What do you think of when I say Christian? If you're from America you will probably imagine a bigoted and hypocritical person from the bible belt. If you're from the UK you'll probably imagine an old, stuffy and irrelevant vicar, a dying breed because only our grannies go to church now. But that's not the whole picture. I come from a Christian family, active Christians, the ones that are a bit funny: always talking about being born again and how they have a personal relationship with Jesus. You'd be quick to mock, but that would be unwise because they have it good. My personal experience of Christianity is good, while I believed, it was great. I felt truly complete, content and often euphoric. I felt security, it was truly comforting. Here I wish to outline the reasons why it is so great and why I wish I had never doubted.
Key to Christianity is doublethink, not quite as Orwell described it but as with most religions Christianity is vastly complex. It is filled with grey areas and vague answers. This sounds like it should be detrimental but it is most certainly not. There's an answer for every question and situation, that although may not stand up to complete logical scrutiny, does allow people a large degree of freedom. Contradictory statements and ideas tend only to help this, as several opinions about an issue can be held simultaneously. The amount of content in the bible means it is difficult to use all of it as material at the same time to extract ideas which work completely and conclusively. Understanding the entire standard model is easier than creating a belief system from such a large and vague book. The standard model is essentially quite simple, a few particles interacting in elegant ways, can explain even complex phenomenom by having lots of the such simple particles intereacting. Religious books (ie the bible) have many ideas with unclear logic linking them. For example there is no universal law of morality starting at a few axioms, its a list of many special cases drawn from situations. Pair this with metaphorical language and you have a flexible uncertain ideology that is always correct. I will explore a few.
Humans like safety, and Christianity has a solution. A big all powerful God, who can be seen as both a father and a friend provides all the security you need. If you truly believed that there was a giant robot behind you at all times you would be fearless. Likewise a strong belief in an all powerful friendly deity who is interested in you gives you an ability to be not only unafraid but empowered. At the same time the fact that an all powerful deity thinks you are special does amazing things for self-worth and I don't think I need to explain the importance of that. Almost conversely it can be argued that the father figure God likes to test and discipline you, while still looking out for your best interests. This also gives a sense of security and happiness even at the worst of times. Without the second idea, doubt would creep in when the all powerful deity fails to protect. With it though when times are bad you can feel confident and optimistic, which will in turn give you the best chance out of the problem. But this is still not complete enough, when something really horrible happens it is hard to see it as just a test. However, comfort can be drawn from the idea that God has a large overarching plan which is beyond the comprehension of mere mortals. It is therefore impossible to say whether an action is good or bad, as it was God's plan, and could lead to a greater good. With enough of the all important faith in God one can still be happy, to quote a hymn:
"Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul."
The God of the old testament is a vengeful and angry God, demanding purity and utmost holiness. God has not changed and therefore the Christian faith is still built on these principles. Striving for these good works whether in fear or love for God releases endorphins, an effect which is recognised by psychologists and philanthropists alike. In general, socially positive actions (being patient, kind etc) also provides people with happier and more stable relationships and therefore lives. However, the high level of purity required is impossible as we all make mistakes. Therefore the grace and mercy of Jesus allows us to discount these actions. although not without a price; the idea of adding sin to Jesus' burden provides an adequate punishment to deter future bad actions. Also the idea that the holy God is watching you and judges you provides a semi-tangible punishment by amplifying guilt.
As I have mentioned general altruism is rewarded in our mind (evolution favoured the socially able groups), however Christianity goes further, cementing the idea in peoples minds "do to others what you would have them do to you". This stops people thinking about how to be a minimum level of "niceness" or how to appear nice to people that matter. As I have stated before in "fallacy of your own way", often it is better for ourselves to do the will of others. However, it doesn't always feel that way, so doublethink rears again it's surprisingly helpful head. In the beatitudes Jesus extols those who are persecuted in Jesus name, along with several other verses, this allows people not to become bitter about wrong done to themselves, even when they themselves see it as unfair. It can even allow people to feel encouraged when someone wrongs them, after all those who are persecuted will be rewarded.
In addition to this, the absolute Christian morality is, although to unbelievers is seen as restrictive and no fun, actually provide a positive framework. One such example is the idea of not judging. Matthew 7:1 says do not judge (pass sentence) on others. I'm sure many people can identify with me that judgement is one of the main causes of human conflict. In some circle of friends I see gossiping and backbiting as routine, which causes conflict on a regular basis and is in general just a negative view. It goes on to say do not tear down or diminish, instead to build up and encourage. Although this does not always work, it is a route to happiness. People in general like kind people. Even the coldest and harshest people can find it hard to be consciously unkind to those who would just repay it with good.
One really important aspect of happiness is purpose, to feel like we achieve important things is a powerful idea. Admittedly I find myself lacking purpose, early on in secondary school I discovered that much of my depression was due to lack of purpose. Christianity provides it with the idea of another aspect of reality where things are eternal. Our actions will be forever remembered and actions that would otherwise be seen as pointless are given weight. For example, I find myself frequently questioning why I do anything, I will rearrange atoms and then one day lose consciousness. Leading to the inevitable depression. Not so with Christianity, our internal thoughts and by extension all our actions have meaning, humans and their feelings are sacred and therefore our interactions are important and worthwhile. This is a powerful idea which brings with it a content happiness.
“Immortality: A toy which people cry for, And on their knees apply for, Dispute, contend and lie for, And if allowed Would be right proud Eternally to die for.” ― Ambrose Bierce
The glue to Christianity is unsurprisingly faith. Faith is a funny thing, and the ability to trust someone that you do not see, hear or touch is truly powerful. Faith in God is routinely compared with believing in the wind, you see what it does but you never see the wind itself. This not only allows for double-think but for whatever-you-want-think, blind faith in a person means that they always get the benefit of the doubt. Once you start believing you can start to apply the Texan sharpshooter fallacy. "Moving the goalposts" or using post-hoc hypotheses to fit their data (or life experiences). Confirmation bias ensures that information is cherry picked, especially when events are ambiguous and vague. If the person has "stepped out in faith" then their faith is rewarded, further growing it. This is an example of a highly stable ideology.
As I have previously discussed, ideas or philosophies which require lower order will survive. Religions which reward people or require little effort will survive better as people will have no reason to leave and also be drawn to it. Therefore it seems easy to understand that in the freer parts of the world, a very nice religion would have survived well. Religion is not something we will evolve or grow out of, it IS our final stage of evolution. It's not even as if its something to complain about, with true Christianity you get highly functional groups of people who are happy and content. Real Christianity has the power to change nations for the better if the people really believe it. You can tell people all day every day to pay their taxes to help the poor and marginalised but how much more will you get from those who are not only reluctant givers but cheerful ones. You know it's a shame I can't evolve, I'd sure as hell rather be happy than correct.
PS. I'm not entirely sure of why I write this, partially it is to rationalise why I for so long believed it, because I wanted to. It is by no means to demean or to portray Christianity as a method of control, because its not. If anything Christianity can cause dissent when sacred morals are broken and can be a valuable safeguard. Furthermore religion tends to internalise, so even by manipulating Christian leadership, Christians would tend to stay as freethinkers. Certainly not any more susceptible to control than your average person.
