VII.4             Reforming the World's Religions
Religions can be reformed and reconciled through a common moral and intellectual standard derived from the perspective of genuine religion. This is the desire that what is "true, good, and beautiful" shall succeed and what is "false, wicked, and ugly" shall be annihilated.

Promoters of self-serving religions would not, but an intelligent, honest, and compassionate God or cosmic moral law such as dharma would endorse this proposal.

                                                                This writer

                                                                       

 
Introduction
A. The Problems Making Reform a Vital Necessity
B. The Solution: A Common Intellectual and Moral Standard
C. What a Reformed Religion Free of Ignorance would Resemble
D. How Progress or Success can be Measured
E. A Win-Win Situation where Religions Reach the Holy and Divine
 
Introduction
All the philosophy, therefore, in the world, and all the religion, which is nothing but a species of philosophy, will never be able to carry us beyond the usual course of experience, or give us a measure of conduct and behaviour different from those which are furnished by reflections on common life.
                                                        David Hume (1711-76)
In the last analysis, all belief systems have only one common and verifiable source, namely, the human mind. And among all the systems, we should learn from those where the intellect has produced the highest standard of morality and intellectual honesty as measured by actual and predictive consequences. This standard could then be the common denominator by which religions should be reformed and reconciled. Specific ultimate beliefs in afterlife, next life, supernatural powers, God, gods, goddesses, the law of dharma, etc., and forms of rituals and prayers could be retained according to the tenets of individual traditions.
     Opposed to a standard derived by the human mind alone are those who claim a variety of religious experiences as a more reliable source. As interpreted by some, these encounters yield a belief in a divine or supernatural reality which is then held as an article of faith. Over millennia, religion, with the help of these experiences, has made order out of what might otherwise have been explanatory, moral, and subjective chaos. However, religious experience is not universal among people, whereas sense experience is. It follows that a universal standard would have to be substantially grounded in sense experiences and their rational explanations. Moreover, religious revelations would have to be evaluated by their verifiable consequences.
     Lastly, the imprisonment of thought that should be free, the idolization of errors, and the protection of errors from detection will continue unless we "save," that is, educate and reform, the guardians of traditional blunders who act ignorantly, like schoolboys who self-servingly refuse to grow up.
 
A.               The Problems Making Reform a Vital Necessity
If we are told that a man is religious, we still ask what are his morals. But if we hear that he has honest morals, we seldom think of the other question.
                                                                                 1st Earl of Shaftesbury (1621-83)
 
