The Battle for God by Karen Armstrong

This is not a book review. I am writing about things that occurred to me while reading the book.

Armstrong says that people have struggled with loneliness and meaning since the dawn of time and religions are a product of this struggle. I think religious wars happen when people become aware that there are whole big groups of others out there who don't believe as they do. They fear falling back into doubt and despair, so they demonize the other to reinforce conviction in their own world-view. After that, political conflict is just a catalyst for a cosmic war.

According to Armstrong, modernism with its technology and rationalism is also threatening to the religious because it prefers a hardy material understanding of the universe over spiritual conviction guided by religious text. I can understand why they feel threatened. Rationalism offers no comfort in face of tragedy. It says tragedy is random, meaningless, and out of human control. If mental and physical anguish is useless, why not end it by killing yourself? In order to prevent mass despair and suicide, our ancestors came up with a solution, albeit an imperfect one: believe that your life has ultimate meaning, that god is watching what you do and therefore you actions have consequences. This is why suicide is possibly the biggest sin in almost all religions of the world: committing suicide is rejecting the meaning your ancestors created for you to keep you from despair.

Atheists have to create their own meaning. The well adjusted atheist has passions and goals and good relationships. What about the deeply spiritual atheist? Ze must feel empty a lot. I do. But I fill it with music, books, food, conversation, and meditation. It does not make me feel whole, I admit, but I accept the challenge of struggling through life without the aid of delusions.

So I have this to say to my well meaning ancestors who devised religion for themselves and for me: Don't worry. I won't kill myself, for I love chocolate and tea. As for living a healthy life in a healthy community, it will happen in time. We have not yet witnessed entire families and generations that are completely atheistic materialists. We can't know if something will work until we try it.

Another thought: Armstrong says that most monotheistic prophets sprung in response to the despair of the working class. From what I know of prehistory, before the dawn of mass agriculture, societies were pretty egalitarian. Hierarchy was not profound and neither was wealth disparity. With the aid of agriculture, when a few people started getting rich and powerful at the expense of the poor struggling masses, the sensitive ones spoke against the injustice. They created religion to deal with the despair. We still struggle with the injustice of wealth disparity. How do I deal with it? I am a rebel of sorts. I try not to participate in the unfair roles provided by society that contributes to the disparity. I cannot drop out completely, of course, because that would be the death of me. But I do as little as possible. I'm the philosophical slacker rebel. It is better than religion.