Johannes Tan, Indonesian Translator & Conference Interpreter
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Part 45

3/28/2016

 

Between Stockholm Syndrome and Lima Syndrome
Part 45: The Law of Unintended Consequences in the Religious Industrial Complex

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Those who do not move, do not notice their chains.
-ROSA LUXEMBURG (1871-1919)
 
The problem is that many do not mind to be chained at all. As stated in Part 12 (What is God's Religion?), the word "religion" derives from the word religare (Latin) which means 'to bind.' Thus if we only show people how oppressive religion can be, they may hopefully open their eyes and seek freedom. Nothing could be further than the truth.

More than 2,300 years had passed since Plato (428-348 BCE) warned us about mistaking shadows on the walls for real objects, in his famous
Allegory of the Cave. Yet the religious industrial complex is alive and well. Even stronger than ever. In a culture that claims to value freedom above anything else, many do not mind to be chained. They want to be chained.
 
It should not be surprising. In 1843, German philosopher and economist Karl Marx warned that religion is the opium of the people in his classic, A Contribution to the Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Right. Well, what is wrong with opium? According to www.opium.org, "(a)lthough the side effects of opium that are felt short-term such as euphoria or sedation may be comforting, as tolerance develops, even these side effects will diminish and the negative aspects of the opium use will quickly begin to set in." Marx is hardly alone. "One of the curses of ideologies and organized beliefs is the comfort, the deadly gratification they offer," wrote J. Krishnamurti in Commentaries on Living (1956). "They put us to sleep, and in the sleep we dream, and the dream becomes action. How easily we are distracted! And most of us want to be distracted … and distractions becomes a necessity, they become more important than what is."  
 
Bondage, shadows, opium, comfort, gratification, dreams, distractions; what could be better?  The smashing success of the religious industrial complex should not surprise us. Not only does religion comfort the masses. In fact, the opposite—i.e. freedom from religion and beliefs—can be painfully torturous for many. Take religion away, and you take away the security blanket, the opium, the training wheels, the crutches. Dealing with withdrawal symptoms is no picnic.
 
"Freedom aggravates at least as much as it alleviates frustration," wrote Eric Hoffer in The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements (1951). "Freedom of choice places the whole blame of failure on the shoulders of the individual." Then, furthermore: "Unless a man has the talents to make something of himself, freedom is an irksome burden… We join a mass movement to escape individual responsibility, or, in the words of the ardent young Nazi, "to be free from freedom.""
 
Thus freedom from religion demands individual responsibility and accountability—a tall order for many. No more excuses. No more saviors of any kind. No more rewards and punishments. No more redemption. No more twenty-one virgins waiting in paradise. One is on his own—fully responsible and accountable for his deeds. That's why agnostics and atheists tend to take religion much more seriously than theists. Case in point: at the age of sixteen, British philosopher, logician and mathematician, Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) flatly declared: "(m)y whole religion is this: do every duty, and expect no reward for it, either here or hereafter." Observed another British, physician Jonathan Miller (b. 1934): "In some awful, strange, paradoxical way, atheists tend to take religion more seriously than the practitioners."
 
Therefore the positive correlation between religion and morality is a myth, an illusion. Allow me to repeat the comparison of four past Southeast Asian rulers. Ferdinand Marcos, a practicing Catholic, ruled the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. Suharto, a practicing Muslim, ruled Indonesia from 1967 to 1998. Lee Kuan Yew, a self-proclaimed non-believer, ruled Singapore from 1959 to 1990. Thaksin Shinawatra, a practicing Buddhist, ruled Thailand from 2001 to 2006. Three among these four strongmen were forced to resign and eventually convicted of corruption, though they never served time. (Obviously, proceed from corruption come in handy to retain the best lawyers in the country or to live lavishly in exile.) One ruler is exceptionally known as "Mr. Clean" until his death in 2015 however. Everyone knows who was "Mr. Clean."
 