Religious errors, self-serving for organized religion but destructive for humanity, have been summarized together with their calamitous consequences in the chapter Egregious Errors in Religions. Most, if not all, of these blunders are as a matter of degree present in all of the world religions. Scandalous and appalling as these abuses are, they cry out to the heavens demanding reform. And by reform is meant the simultaneous activity of:
  • Enlightening these institutions so that they may accept a high standard of intellectual honesty and a humane morality that meets the criteria of universality, utility, truth, and justice. In religious language, it is to create as a role model of an honest, just, and compassionate God in the Judeo-Christian-Islamic religions and an honest, just, and compassionate concept of dharma in the Hindu-Buddhist religions.
  • Shaming, and if necessary compelling, these institutions into abandoning their abuses, misconduct, malpractice, and errors as noted above and in detail elsewhere.
     However, the problems in the religions have all common roots in their ancient, pre-scientific origins. Here is a brief account of what has already been stated elsewhere:
  1. Religious beliefs originated to satisfy a genuine human need, namely, the need for answers to humanity's enduring, ancient questions: Where did everything come from? Who are we? What may we hope for? What is the meaning of life? What happens to us after we die? Is there justice and a worry-free/pain-free next life or after life?
  2. And humans needed answers to avoid chaos of consciousness. Mystics, sages, prophets, and founders of religions had those early answers, and even if not true they were often beneficial to humanity. Because it is life and not necessarily truth what it is all about. It follows that falsehoods were then, and perhaps even now, are vital ingredient for human life. Hence, clearly, early religious belief systems made a positive contribution to life.
  3. For religions to prosper, grow, and be tolerated, however, they had to make compromises--rotten power-sharing bargains--with powerful rulers. Moreover, to get the approval of tyrants, the teachings of the religions had to support the unjust conditions that existed. Looking back in history, religion almost always assisted in oppressing the many for the benefit of the few. Their most powerful teaching was that the oppressed were responsible for their paltry conditions on account of original sin and a sinful nature in the Judeo-Christian-Islamic tradition, and on account of a prior sinful life in the Hinduism, Buddhism, etc., Eastern tradition. However, if they would slavishly accept their status, there would be a better or even blissful afterlife or next life. As one contemporary observer explains the situation then and now: 
    The ruling elite loves a population trained from birth to confuse beliefs with the real world. It is much easier to rule a population, pillage them with taxes, or send them off to fight a war, if the ruler is not required to prove the reality of his or her propositions and statements. This is why, since the dawn of civilizations, governments encourage their people to be ruled by beliefs and not by reason. It takes chains of steel to enslave a rational human, but all the rest may be enslaved by a belief.
  4. For religions to preserve their own identity over time, they had to endorse their choice of belief as authorized canons: in laws, a body of rules, standards, and principles, as well as a selection of texts such as the officially accepted books of the Bible, the sacred scriptures of Hinduism, Buddhism, etc. While there was some room for progress to perfect a divine or dharmic moral guide for life during the oral phase of development, it was subsequently impeded or blocked when the canons were written down. The canons were necessary for the historical continuity of religious institutions, and it is through them that there is a historical continuity of religious belief. Thus, perilous but necessarily, the institutional canons became the determinators of divine or dharmic truth. 
         However, the real problem is to ascertain what the canons, texts, etc. itself ought to be, because as the philosopher-theologian Ben F. Kimpel (1905-?) points out:
     
    Institutions and their canons, texts, etc., are the "product of human effort, and therefore are always subject to limitations of human culture. It is from the unworthy features of such limitations, however, that the religious quest itself seeks to liberate human life. Consequently, if the very goal of the religious search is not to be defeated by an institution developed to assist in the search, institutions must themselves be subject to earnest scrutiny. [Hence,] an institutional canon of belief constitutes a grave problem for earnest religious life, . . . .
  5. We need an external norm for "earnest scrutiny" of religions and their canons, texts, etc., which we know are the products of institutional, not divine or dharmic, judgments. As John Locke (1632-1704) observed, "God does not unmake the man when he makes the prophet." The answer is found in the ancient saying "You shall know them by their fruit." And as explained by Kimpel:
    If, however, religious faith is something other than subjective certitude, it must be submitted to the criterion of what takes place in a life [personal or institutional] which claims as its source of guidance a knowledge of the divine [dharmic] reality. . . . Although a religious life cannot convince a non-religious individual that a religious life is informed of a divine [dharmic] reality, [nevertheless], it provides an empirical indication of what such a divine [dharmic] authority means to an individual in his religious life. And only when a religious individual impresses a non-religious individual with the supreme desirability of a life in search of a knowledge of the divine [dharmic] reality, can a non-religious individual see in religious life the desirability of what he himself does not possess (my emphasis).
        
