Religion and Selflessness
In “Homo Religiosus,” Armstrong presents the idea that people need to believe in God to make sense of their own lives, to order their lives, and to give their lives meaning. She argues that this is a very ancient idea and that people should be used to this need by now because it is not going away and is unlikely to ever go away. Nelson suggests, however, that our consciousness is not necessarily linked to our desire or ability to “do better.” Nelson points out how reality TV watchers find the horrific and the brutal to be “great to watch”—and she cites a number of examples to prove it: from To Catch a Predator to Shattered and Unbreakable. These programs show that people are no different from the days of the Gladiators: they still want to watch others suffer and be tormented—it stimulates them and entertains them to see another human being going through some insane torment. For that reason, it would be inappropriate to suggest that everyone is constructing a meaningful life for himself, or that just because we can imagine the idea of God or believe that God exists does not actually mean that we care to make that idea or reality a part of our daily lives. Just as much as we are made comfortable by the fact of salvation does not mean we are likely to feel bad about watching person get waterboarded on television. Thurman objects that religion without selflessness is really not much of a religion at all. That seems to underscore Nelson’s point, which is that human beings can call themselves religious all they want, but if they are still indulging their depravity, their religion is not going to do them much good.
As Robert Thurmann notes, “One of the most significant changes you will notice upon discovering you selflessness is that your sense of being separate from everyone else has now eroded. Your new awareness enables you to perceive...
Works Cited
Armstrong, Karen. “Homo Religiosus.”
Nelson, Maggie. “Great to Watch.”
Thurman, Robert. “Wisdom.”
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