One may argue that even though religion has failed to curb corruption, it may make believers more tolerant and pacifist. We shall see. As stated in Part 36 (Being in the "Zone"), in an op-ed in The Los Angeles Times (October 30, 2015), Phil Zuckerman begs to differ. In Think Religion Makes Society Less Violent?, he outlines that the most secular societies (Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Czech Republic, Estonia, Japan, Britain, France, the Netherlands, Germany, South Korea, New Zealand, Australia, Vietnam, Hungary, China and Belgium) fare the best in terms of crime rates, prosperity, equality, freedom, democracy, women's rights, human rights, educational attainment and life expectancy. (With poor human rights records, Vietnam and China are exceptions.) On the other hand, the most religious societies (Nigeria, Uganda, the Philippines, Pakistan, Morocco, Egypt, Zimbabwe, Bangladesh, El Salvador, Colombia, Senegal, Malawi, Indonesia, Brazil, Peru, Jordan, Algeria, Ghana, Venezuela, Mexico and Sierra Leone) tend to be the most problem-ridden in terms of high violent crime rates, high infant mortality rates, high poverty rates and high rates of corruption.
 
Thus the law of unintended consequences in the religious industrial complex: religion does not necessarily improve individual responsibility and accountability.
 
[To be continued.]
 Johannes Tan, Indonesian Translator & Conference Interpreter 

Part 44.5

3/21/2016

 

Between Stockholm Syndrome and Lima Syndrome
Part 44.5: Intermission

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Delay is preferable to error.
-THOMAS JEFFERSON
​
It's one of those weeks again, in which I under-estimated the complexity of a translation assignment and over-estimated my ability to juggle a myriad of various commitments. Regretfully, Part 45 will only be published next Monday, March 28, 2016. Thank you for your patience and sorry for any inconvenience.
 
Johannes Tan, Indonesian Translator & Conference Interpreter 

March 14th, 2016

3/14/2016

 

Between Stockholm Syndrome and Lima Syndrome
Part 44: On Religious-Political Holy Alliances

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The need for religion will end when man becomes sensible enough to govern himself.
-FRANCISCO FERRER (1849-1909)
 
There is one problem however: it seems that man will never become sensible enough to govern himself … due to his unquenchable thirst and insatiable appetite to worship. The sun, the moon, a rock, a tree, a river, a god, several gods, a totalitarian leader, a holy book, an icon, a symbol, a celebrity, an athlete, a sports team—anything. Whether in sports, religion, or political ideology, the overwhelming drive to worship among Homo sapiens is hard to miss, whether it manifests itself in tribalism, provincialism, holier-than-thou sectarianism, nationalism, totalitarianism, fanaticism, radicalism, or chauvinism. "The hammer and sickle and the swastika are in a class with the cross," wrote Eric Hoffer in The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements (1951). Even in the seemingly casual world of sports, the need to worship is astounding.
 
As stated in Part 26 (Mob Mentality and Groupthink), Daniel Wann, a leading sport psychologist at Murray State University pointed out that the similarities between sport fandom and organized religion are striking. "Consider the vocabulary associated with both: faith, devotion, worship, ritual, dedication, sacrifice, commitment, spirit, prayer, suffering, festival, and celebration." An American city without a sports team is like an Indian chief without a feather on his cap. A country without an Olympic team is considered a pariah among nations. Once I invited a die-hard Roger Federer's fan to watch a Wimbledon quarterfinal match at home. You could actually feel his anguish and physical pain every time Federer lost a point or made an unforced error or double-fault serve. When I teased him by saying that Federer is only human, he disagreed and in all seriousness argued that Federer is actually a god.
 
Lest I be accused of being anti-religion, let me repeat the benefits of religion as stated in Part 6 ("You are Confined Only by the Walls You Build Yourself"). Religion may provide explanations about the Meaning of Life and why we have to suffer; it gives us a sense of purpose and direction. Religion also comforts us to deal with failures, hardships, tragedies, sickness and deaths; it defuses anxiety. Religion provides us with guidelines for everyday life; for example the code of conduct based on karma and dharma (Hinduism); the Four Noble Truths and Eightfold Path (Buddhism); the Maimonides' thirteen principles of faith (Judaism); the Ten Commandments (Christianity); and the Five Pillars of Islam. Indeed religion instills values about what is right and wrong. Throughout millennia, religion has provided societies with various tools to create social solidarity as well as establish social order and control.
 