  6. It was not divine intervention that accounts for the phenomenal growth of the world religions, but their willingness to sell out the powerless faithful and use the sword if necessary. Now being part of the powerful establishment, religions--in particular, Roman Catholicism and Islam--lapsed into idolatry, that is, excessive devotion to or reverence for not merely being a depository of truth, but the sole depository of the whole truth in a complete and definite revelation.
  7. The power-sharing arrangements and authorized texts became traditions and with it incomplete, often harmful, "divine" or "dharmic" guides to life--as well as immoral, oppressive teachings--were frozen in true-for-all-times "sacred" texts. Hence, progress for the many, made possible by favorable historical developments, was resisted and suppressed by religions that had never grown to maturity because moral and intellectual growth was arrested in their infancy and subsequently prevented by self-serving traditions.
     The clerics, high and low in the hierarchy, of almost all religions, large and small, act like schoolboys who refuse to grow up. But they lean more in the direction of little children, for like them, they are able to tell tall tales and boldfaced untruth or lies with a straight face. This is possible, and again like children, they honestly believe, for they do not know the difference between the real, the unreal, and the surreal. Moreover, like many adult believers, the priests see no reason for growing up. While they accept that their caring parents are not perfect and eventually fade out of the picture, however, infallible Mother Church and a perfect heavenly Father soon take their place.
     It is the clerics lack of moral and intellectual integrity as educators, and behind the scenes influencers of educational policies, that allows suffering caused by religions to continue. The clerics act as bamboozlers who were themselves bamboozled during their formative years. It is the continuation of harmful traditions in child education that are at the roots of the problem and are the most compelling reason to make religious reform a vital necessity.
 
B.      The Solution: A Common Moral and Intellectual Standard
The true religion, interesting the whole human race at all times and in all situations, ought to be eternal, universal, and self-evident; whereas the religions pretended to be revealed having none of these characteristics, are consequently demonstrated to be false.
                                                      Denis Diderot (1713-1784)
 
Nothing is divine but what is agreeable to reason.
                                                 Immanuel Kant (1724-1804)
 
The religious is any activity pursued in behalf of an ideal end against obstacles and in spite of threats of personal loss because of its general and enduring value.
                                                       John Dewey (1859-1952)
 
Religions are many and diverse, but reason and goodness are one.
                                                   Elbert Hubbard (1856-1915)

The world community cannot rationally take refuge in popularized faith or hope for subjective certainty and mystical enlightenment that was originally private to the meditating founders of religion.
                                                                        Anonymous
 
I am a deeply religious nonbeliever
- this is a somewhat new kind of religion.
True religion is real living; living with all one's soul,
with all one's goodness and righteousness.
We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking
we used when we created them. 
                                     Albert Einstein (1879-1955)

A core belief of the Judeo-Christian-Islamic religions is the conviction that there exists a perfect being, God, in whose image humans are made and whose attributes, such as being ethical based on intelligence and compassion, humans accept as an ideal and try to follow.  However, any one individual is only an imperfect image of God in his powers to decide on a moral code and convince others. However, there is a much better chance of success when many cooperate and use their intelligence and compassion to create a universal ethics. Moreover, the many, being part of the creation or finding process, will be much more eager to implement and follow it.

     A core belief of the Eastern religions, such as Hinduism and Buddhism, is the law of Karma, you reap what you sow, and the concept of Dharma, which in its most frequent application is in the sphere of morality and ethics. Dharma means right way of living, proper conduct, duty or righteousness. To many of the believers, Karma and Dharma are parts of nature just like gravity and other natural phenomena. But here too, a moral code must be  created by human intelligence and compassion. And again, the more participate, the better the chance of success and subsequent acceptance.

     However, all people are in the same boat called planet earth. Therefore, any moral and intellectual standard must meet the criteria of universality and its significance for practice, in particular, the advancement of a minimum quality life for all. The world religions have produced conflicting and mutually exclusive revelations or subjective knowledge. Moreover, as we have seen above, they have lost their ability to adapt to a changing world when they froze these contradictions in canons, dogmas, texts, etc.

     In order to succeed, we need to replace intellectual abstractions concerning morals and "true" knowledge with down to earth practical, verifiable concepts. Towards this objective, all people must cooperate and use their intelligence, compassion, and ability to communicate to decide on a common moral code based on a common intellectual standard. This task, however, has already been accomplished but is not yet implemented.

