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Evolution, religion and the influence of power
This is my third article with the main title ”Good morals and spiritual purity”, written with the ambition of contributing to the understanding of the world religions and the rulers of our time. Such an insight could become part of the moral and spiritual liberation of the West, which more and more people are beginning to realize is urgently needed.
The first article, subtitled ”Semantics and linguistic honesty”, dealt primarily with language and the basic conditions for dialog, factual discussion and scientificity. In the second article, I addressed the phenomena of science and faith, which both intersect and overlap, a fact that is worryingly rarely apparent in most contexts. In this third article, I address evolution, religions, and the influence of power through culture, religion, politics, narratives, and memes.
Delusion about evolution
Earlier historical objections to the theory of evolution wrongly assumed that evolution is manifested by co-occurring species forming links in a single evolutionary chain. According to this misconception, there should be so-called transitional forms between co-occurring species. It was also argued that the absence of such transitional forms would prove the theory of evolution wrong.
There are several serious flaws in this reasoning. Not all contemporary species are on the same timeline in the same evolutionary chain. Therefore, there have not been transitional forms between all coeval species in their development via disparate evolutionary chains. This fact neither excludes nor contradicts relatedness via a common origin before a number of historical evolutionary branches.
Developmental trajectories of different species
The respective historical trajectories of the different species can be likened to branches of a tree from which, over time, more and more branches grow in different directions, which in turn branch out further, from which more branches grow in different directions, and so on. In addition, some branches may grow together so that earlier branches are later connected.
The latest Nobel Prize winner in medicine, the Swede Svante Pääbo, has demonstrated, among other things, that genes from Neanderthal man have survived in certain groups (races) of us Homo Sapiens to our time, which shows that some individuals from the respective species had children with each other.
This simplified description of the evolutionary function should be present whether life as a phenomenon has arisen on one or more occasions, more or less independently of each other.
Piece after piece of the puzzle is put in place
As pointed out, the non-existence of a phenomenon cannot be proven by an experimental failure to demonstrate it. Compare with previous reasoning about the fundamental impossibility of proving the correctness of atheism. It is thus no more possible to prove the correctness of atheism by failing to demonstrate the existence of gods and goddesses than it is to prove that the theory of evolution is incorrect due to the absence of certain transitional forms. By scientific definition, it can never be ruled out that there could be transitional forms even if they have not been demonstrated!
At the same time, there is an obvious link between archaeological finds of so-called eco-facts (human skeletal material or plant or animal parts) and the conclusions that can reasonably be drawn about biological evolutionary processes.
However, although not all evolutionary transitions that probably existed in the past have been demonstrated, there are enough of them, and new ones are being found over time, for it to be considered scientifically well established that they exist to a sufficient extent to prove the correctness of the theory of evolution beyond any reasonable doubt. Thus, over time, science has succeeded in putting together the multifaceted puzzle of evolutionary theory better and better by finding new pieces and rearranging some of the older pieces in accordance with the overall picture that emerges more and more clearly over time as the puzzle is put together.
Have we really been freed from religious coercion?
Human cultures can almost by definition be considered to include religious beliefs with preachers, representatives and believers with varying degrees of commitment, while Sweden in our time is often described as one of the most secular countries in the world. Here, people are said to have been freed from religious coercion to enjoy democratic rights and social justice.
At the same time, it is argued that we should have religious freedom, which guarantees each of us the freedom to believe or not to believe in religious as well as other matters.
However, the iron fist of power rules firmly and relentlessly via the various manifestations of culture and more or less tendentious narratives. As a result, we have been subjected to an almost unimaginable emotional and intellectual imprinting via the assumptions, position and status of various religions. Three examples:
- So-called Christianity is considered to deserve to be taken seriously both in terms of its morality and the ancient Jewish legends on which it is based. Despite our secular Swedish society and despite all the years that have passed since 1859 - when Charles Darwin's book ”On the Origin of Species” was published - this is still very much the case.
- Islam in its cultural and social manifestations has been forced upon us by ”our” rulers through mass immigration from Muslim countries, despite the fact that these people have no historical or cultural connection to our country - and despite the fact that they are seriously over-represented in committing what many consider to be the most heinous crimes imaginable, such as gang rapes, humiliation robberies and torture murders.
Some Muslims openly express and act with a direct hatred of Sweden and Swedes. The fact that many Muslim values are the absolute opposite of what is considered politically correct in Sweden, such as the view of homosexuality and women's rights, etc., is obviously not a problem for the hypocritical power elite who trumpet their political correctness in order to consolidate and expand their power at the expense of the indigenous people. - Our Norse cultural heritage - with its indigenous gods and goddesses - is so desecrated and debased that for many in our time it is probably not even considered a potential basis for religious belief. Rather, it is regarded as a collection of nonsense, consisting at best of fanciful tales with little or no connection to reality. Nonetheless, in our time, a number of Old Norse religious communities have been formed, such as the Nordic Asa Society, the Forn Sed Sweden Society and others.
Why should we have religions?
The question is why humans have created religions throughout history and why so many claim to believe in them even in our time. This raises the controversial issue of nature and nurture. How much of our traits and behavior is due to the experiences we have had as individuals growing up and in our constant social interaction with others? And how much is due to our genetic inheritance, which has given us our basic characteristics as species, races, peoples, families and individuals?