So far so good, but social order and control for the benefits of whom? Indeed religion and state authorities have been strange bedfellows for millennia. Collusion between political and religious leaders have been the norm—rather than the exception—and there lies the wisdom and genius of Thomas Jefferson who introduced the notion of "a wall of separation between church and state."
 
We have been told about the crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth by the Romans, at the behest of the Jews, who repeatedly shouted "Crucify him!” to the fifth prefect of the Roman province of Judaea, Pontius Pilate. Nevertheless, the Church gradually became a defining institution of the Roman Empire. In 313 Emperor Constantine issued the "Edict of Milan" proclaiming tolerance for the Christian religion, and subsequently in 325 convoked the First Council of Nicaea. The Nicene Creed included belief in "one holy catholic and apostolic Church". Then with the "Edict of Thessalonica" of 380 Emperor Theodosius I made Nicene Christianity as the state church of the Roman Empire. The rest, as they say, is history: the bloody and brutal history of the Crusades, Reformation Wars, Inquisitions, genocide of Native Americans, and the Holocaust.
 
And who could forget the imposing 33 feet by 20 feet Napoleon's coronation painting at the Louvre by Jacques-Louis David? Napoleon simply (and nakedly) wanted to establish his legitimacy as the Emperor of the French by masterminding a new coronation ceremony conferred by none other than Pope Pius VII. Indeed the fact that Napoleon absurdly sought political legitimacy from a Pope spoke volumes. (Hint: he once uttered, "Religion is excellent stuff for keeping common people quiet. Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich.")
 
Moving to the Middle East, there has been another "Holy Alliance" since Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, the founder of "Wahhabism," an austere form of Islam, arrived in the central Arabian state of Najd in 1744 to preach the return to "pure" Islam (whatever that means). In a "you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours" deal of Koranic proportions, he sought protection from the local emir and head of the Al Saud tribal family, Muhammad ibn Saud. The Al Saud would endorse al-Wahhab's austere form of pure Islam and to return the favor, the Al Saud would get political legitimacy and regular tithes from al-Wahhab's followers. In spite of the fact that in 1818, the Ottoman Empire managed to sack the capital of Riyadh and executed many of the religious and political leaders, the religious-political alliance that al-Wahhab and Saud forged in 1744 endures to this day in Saudi Arabia. The Wahhabism brand has become the other commodity (besides petroleum) currently exported to other countries.
 
[To be continued.]
 Johannes Tan, Indonesian Translator & Conference Interpreter 

Part 43

3/7/2016

 

Between Stockholm Syndrome and Lima Syndrome
Part 43: "The Most Brutal Slaveholders were Always the Most Devout"

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Many religions have attempted to make statues of their gods very large,
and the idea is to make us feel small.
But if that's their purpose, they can keep their paltry icons.

We need only to look up if we wish to feel small.
-CARL SAGAN (1934-1996)
 
Recently, after four years of research, Elicka Peterson Sparks, an associate professor of criminology at the Department of Government and Justice Studies at Appalachian State University in Boone, NC, published The Devil You Know: the Surprising Link Between Conservative Christianity and Crime (2016). To many Christians this book is shockingly controversial. To me it is incomplete because fundamentalism is not only a thorn within Christianity, but also within other religions: Islam, Judaism, Hinduism and even some branches of Buddhism.
 
Sparks' thesis should not be surprising, especially if we are willing to consider the preponderance of evidence throughout the history of Homo sapiens. As cited in Part 9 (An Eskimo Hunter and the Local Missionary Priest), the positive correlation between religion and violence has been established since the Aztecs fervently believed in sacrificing thousands of innocent men, women and babies merely to appease Huitzilopochtli (god of the south), Tezcatlipoca (god of the north), Huehueteotl (god of the fire), Tlaloc (god of the rain), and Xipe Totec (god of the east and water). For the sake of appeasing those gods, the Aztecs committed homicide and infanticide with impunity.
 
