And Other Thoughts

MY 11-year old son teased me of my “religiosity” when for three consecutive nights last week, I viewed without our usual TV compromises, the CNN documentary series “God’s Warriors”. I did apologize, though, for making his cartoons disappear during those nights.

The CNN series revolved around the main theme: that of a certain segment of the faithful (fundamentalists, as defined) whose faith, values and demands are constantly being ignored by the state and society at large. Very similar with atheists’ own experience, eh.

But what caught my curiosity was Part1 presentation/ narration about the Jewish underground/ extremists’ plan to blow up the Dome of the Rock – a shrine Muslims regard as their third holiest site. It seems Jewish extremists wanted Islam's 4th holiest site moved up to third, the fifth to 4th?

Seriously now, had the Jewish extremists succeeded, the event would have triggered a full-blown or yet another six-day war in which the Jews, should they emerge victorious, will have to clean up the remnants of the Dome of the Rock and in its place, erect a Hardrock Café instead. Or, if Muslims would have their way, rebuild the shrine but without the original rock, as it’d be blasphemous to replace it with adobe or hollow blocks. Am not just sure if everyone will have to be content with having just a big Dome, as no one these days praises the relic that is Araneta Coliseum. Ay! the war goes on.

Surely, symbols and rituals are a big deal in religion, as they help ensure the not-so rational attachment (and dependency) of the faithful. Christians in Florida(?) wanted a marker of the ten Commandments installed in front of a government building. Jews want to reclaim the site of their ancient temple, now catering to the Dome of the Rock. These are fundamentalist demands, yes, but with a social purpose, as faith or religion, being a private affair for some individuals, is a social activity and a collective way of life for others.
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Not too long ago, I chanced upon a documentary presented in the Discovery Channel. The Docu posits that “humans are genetically programmed to search for a ‘God’.”

I know nothing about genetic science but if indeed this is the case, as scientific and logical as it appears, then I’d see nothing wrong with religious faith, per se, since I suppose, the process of faith lies within the realm and context of this “genetically programmed search” – which may, or may not, ultimately find nothing.

If it’s genetic, then the search must be embedded in our instincts, or better yet, in our consciousness -- therefore, as humans, we cannot escape this programmed search (at least in the current evolutionary stage). Atheism, or even agnosticism, I would think, is an unconscious humanist expression within the context of this “genetically programmed search for a God.”