THE POWER OF RELIGION - Part Two

FUTURE REWARDS

The psychology of gambling and the psychology of religion would appear to have little in common. Yet both beliefs and their attendant monetary activities are strikingly similar. Donate to the church for the satisfaction of giving and donate to the casino for the satisfaction of anticipation. The psychology of both require a belief in a happy outcome. Both are obviously based on belief because neither outcome is provable until it occurs. Religion, a priori, is the less believable because its outcome of reward in heaven is not susceptible to proof while in gambling, the outcome is known with surety in the here and now. The brain believes that what one is presently doing will bring future reward. And the more strongly one believes in the future reward, the more willingly one parts with present valuables. The similarity extends to the odds of the transaction; the excitement of giving a pittance now may result in enormous returns in the future.

The difficulty with this argument lies in the general acceptance of the meaning of “proof.” The a-theist asks the believer for proof of the existence of god. The religious believer requests the a-theist to prove the non-existence of god. The real difficulty lies in the inability to agree on the nature of proof. The a-theist demands that the dictionary definition of the word be used to ascertain the truth of the matter. “Show me the evidence,” is the mantra. But the bible, or whatever the religionist believes to be biblical truth, IS the evidence. After all, the bible, being the word of god, trumps any man-made concoction. In essence, the believer says that god exists because I believe he exists and the bible is MY dictionary. The a-theist replies that belief is simply not proof and that it is impossible to prove the non-existence of anything, as demanded by the believer. All of which turns an argument into a non-argument. Belief is belief! Look up that word in the dictionary.

The importance of this discussion does not lie in the existence or non-existence of god. It lies in the money. The connection between religious belief and money has been firmly established through the centuries of mankind’s settled existence. “Give me your money and I will intercede with god for you – and I am an expertly trained interceder, so you can trust me.” This is why shepherds use crooks to lead their flocks and this is how the shepherds fleece their flocks.