Step 23

Dear Learned Pig,

I came across the following passage in the book 100 Simple Secrets of Happy People by David Niven. It is listed as "Step 23." What do you make of it?

- A Curious Reader

Don't Let Your Religious Beliefs Fade
Religion can show us the way in a world in which bad things happen. It can teach us that much of what we see is so complex we cannot understand why and how it occurred. (p. 42)


Dear Curious Reader,
Thank you for bringing this piece of mindless trash to my attention. Let's take it apart piece by piece.

"Religion can show us the way..."
Ok, wrong from the very start. Religion does NOT "show us the way"; it makes up a way. It encourages you to believe what you want to believe instead of believing what is rational. It values faith over reason and comfort over knowledge.
Any 'way' that religion 'shows you' is a path to ignorance. Religion insulates you from the truth, because the truth can be discomforting. Religion is a childish attempt by weak-minded people to project some sort of socially constructed meaning onto their contingent existences. But the fact that an idea is comforting doesn't make it true.

"... in a world in which bad things happen."
Aww, bad things happen? You poor little thing. Want a lolipop?
Actually, most people turn to religion as a metaphysical lolipop. It comforts them, because without the deluded belief that "all things happen for a reason," they wouldn't be able to deal with suffering.
Nobody likes the fact that bad things happen. That's why such things are called bad. But the mere fact that they happen means nothing in itself. The realization that the universe is indifferent to you is the first step towards living life for yourself.

"It can teach us that much of what we see is so complex we cannot understand why and how it occurred."
You know what's so complex that I cannot understand why and how it occurred? That fucking sentence. This man is as bad at writing as he is at thinking.
I suppose he's trying to say that religion teaches us that we cannot understand the world around us. He should try reading some books. Everything is rational - whether or not one is smart or brave enough to understand it.

So, dear reader, the idea that religion somehow makes life more meaningful is completely and utterly wrong. The advice I would give for a good life would read:

Don't Let Yourself Believe In Bullshit
Religion is a bunch of archaic, puerile nonsense designed to comfort the ignorant and the weak. Try learning about the world around you instead of explaining everything away with a bunch of ridiculous myths and outdated laws.