 

The Best Universal Moral Standard to Date covers human relations in nations and between nations and is grounded in the Common Moral Decencies and Ethical Excellences. It supersedes the narrow, limited, and self-serving code of nations and organized religions. However, it is only partially in action because it is fought tooth and claw by conservative and religious ideologies that want to preserve their unearned advantages and status in society. The family of nations (192 as of 2008) has in principle agreed to this code which is found in the United Nations Agreements on Human Rights. See the chapters:

For additional implied norms see the chapters:

 

The Best Universal Intellectual Standard to Date
As interdependent social beings, we owe each other nothing less than well-substantiated beliefs. And where beliefs are the mirror image of knowledge processed by the rational faculties.
If I give up the rights of the first born, the Siamese twins of  evidence and reason, then I have no longer a reliable guide. I must then blindly accept inferior guiding principles and wild speculations.
                                                                        This writer

                       

The United Nation's Human Rights Agreements reflect for the most part a common intellectual standard. It is based on the best accredited provider of knowledge, the sciences, and the reasoned inferences that critical thinking draws from this knowledge while avoiding the pitfalls of fallacious thinking. This common intellectual standard is set forth  in the chapter Intellectual Standards of this writing.

C.   What a Reformed Religion Free of Ignorance would Resemble
No one can belief what he does not understand. Therefore, for example, there are no mysteries in true religion.
Christianity is necessarily modified by the growth of civilization, and the exigencies [pressing needs] of times.
       Cardinal J. H. Newman (1801-90), before conversion to Catholicism
 
. . . a religion without philosophy is a religion without consciousness. It may preserve its dogmas, but it does not know what those dogmas mean. . . .[and it has been] at the mercy of false philosophy [Augustine, Aquinas, Kant, Kierkegaard, Heidegger, etc.]
                                                 A. Clutton-Brock (1868-1924)
 
No, you do not have to follow or believe in traditional religion to have a living faith; unless, of course, you believe that there will be a reward for acting contrary to your intellect and conscience.
                                                                    This writer
                                                                          
Religion that takes the role model of an honest, intelligent, and compassionate God (as roughly in the Judeo-Christian-Islamic tradition) or the concept of Dharma with its ethical precepts (Hinduism, Buddhism, etc.) seriously, would accept as a standard the moral and intellectual tenets as outlined in this text. Of course, they or anybody else would be welcome to suggest improvements to these tenets. At present, this would be difficult for them because their guidelines and thinking is frozen in ancient texts and passed on from generation to generation by their offspring that is indoctrinated at a vulnerable age and long before, if ever, getting acquainted with the Intellectual World. Hence, they are not enabled to acquire the data or facts of this world and think about them independently, critically and with clarity.
     The point is that having, and acting according to plausible moral and intellectual standards is not contrary to genuine religion. Moreover, it does not exclude the belief in God or the concept of Dharma. But as important, it does not shut out the hope for humankind's oldest hopes, the desire for immortality and justice in this or a future life. However, these standards when applied to much of traditional religion, exposes them as taking advantage of the innermost hopes of their faithful. Historically, and to this date, organized religion for the most part has always formed an allegiance with the powerful for mind and social control and exploitation. Its worst activity is crippling the minds of children, and social injustice, meaning, people do not get what they deserve.
     While none of the world religions is guided by these standards, there is, however, a strictly this worldly life stance that comes close to the these moral and intellectual standards. It is the philosophy of Humanism briefly stated below. The open-minded God and Dharma believer should find much that is congenial with his or her beliefs and may simply add his or her innermost hopes and beliefs that are for the most part subjective experiences fully known only to the individual who encounters them. Contrary to popularly planted belief, humanism is not against genuine religion but approves of almost everything that betters the human condition without harming others or the environment. However, its "life here and now" stance, grounded in naturalism or evidence and logic, is in sharp contrast to the "best is yet to come" after you die in the next life culture of death of the world religions. Hence, the hostility and defamation by organized religion in general.
 
