Imagine

“Imagine there’s no heaven / It’s easy if you try / No hell below us / Above us, only sky // Imagine all the people / Livin’ for today…

Imagine there’s no countries / It isn’t hard to do / Nothing to kill or die for / And no religion, too // Imagine all the people / Livin’ life in peace…” – John Lennon

We are the only species that physically and verbally attacks their own based on ideology or religion; that condemns people for believing in the wrong God or loving the wrong person; that believes they are entitled to Earth’s resources and those of other members of the same species based on geography or skin color; that creates elaborate explanations for and defenses of their beliefs; that invents sophisticated weapons, both physical and psychological, to coerce others into adopting those beliefs; and that claims to believe in “God” while ignoring all the best attributes of God.

Believers say God is merciful yet slaughter innocent people and lay waste to their homes. Religion might long for us to turn swords into plowshares but it exhorts us to fight – crusades, holy wars, “preemptive” wars, and countless battles against anyone labelled as an enemy. Millions of lives have been sacrificed to “cultural supremacy,” “world domination,” or “divine right.”

If God is indeed vengeful and capricious, maybe religion can’t do any better than that. But if God is forgiving and loving, religion has a lot of work to do. In the end, though, it seems to me that life is not about religion. All religions are false, at least in some way. Jesus did not aim to start a new religion, nor did Budda, nor did Muhammad. Yet, the traditions surrounding their teachings have led to large religions organized to perpetuate themselves. Perhaps it is important to separate our religions from our aspirations.

None of this has anything to do with whether there is or is not a God or whether people believe in God or not. Religious teachings and stories can point to God, if we let them. They can also lead us to division – Catholic vs. Protestant, Sunni vs. Shia. So, we need to question religious dogma and theology.

If the point of religion is to live in closer harmony with God and our fellow human beings, we don’t need cathedrals, temples, and mosques to do this. We have erected physical and spiritual edifices instead of simply doing unto others as we would have them do unto us. Sometimes it feels like thousands of years of religion have brought us no closer to the point.

I’m not saying we should do away with religion. But it is always good to question its methods. I’m sure the man from Galilee would question many things about the way religion is practiced in today’s world. Any self-respecting prophet or teacher would. We know we’re supposed to show love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, and faithfulness, not find ways to ostracize, demonize, and disenfranchise others.

If we love God, or even the idea of God, perhaps we should love others as best we can. Love requires no religion. Some of the most loving, joyful, kind, and helpful people I know are atheists. And some of the most hypocritical are Christians.

I used to ask my students, “If there were no promised reward in heaven and no threat of punishment in hell, how would you choose to act?”

It’s not hard to imagine a world where we do good and take care of others just because we can. Maybe this is the definition of peace.