Cultural Survival Skills

Where Did Hell Go?!

In psychology, it is popular to say that only immediate consequences control behavior (punishments and rewards). It is said that delayed consequences are relatively weak and do not influence us nearly as powerfully as immediate ones.

It has also been said, mostly by cynics and atheists, that religion was invented to control the behavior of the masses and has been used as a tool by kings, rulers, and politicians since forever. This, of course, cannot be absolutely true. So many tyrants dictators have outlawed religion in their populations, rather than encouraged it. The historical record will often show that tyrants have often hungered to, themselves, become the objects of worship and so they attempted to destroy the indigenous religious competition.

These two ideas (only immediate consequences work and religion was invented to control populations), would appear to be in conflict with each other. Religions often describe the benefits to the believer as residing not only in daily uncertain daily blessings, but also in uncertain greatly delayed after-life rewards and punishments (semblances of heaven, hell, and undesirable places in between).

But there is no conflict.

Immediate consequences do strongly control human behavior (whether they come in the form of privileges, money, other material gains, or the threat of the sword or the bullet).

But, for those who truly believe in God and his Judgment, and in Heaven or Hell; and for those who believe that their God knows their private actions and thoughs….the consequences (questionable to non-believers) are both huge and certain. They are also both immediate and Delayed. Through belief they become the realities of the true believer. For these individuals, Heaven cannot be gained and Hell cannot be escaped without their thoughts and actions conforming to God’s Will.

Political leaders certainly have endorsed this power (technically called spiritual contingencies) to control their populations to their own advantage, or to their societies advantage, and they have  sometimes attempted to destroy the power of religion to augment their own. Both the former and the later political adaptations to effects of religion simply validate its amazing powers. It does not prove anything about the Truth of the religious beliefs involved, but that is not the point of this writing.

Secular humanists argue that “faith” in human intelligence and human benevolence can have equal power to traditional religions. But, I have not yet found even remotely close  accomplishments among those sociocultures who place their faith in nothing more than a “grand human leader”, or the “inherent goodness and wisdom of humanity”.

However, I fear that many of our modern religions have lost their power to motivate good behavior in their faithful. I do not hear much talk anymore from our religious leaders about our behaviors that God demands to enter Heaven. Moreover, I never hear them talk about our  actions that will condemn us to Hell. In fact, at all of the funerals that I have ever attended, independent of denomination, the presiding religious leader speaks of the deceased as if they have gone to Heaven. Could it be that every one of these individuals went to Heaven?

Furthermore, why is it that most who I have asked, if they believe in God and Heaven, say yes. But when I ask them if they believe in Hell, the answer is frequently, no.

In contemporary America, both our general culture and most of its religions have become pathologically permissive. Unfortunately, the many forces of modernity have predictably destroyed our traditional spiritual and material rules as well as their spiritual consequences (both immediate and delayed) and the quality of our behavior has just as predictably declined substantially.

Do you think that those who rape, kill, and destroy the lives of innocent victims would be as likely to do so if they truly believed that they would burn in the eternal agony of hell?  Even without invoking the fires of Hell, do you think if these perpetrators truly believed in the love of God and the promise of Heaven to those who follow his teachings,  they would do such horrific things to others?

For parents who wish their children to have a nondenominational religious influence in their public school, I advocate public schools in which nondenominational prayers are said and common religious codes of conduct are taught from very young on. Such codes, or an amalgamation of them, should be posted prominently in our schools should be reinforced in the classrooms.  I would suggest a combination of religiously and humanistically-based, but nondenominational, moral code similar to the following.

Universal Code of Moral Behavior (UCMB)

For parents who wish to “protect” their children from such religiously based moral and ethical teachings, I advocate the continuation of  some of our public schools devoid of any religious influences. These public schools could then receive public support in proportion to the dictates of supply and demand (Now that sounds pretty American, does it not?).

Those who want, and can afford, a strong denominational religious education for their children can send them to private schools, as always.

I suppose there will be objections to my suggestions.  But, in response to them, I will just as strongly object to the way things are now done in Americas normless and valueless education sytem…that increasinly produce normless and valueless American citizens. 

I object that only those parents with the money (or a student on scholarship) can get their child an education that includes moral and ethical training.

I object that a small minority of parents oppressed to moral and ethical training in public schools can block this essential element of a civil education for the vast majority.

I object that our revisionist judicial system and corrupt progressive/socialist radical liberal goverment can get away with the deceitful position that suggestions such as mine is contrary to the Establishment Clause of  America’s Constitution. This is not true! Rather, my suggestions would afford all of the choices in education that all parents prefer for their children.

I object that our revisionist judicial system and corrupt progressive/socialist radical liberal government can get away with destroying America’s moral and ethical base by using the media (sex, violence, drugs, irresponsible behavior) to inculcate barbarianism into our children and youth under the preposterous guise of 1st Amendment Rights.

I object that  our revisionist judicial system and our corrupt progressive/socialist radical liberal government (on the right and left) has done everything it can to destroy the integrity of our religious organizations and the services they provide by commanding that they provide support for birth control and abortion, under the absurd guise of Equal Protection. The same goes for our Government’s attacks upon the institutions of marriage and family with the legalization of Homosexual Marriage.

I could go on, but I am done for now.

VTM, 1/19/13