                          A "Religion" of Life Here and Now
               The time to be happy is now, the place to be happy is here.
                                                                         Robert G. Ingersoll (1833-99)
Humanists are clear and certain that the social good, both in the present and future, should be the supreme ethical goal. That goal is inclusive of all mankind and envisages the ongoing survival of the human race as intrinsically worthwhile.
                                                                          Corliss Lamont (1902-95)
 
There is in general good reason to suppose that in several respects the gods [of the priests] could all benefit from instruction by us human beings. We humans are - more humane.
                                                     Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900)
 
In the European Dark Middle Ages, a person's priest was his connection to God that resulted in a strong tendency for other-worldliness. Religiosity led often to the neglect of human affairs and concentrated on God and the afterlife. As a reaction to this life and body despising disposition, secularism--this-worldly-ism--at the time of the Renaissance, manifested itself in the development of humanism, when people began to show more interest in human cultural achievements and the possibilities of their fulfillment in this world.
     The word humanism comes from the studies of humanity (studia humanitatis). Starting with the Renaissance and Greek and Latin texts from antiquity, there was a renewed interest in studies that emphasized the importance of man, his faculties, affairs, worldly aspirations, and well-being. The primacy of theology and otherworldliness was over because it reduced everything to theological arguments (reductio artium ad theologiam). It was rejected because it was an impediment to the development of the modern era. The movement toward secularism has been in progress during the entire development of the modern era and it continues to this day. Wrongly and unfortunately it has been viewed as being anti-Christian or generally antireligious rather than as a reforming influence.
     Philosophers of humanism, as observed by this writer, act as if guided by, or responsible to, an intelligent, honest, and compassionate ideal. As already noted above, the philosophy comes close to the moral and intellectual standards mentioned earlier. Humanism is rooted in humane-ness, that is, what is considered the best qualities of human beings, compassion, empathy, forgiveness, honesty, and intelligence. Its statements concerning doing without supernaturalism do not exclude individual hopes for justice and immortality--humanism is not hostile to rational, compassionate religion.
     Religions can learn a lot from humanists. Hence, below is the latest "Humanist Manifesto" as published by the American Humanist Association. It should be noticed that mainly by asserting unverifiable subjective claims, religions are set apart from secular humanism or "natural religion".
 
                            HUMANISM AND ITS ASPIRATIONS
                            For more info go to: www.americanhumanist.org
 

Humanism is a progressive philosophy of life that, without supernaturalism, affirms our ability and responsibility to lead ethical lives of personal fulfillment that aspire to the greater good of humanity.

The life-stance of Humanism—guided by reason, inspired by compassion, and informed by experience—encourages us to live life well and fully. It evolved through the ages and continues to develop through the efforts of thoughtful people who recognize that values and ideals, however carefully wrought, are subject to change as our knowledge and understandings advance.

This document is part of an ongoing effort to manifest in clear and positive terms the conceptual boundaries of Humanism, not what we must believe but a consensus of what we do believe. It is in this sense that we affirm the following:

Knowledge of the world is derived by observation, experimentation, and rational analysis. Humanists find that science is the best method for determining this knowledge as well as for solving problems and developing beneficial technologies. We also recognize the value of new departures in thought, the arts, and inner experience—each subject to analysis by critical intelligence.

Humans are an integral part of nature, the result of unguided evolutionary change. Humanists recognize nature as self-existing. We accept our life as all and enough, distinguishing things as they are from things as we might wish or imagine them to be. We welcome the challenges of the future, and are drawn to and undaunted by the yet to be known.

Ethical values are derived from human need and interest as tested by experience. Humanists ground values in human welfare shaped by human circumstances, interests, and concerns and extended to the global ecosystem and beyond. We are committed to treating each person as having inherent worth and dignity, and to making informed choices in a context of freedom consonant with responsibility.

 Life’s fulfillment emerges from individual participation in the service of humane ideals. We aim for our fullest possible development and animate our lives with a deep sense of purpose, finding wonder and awe in the joys and beauties of human existence, its challenges and tragedies, and even in the inevitability and finality of death. Humanists rely on the rich heritage of human culture and the life stance of Humanism to provide comfort in times of want and encouragement in times of plenty.

