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Emotional Intelligence EQ and Religion

Religion stands as one of the most profoundly influential structures of man's creation. It endures despite its obvious lack of evidence or rational foundation. Its survival doesn't require reason or logic. It is based solely and completely in our emotions. Trying to reason people away from the nonsense of religion is unlikely to work because its core isn't in logic but rather its roots are buried in the nutrient rich soil of our emotions. We may logically know there is no God (a heavenly father) there protecting and guiding our steps through life but emotionally we feel his presence. We may find that our sense of ourselves as a person our very identity is bound up in our concepts of God and our "relationship" with him. To purge God would require a cherished aspect of our very nature as a person. And for a person who has spent a lifetime dedicated to building up and internalizing this God aspect of our identity abandoning God is inconceivable. We seem to be able to compartmentalize our thoughts and internally resolve conflicting between these domains even when we know that our concept of God and Scriptures don't conform to our scientific understanding of the world. How is that? How do we do that?

It is Time to Hold Ideology Responsible

Brights

The Brights promote a naturalistic world view free from the outdated and limited authoritarian world views promoted by religions.

The Brights movement has three major aims.

1. Promote public understanding and acknowledgment of the naturalistic worldview, which is free of supernatural and mystical elements.
2. Gain public recognition that persons who hold such a worldview can bring principled actions to bear on matters of civic importance.
3. Educate society toward accepting the full and equitable civic participation of all such people.

Depending on Grace

Catholics believe in the forgiveness of sins. In fact, they depend on it, as delivered from the only legitimate source the Catholic church. God creates us with the taint of Adam's original sin. To have a shot at salvation at the time of death one must first be baptized. Then, after baptism, one has to adhere to a minimum level of conformity to avoid excommunication. A Catholic is required to make a good confession and receive the Eucharist at least once a year at Easter time. They call this the Easter duty. The real trick to getting into heaven, though, is to be in a state of grace at the time of death. So, depending on how scared a Catholic is of eternal damnation, they will make an effort to stay in a state of grace as much as possible. According to Catholics there are two types of sin; venial and mortal. Mortal sins are serious sins while venial sins are less serious. If a Catholic commits a mortal sin like murder then the soul is marked as impure and God will cast the soul into hell for eternity but only if the person dies before going to confession. Confession is called a sacrament. A Catholic priest will listen to parishioners confession of sins in secrecy. If the penitent (the person seeking forgiveness) has made a good act of contrition, that is, if the sinner has vowed not to commit the sin again then the priest can forgive the sinner and restore the soul to a pure state by wiping the soul clean with absolution and thereby remove the black mark of sin, and return the person to a state of grace so that God will find him worthy of entering heaven at the time of death. So, Catholics are taught it is possible to play the odds a bit. If you are young and healthy and you are a bit of a gambler you could theoretically get away with murder and still go to heaven if you get to confession in a timely manner after committing mortal sins. Although, this is highly discouraged, priest admit it is quite possible that a thoroughly evil person could at the last moments of life repent his sins and make it into heaven. It is little wonder that the Catholic church has such strong appeal to its followers.

Breaking the Spell

In Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon, Daniel Dennett specifically challenges his readers to find ways to use science to combat what he calls "toxic religion." In addition to past holy wars, inquisitions, persecutions, "and all the wretched abuses of superstition and theocracy," toxic religion currently threatens secular society by seeking to control our "moral" behavior-denying access to contraception while outlawing termination of pregnancy, criminalizing sexual acts between consenting adults, banning stem cell research, refusing the terminally ill access to assisted death, preventing inoculation of young girls against cervical cancer, and degrading science education with religious doctrine. Dennett's central policy recommendation is that we-and by "we" he is certainly addressing humanists-educate the people of the world, both gently and firmly "so that they can make truly informed choices about their lives."