Indeed more modern left-brain dominated believers have been killing each other fervently in the name of God, Allah, or Yahweh as well. Or, other modern versions of Huitzilopochtli. As stated previously "religion" derives from the word religare (Latin) which means 'to bind.' Perhaps, not surprisingly, the more oppressive a religion is, the more oppressive are its believers. "The most brutal slaveholders were always the most devout," observed African-American social reformer, abolitionist, and author Frederick Douglass (1818-1895). As summarized in Part 10 (The Pope who would have Burned his own Father), Mahatma Gandhi (a Hindu) was killed by a Hindu zealot in 1948; Anwar Sadat (a Muslim) was killed by a Muslim zealot in 1981; and Yitzhak Rabin (a Jew) was killed by a Jewish zealot in 1995. As observed by Dr. Taylor, anal-retentive obsession on the past and future—from the original sin to the last day judgment, from the Battle of Armageddon to heaven and hell, from resurrection to the second coming, even martyrdom, whether in Judaism, Christianity, Islam eschatologies—can only radicalize the poorly educated and betray the spirit of religion.
 
History merely repeats itself: The Roman Catholic Church launched a series of Crusades between 1096 and 1487. In God and his Demons (2010), Michael Parenti cites a chronicler who joined and rejoiced the Crusade of 1099: "Wonderful things were to be seen. Numbers of Saracens were beheaded… Others were shot with arrows, or forced to jump from the towers; others were tortured for several days, then burned with flames. In the street were seen piles of heads and hands and feet... It was a just and marvelous judgment of God." If that is not brutal enough, starting in the 12th century, the Church then engaged in their notorious witch-trials as well as the Spanish, Portuguese and Roman Inquisitions.
 
In Islam, Sunni and Shiite Muslims have been slaughtering each other for 1,380 years ... all due an unsettled dispute over who would be the legitimate successor of Muhammad as a caliph of the Islamic community upon his death in 632. Other sects in Islam, particularly Ahmadiyya and Sufism, have also been labeled as "heretics and non-Muslim" by the Sunnis. Thousands of Ahmadis and Sufis in Bangladesh, Indonesia, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia, have been subjected to cruel persecution and systematic oppression, even public stoning. Basically the current civil war in Syria since 2011 is a proxy war between Saudi Arabia (representing the Sunnis) and Iran (representing the Shiites). The Hebrew scriptures recount battle after battle in which Yahweh helps the "Chosen People" to not only defeat but also exterminate shepherding cultures which had occupied the "Promised Land" for centuries before 1948. The cruelty of ISIS—which has decapitated innocent journalists, humanitarian aid workers and minorities in the name of Allah—simply confirms the pattern.
 
Indeed the cruelest irony in religion. If one wholeheartedly believes in monotheism—there is only one God, or Allah, or Yahweh; merely implying multiple Gods is considered a blasphemy—why on earth do monotheistic believers have to kill their fellow believers? (Not that I condone harming polytheists or atheists.) Juxtapose this narrow-minded reductionism with the nonchalant holism of American astronomer, cosmologist and astrophysicist Carl Sagan (1934-1996) who did not even believe in a God: "If a human disagrees with you, let him live. In a hundred billion galaxies you will not find another."
 
There is still another irony: Our Abrahamic forefathers had used the movements of celestial objects in the universe—particularly the phases of the moon and the rotations of the sun—as temporal references in the lunar and solar calendars to mark and celebrate so-called religious holidays and festivities. Isn't it another cruel irony that their believers now forget their smallness in the very same stupendous and gargantuan universe by merely claiming that "my" religion is better and holier than "yours"?
 
Indeed Carl Sagan's tolerance for pluralism and compassion for fellow earthlings speak volumes. "As I read history," wrote American literary critic Carl Van Doren (1885-1950), "the unbelievers have done less harm to the world than believers. They have not filled it with savage wars… with crusades or persecutions, with complacency or ignorance."
 
 [To be continued.]

 Johannes Tan, Indonesian Translator & Conference Interpreter 

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