Humans are social by nature and find meaning in relationships. Humanists long for and strive toward a world of mutual care and concern, free of cruelty and its consequences, where differences are resolved cooperatively without resorting to violence. The joining of individuality with interdependence enriches our lives, encourages us to enrich the lives of others, and inspires hope of attaining peace, justice, and opportunity for all.

Working to benefit society maximizes individual happiness. Progressive cultures have worked to free humanity from the brutalities of mere survival and to reduce suffering, improve society, and develop global community. We seek to minimize the inequities of circumstance and ability, and we support a just distribution of nature’s resources and the fruits of human effort so that as many as possible can enjoy a good life.

Humanists are concerned for the well being of all, are committed to diversity, and respect those of differing yet humane views. We work to uphold the equal enjoyment of human rights and civil liberties in an open, secular society and maintain it is a civic duty to participate in the democratic process and a planetary duty to protect nature’s integrity, diversity, and beauty in a secure, sustainable manner.

Thus engaged in the flow of life, we aspire to this vision with the informed conviction that humanity has the ability to progress toward its highest ideals. The responsibility for our lives and the kind of world in which we live is ours and ours alone. 

D.              How Reformation or Progress may be Measured
Human progress can be measured by the reduction of mental and physical suffering of all people and other sentient creatures. Religious progress can be assessed by what action it takes to eliminate its wrongdoings that cause so much human despair. Moreover, for them to become part of the ethical world, they would have to eliminate self-serving and humanity dividing doctrines. As examined and detailed in other chapters:

We must Eliminate Crimes Against Humanity: 

We must Weed Out Pernicious Errors from Ignorance of the Real World:
  • Claiming Historical Conditions as Divinely Ordained
  • Inferring Permanent Essences from Contingent Facts
  • Disconnecting Important Claims from Reality
  • Folklores Sanctified as Sacred Scriptures
  • Superstitious Beliefs
We must Root Out Errors from Mental Poverty and Intellectual Dishonesty:

  • Inconsistent Revelations as the Cause for Warfare between Religions

  • Coercion, You may Choose but either Way You Lose

  • Eisegetical Interpretation of Scriptures, Sacred Texts, etc.

  • Claims that Conflict with Religion's Founder and History

  • Profundity through Obscurity or Insightfulness through Murkiness

  • Explaining a Mystery with Even a Greater Mystery

  • Leap of Faith--There is a Higher Truth in Subjectivity

Finally, to the Degree that Religion Accepts the Concepts of the "Intellectual Realm" its seriousness to reform may be measured, that is, in particular its approval and practice of what is stated in the chapters:

    
E.   A Win-Win Situation where Religions Reach the Holy and Divine
The difference between what is "divine" and what is "humane"
is merely the difference between the ideal and the real.
 
     It would be a "win-win" situation for all parties involved and can therefore be supported by all whether they have a genuinely religious or a secular worldview. For if religions would eliminate their deficiencies and accept "A Common Moral and Intellectual Standard" as stated above, all would benefit:
  • Apart from peculiar metaphors for the divine [or the dharmic] and creation, as well as rituals such as prayers, religions would become ethical, intellectually honest, and consistent with each other.
  • Humanity's mental and physical suffering would be drastically reduced.
  • The demands of an honest, just, and compassionate God and the moral principles of Dharma would be met. Please note that even rational unbelievers accept that "God" and "Dharma" exist at least as concepts or ideals and can therefore be discussed.
The demanded reformatory action would move religions:
  • Toward the holy defined as the wholesome, complete, and perfect in a moral sense.
  • Toward the divine defined as the extraordinary and excellent in the highest degree.
  • Toward the best defined as what humanity is capable of, for it could do no better.
And these deeds should satisfy the God of the Judeo-Christian-Islamic traditions, the Law of Dharma, which includes Karma of the Hindu-Buddhist belief systems, as well as any other gods or cosmic moral principles or powers that are thought or speculated to exist.