“Christmas Time is Here, By Golly”

“Disapproval would be folly… “

These are the first two lines of a famous Christmas song written and sung back in 1959 by Tom Lehrer. Its genre is Comedy, and it fits in that genre, but it also serves in this modern era to enlighten us about reality once the cloak of absurdity is pulled off the supernatural foundation and structure of religion. Despite the lack of any actual scientific evidence that any religion can produce to demonstrate and prove the existence of a god and its role in the existence of life and humanity, there is still an almost universal human belief in some supernatural being (s) that supposedly created our existence, including all humanity. And that is the fuel for a constant search for interactive communication between humanity and a supposed supernatural world. This is called religion.

There are about 10,000 different religions in our world today. Some of these beliefs are similar, with branching origins, but most religions are very protective of their separate beliefs. Wars between religions and great efforts to denigrate the validity of other faiths and expose the falsity of their gods have been with us—I guess I could say forever at this point. In the United States, the four major religions are 31% Christianity with 2.4 billion adherents, 24% Islam with 1.9 billion adherents, 15% Hinduism with 1.2 billion adherents, and 7% Buddhism with 0.5 billion adherents. And that still leaves about 30% with other religions or no religion. According to the 2012 Pew Research Centre, 50,980,000 people in the United States are religiously unaffiliated. This is not necessarily a rejection of religion, just a rejection of an organized faith.

Statistics are interesting but what do they mean? Well, Gods and their religions are ancient fundamental human beliefs that were and are foundational in the development of intellect and the varied culture structures of human civilizations. Every religion has its own beliefs, rules, regulations, and social structures, some of these try to explain existence and others govern customs and behavior. Beliefs that a supernatural being or beings created, and direct human life are the cornerstone of religions. Over time the interaction of reality and supernatural legends combines into religion. Many human customs now reflect the contributions of science and our beliefs and celebrations of those beliefs now have a suggestion of reality along with a base of superstition.

Christmas and/or similar celebrations are common to most religions. Celebrations of gods and religions have become more and more entwined with our daily life and our celebrations, education, and daily lives. For some of us, through an intense early religious education, and close daily connections, religion has lost some of its supernatural nature and become part and parcel with reality. ?Under some conditions, this may be good, but in intense competitive situations, it may be destructive to the future of humanity. At present religion is intricately infused into the lives of many people and directs how they interact with those with different beliefs. Also, relying on religion and prayer to save humanity from technology would be far more destructive to our future than planning and acting through the proven scientific understanding of reality, rather than dependence on superstition. ??

When one looks at the conglomeration of religions large and small that humanity has created over ages of intellectual development and the thousands of current religions based on supernatural Gods, one must wonder why millions of people believe that supernatural Gods exist. In my opinion, there are three possibilities. ?

1.???? There is only one God and He, She, or It adjusts the story of it’s existence to fit the individual structures of the many and varied human civilizations. If this is the case, then no, I don’t know why It allows so much human death, disaster, and war between the huge number of conflicting religious beliefs in the varied structures of humanity.

2.???? There are many Gods some that get along with each other and some that war with each other, and each has It’s own interests and designs for human civilizations that will somehow benefit that individual god. Each God has individual intentions and supernatural needs that creation of their own religion will somehow benefit them in the worlds beyond the physical existence of the universe.

3.???? There are no “Gods”, no supernatural entity or entities that created and intelligently control the physical existence and interaction of the galactic and individual structures of the universe, the solar systems, and the individual suns and planets that exist, probably temporarily within this universe. The concept of "GOD" was created by humans to explain who they are and why they are and their creations become reality, to them. But suppose I am wrong, and there is an intellectual force (an individual or a conglomerate) that has created and “manages” the Universe and all that it contains. In that case, I doubt that humanity, a speck of life in a small solar system, occupies a noticeable niche in a massive conglomeration of physical existence. I’m entering the realm of science fiction here, but in these modern times where religion, science, and human knowledge all seem to be merging, one can only hope that reality and common sense will guide us into a successful future.

For the present though, religion and the fictitious God or Gods that are thought to direct the future of humanity are still seemingly the basis of most of our governments, and the basis for most of the celebrations in our public life. When a wonderful Christmas arrives every year, religious statistics that define our lives seem to evaporate. It seems as if almost everyone lights up their property, some with a religious and some with a nonreligious basis. We sing songs, some strongly religious and some secular, some serious and some funny, and God or no God, we enjoy the magic of the season. In the US most religious celebration is based on Christianity, but Judaism and Islam are not too far behind with expressions of celebration of their religions. ?And about a third of US citizens are not members of any church (Religions of America, edited by Leo Rosten), but still celebrate the delight of Christmas without much interest in the religious aspect of the holiday. Christmas is secular for many, the end of one year is celebrated and it is followed closely by the beginning of another. The celebrations merge and become The Holiday Season. The birth of Christ thousands of years ago merges smoothly into the beginning of a new year and life continues, the airplane flies from coast to coast, the holidays merge and a new year begins. Attention to a new year of war, family, economy, school, and survival begins. I like Christmas, it is a good way to close a year, and it is meaningful to the health and comradery of the family.

And for a great many Americans, things boil down to…

'Que Sera, Sera'… whatever will be, will be

This is probably true for our future, but if we are concerned about our future on this beautiful little Planet, depending on religion to save us, rejecting science, refusing to acknowledge the destruction of Earth’s ecology and atmosphere, using constant warfare, including atomic weapons, and doing everything possible to increase our populations will in the future not allow humanity to maintain more than a weak primitive population to survive. Perhaps, though, we will still celebrate Christmas.

?

Martin Moe