denis bider

Edit - January 18, 2022:

I came across this post when migrating the blog. From today's perspective, this post is absolutely stupid, and is the opposite of true. A state has no reason to exist except to represent its individuals. A government must not brainwash its citizens, otherwise it does not represent them and becomes a tyranny of the few. The religious people I was criticizing are way more correct than atheists, perhaps even about evolution.

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After having contemplated religion for a couple decades, I've come to a tentative conclusion about religion and the state. This conclusion may sound surprising.

I'll put it like this:

• I'm atheist.
• I think the overall effects of faith are harmful.
• Separation of church and state makes the problem worse.

This is not to say I want religion to run countries. Not at all. Quite the opposite.

In order to control irrational and fundamentalist tendencies, countries have to run their religions.

Consider the following graphic:




Out of 11 countries in this graphic where support for evolution is over 75%, the following have, or have until recently had, a state religion:

Country	Church	Official Until
Iceland	Lutheran Evangelical Church	continuing
Denmark	Church of Denmark (Lutheran)	continuing
Sweden	Church of Sweden (Lutheran)	2000
England	Church of England (Anglican)	continuing
Norway	Church of Norway (Lutheran)	2012

One could possibly also count the following as relatively recent departures:

Italy	Roman Catholic Church	1984
Spain	Roman Catholic Church	1978

Altogether, from six to eight countries out of eleven with the highest support for evolution have recently had an official state religion; three of them continue to have one.

Contrast this with the United States, where there hasn't been an official state religion since colonial times. Yet, in this most advanced post-industrial economy, support for evolution is at a lackluster 50%, or worse.

Some years ago, in Warcraft, there was a villain named Arthas Menethil. He was a human prince from Lordaeron, who journeyed north to lead a war against the undead scourge. In the process, he was corrupted by the leader of the undead, the Lich King Ner'Zhul. He became a death knight in his service, returned to Lordaeron with an undead army, slew his father - the human king - and eventually fused with Ner'Zhul, becoming the new Lich King.

In World of Warcraft, a group of players defeats this Lich King - Arthas, at which point the ghost of Arthas's father warns about the following:

Terenas Menethil II:

Without its master's command, the restless Scourge will become an even greater threat to this world.

Control must be maintained. There must always be... a Lich King.

Or, for a shorter version:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxIMzSjunE4

In the most successful cases - in the countries enumerated above - a state religion can be the control that's needed.

State religion can also be very harmful. In the case of oppressive theocracies, such as Iran, religion is everywhere. No one can escape the Supreme Leader's doctrines. There can be no dancing, no music, and no playing most video games, either.

However, in many successful countries, a state religion contributes to checks and balances that can keep religious people reasonably sane, and prevent fundamentalism from running rampant. There's an "official insanity", a relatively mild one, which prevents more harmful insanities from taking root.

The US, with its separation of church and state, has no such checks and balances. Separation prevents the state from reigning in religion. But religious voters, and their leaders, are free to exert control over the state. Extremist religious beliefs in the US are rampant, and represent a mighty and destructive force in politics.

Over the past 60 years, the situation in the US has become worse in this regard, not better. In the past 12 years, religious extremism has played a crucial role in events that are coming closer and closer to destroying the country, and have inflicted damage on the world.

Being religious is a form of willful partial insanity. People who are partially insane need guidance from people who appear religious, and might well be, but are also responsible and sane. Without such guidance, they receive it from people who are not. Insanity runs rampant, until it becomes a threat to peace, prosperity, and progress.

That's what's happening to the US. Religious sentiment is being used by the selfish and unscrupulous as a political tool, with devastating consequences. Meanwhile, separation of church and state is preventing sane, responsible people from acting.