really were gods. The “believers” know the “unbelievers” don’t believe, but they don’t understand that no man doesn’t wish for gods. For a god is certainly preferable to nothing. The difference between the “believers” and the “unbelievers”, is that the latter can see religion for what really is, i.e. a delusion, and the former cannot.
I remember reading how even Bertrand Russell was devastated by his realization of religion being just wishful thinking.
Thank you for your article.
John Russell,
no one can predict the future of transhumanism—no one can predict the future of anything.