Would you rather be tested on the science in the picture above or the religion in the picture below?
Most people should agree that religion is simpler than science because most people should also agree that you can learn about most religions in a few hours, while the different sciences take years to understand. Yet religion is not simpler than science because the creator is simpler than the creation; it’s because science is constantly advancing our understanding of the material world, while our religions have always resisted change.
Throughout history, the traditional religions have constantly threatened people with heresy, blasphemy, shunning, and excommunication to keep our religious beliefs from advancing. This is still true in many countries, but in most Western countries it’s just taboo to question people’s beliefs.
Religion is simplistic, but not because God is simple. It’s because people and our religions resist new and more complex ideas.
Religion, whether new age or traditional are businesses. They are in the business of selling stories and spiritual experiences. Sadly, stories and spiritual experiences sell best when they are simple and undemanding.
The traditional religions are also simple because they were developed hundreds or thousands of years ago. Of course, science was also simplistic just a few hundred years ago, but luckily, science has moved beyond its early beliefs.
Luckily, scientists enjoy exploring life’s complexity and most scientists accept that we need to constantly advance and update our beliefs. Strangely, even many New Age religions are simplistic even though they were created in modern times. This is because the “New Age marketers” know that people still have a penchant for simple religious beliefs and undemanding spiritual experiences.
Unfortunately, most people think that a spiritual experience must be simple and relaxing, not complex and challenging.
Science broke free from the constraints and simple stories of religion shortly after Galileo. In fact, Galileo’s trial for heresy is the best example of how the widespread desire for simple stories has slowed progress in both science and religion.
Galileo had obvious and verifiable proof for his beliefs. Unfortunately, most of his fellow citizens didn’t want to see how complex the universe really was.
Galileo couldn’t believe that people would not accept what he saw with his own eyes. Yet Galileo soon learned how strong and widespread the desire for simple answers and simple beliefs were. That’s why he gave the name, “Simplicio” to his protagonist in his book, Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems.
Galileo couldn’t believe that the inquisition would refuse to look through his telescope to verify his beliefs. But Galileo didn’t understand what modern psychologist call “willful ignorance.”
The power of the Catholic Church came from keeping people ignorant and dependent. This was best done by telling people the simple stories they naturally desired and by keeping them away from anyone who would show them how complex reality really was.
The inquisition knew that the Church would lose its control over the masses if people became comfortable with new and more complex stories about the universe. They knew that people would remain docile if they were fed a steady diet of old, naive, and simple stories about everything revolving around the Earth.
Sadly, only a minority of people enjoy learning about our infinitely complex universe. Yet being in the minority wouldn’t be a problem if the majority who desire simple stories weren’t so threatened by those who enjoy life’s complexity. Unfortunately, once life’s complexity has been revealed, the simple stories coming from our religions aren’t as much fun.
If the traditional and new age religions truly sought to understand God and creation, then they would advance along with science. But our religions only seek to sell what sells best: simple, comforting, and entertaining stories.
Science isn’t selling simple, comforting, or entertaining stories. Science is selling an understanding of reality. If you can’t handle the complexity of science, then you can’t go down the street to join a simpler science, as you can go down the street to join a simpler religion. You can only join the world of pseudoscience.
Science isn’t selling simple stories; science is selling medicines and technologies. This is why science is constantly advancing: scientists profit only when their medicines and technologies are better than last year’s medicines and technologies.
Unfortunately, religion is only selling stories, and stories sell best when they are simple and undemanding. In fact, fiction often sells better than nonfiction.
Religion will advance only when people want to understand our complex universe rather than wanting stories that divert them away from our complex universe.
Religion should be just as complex as science because the creator must be just as complex, if not more complex than the creation.
Do you understand quantum mechanics? Probably not. Does God understand quantum mechanics? Probably. But if God understands all the laws of physics, then how can our religious books that purport to explain this all-knowing creator be simpler than our science books that only partially explain the laws of physics?
Again, science is more complicated than religion because science actually tries to explain creation, whereas our religions only try to sell simple stories.
Although atheists often complain about the simplicity of religion, atheism doesn’t explain our infinitely complex universe either. Atheism just offers another simple story: that our universe is purely mechanical.
Atheism doesn’t explain the complexity of our lives. In fact, atheism is even simpler than religion because atheism just tells us that our world is one dimensional, or purely material. Atheism implies that our mind, free will, and all spiritual experiences are illusions.
Many atheists find comfort in believing that science can explain everything. Many find comfort in believing that humans are just clumps of matter unwittingly moving around in a purely mechanical, purely material universe.
Our present religions, and atheism is a religion, do not explain God; they just explain people. They explain how humans want simple answers and a simpler world. They reveal that different people are diverted away from life’s infinitely complex and challenging nature by different stories.
Perhaps religion is in decline because a large number of people have become too educated and too aware of life’s complexity to enjoy the simple stories put forth by the traditional religions. But atheism is not a solution to our simplistic religions. Our only hope for a universal religion is to help more people become comfortable with life’s complex and challenging stories.