Most “adults” don’t realize that they never grew up, that they simply have replaced their parents with other authority figures—their boss, company, a lover/spouse, career, a government, a doctrine/creed, an ideology, a morality, a religion, a deity, a God. No matter what we do, in the end, someone else is ultimately in charge, and thus doesn’t that make us feel not only comforted, but also a little insignificant in the grand scheme of things?
What an enormous relief it is for people who find “Jesus” (or the equivalent) to realize, understand, and accept that it’s not their fault, it’s not really up to them, that that burden they have been struggling with isn’t theirs, it’s God’s. Just give it to God, that’s his job. Give yourself a break, you’re only human after all. Not only is it not your doing, your fault, but isn’t it arrogant to think that there is nothing bigger than you? I mean, come on. What a relief it is to not be ultimately responsible for the universe, our own lives.
Wouldn’t it be nice to be “saved?” To be forgiven all the bad things we’ve done in our lives, to be rewarded for our good deeds? Accept your limitations! Accepting this (“Jesus”) is the road to salvation. The real, ultimate power in the universe, and thus the real power in, and over, our lives, is God (or another word or idea for a “god” that people often think they are getting away with by not saying “God”).
Such is the soporific and deluding elixir of any organized religion/philosophy/ideology. They allow people to let go of their egotism in a way that is stealthily and subtly egotistical, for they convince them that it isn’t. This gives them an excuse to behave like children, with selfishness and myopia, to play dress-up and forget they’re just dressed up.
We are responsible for the lies we tell ourselves and the fantasies we choose to hold on to and believe in.
Believing in a higher power is not faith, but the opposite of faith.
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From my personal notes, 6/25/99