This question has been, and still is, the subject of divided opinion. Over time, science has come to attribute an indisputable influence to genetic inheritance, albeit difficult or impossible to quantify precisely. At the same time, there is consensus that environmental factors also play a major role in our individual development; including the interactive influence of whether, when and how certain genetically initiated mechanisms manifest.
Christianity's propaganda successes without comparison
Irrespective of the balance between the influence of heritage and environment, there is reason to assume that religions fulfill some kind of human need and that the social influences to which we as humans are exposed also include religious imprinting. From this perspective, it is interesting to note which religions have been most successful in spreading and gaining followers. It is also interesting to note how different peoples in different continents, cultural spheres and countries have created and adopted different religions.
It is equally interesting to note which people have been by far the most successful throughout history in influencing other peoples with their culture and religion. So-called Christianity is unrivaled by any other doctrine ever, in terms of propaganda success. The Jewish sect of Jesus, with limited success among his contemporaries (whether he existed as a physical person or not), was transformed hundreds of years later into a religion for all peoples of the world, not just the Jews, who with few exceptions rejected it.
Norse religious traditions more in line with modern science
Over time, the transformed Jewish sect became the largest of all world religions! As a result, the stories and history of the tiny Jewish people were noticed, studied, analyzed and related to by billions of people all over the world. All manifestations of Western culture were deeply influenced by this teaching. In literature, philosophy, politics, architecture, music and art, our entire civilization has been impregnated and shaped both directly and indirectly by this doctrine through its unprecedented propaganda victory. At the same time, our own Norse cultural heritage has been virtually wiped out.
The most important question in this context should be what has happened because of, or in spite of, different teachings and other influences. While there may never be a clear-cut answer to this question, there is reason to be open, scientific and spiritually humble about it. A reasonable starting point could be that reality is rarely, if ever, completely black and white, but instead encompasses an almost infinite spectrum of colors. Here we see once again how our Norse religious traditions seem to be more in line with modern science than baseless belief in an eternal and omnipotent Jewish god who uses the blaming of all humanity, torture, genocide and the execution of innocents as his main instruments to spread his supposed goodness.
Winners make history
Never forget that it is the victors who write history! This means that the respective present is shaped culturally, religiously and politically by those in power as they have triumphed in areas such as war, historiography, cultural imprinting and mass media influence. This in turn means that cultural, religious and political opposition will be judged, described and, to varying degrees, opposed and banned by those in power; the more serious and well-founded the criticisms of those in power made by those in opposition, the more reason the former have to oppose the latter.
Sociobiology's deeper understanding of evolution
Knowledge and understanding of how reality works typically increases over time. At the same time, it is unfortunately also the case that misconceptions arise and gain influence over pre-existing narratives. Furthermore, there is a common interplay between more or less influential doctrines and contemporary politically correct narratives, to the extent that religions and political ideologies are adapted to the times to enable continued influence.
In the case of so-called Christianity, the changes in doctrine over time have led to such great differences that the various approaches it has embraced are in some respects direct opposites of each other. For example, the original view that homosexual acts are a sin, which is the opposite of today's consecration of homosexual couples in the Church and the subsequent dismissal of Christian priests who refuse. There are many examples of such discrepancies among different doctrines, although so-called Christianity in our time seems to be one of the more extreme in adapting to pre-existing contemporary conditions in order to try to maintain its influence in the long run.
Origin and conditions of life
The loss that so-called Christianity and the Jewish cultural heritage suffered by no longer being an unchallenged authority as a source of knowledge on the history of the universe and the origins of mankind must surely be the greatest defeat of doctrine to date. The other side of that coin is perhaps the greatest triumph of modern science through the theory of evolution, with the publication of Charles Darwin's book ”On the Origin of Species” in 1859. For the first time in human history, we now finally have a reasonable basis to begin to understand, with effort and candor, the origin and conditions of life!
However, power struggles at various levels, including the competition of ideas and doctrines for influence, are neither strange nor necessarily negative. Rather, the quest for power should be seen as a natural part of our human condition, as well as that of other species. In this field, sociobiology tries to explain the different social behaviors of different species by examining the evolutionary advantages they can provide.
The main role in evolution
In this context, Richard Dawkins” first book, ”The Selfish Gene”, published in 1976, resulted in a revolutionary development of the theory of evolution with acrimony and a consequent scientific paradigm shift. It is genes, not species or individuals, that play the main role in evolution. And human ideas and beliefs about reality established within communities and cultural spheres can function socially in a similar way to genes in biological life forms. For such ideas and beliefs, Dawkins coined the term ”memes” by transposing the word ”genes".
Dawkins has managed the seemingly impossible feat of combining an unreservedly harsh critique of Judaism and so-called Christianity - from a moral perspective on a factual scientific basis based on biblical texts and others - and appearing more or less politically correct. Perhaps his personal success as a professor, scholar, intellectual philosopher and entertaining ”atheist” is too great for the self-appointed moral judges of our time to take credit for him, even if they wanted to. It is easy to imagine the triumphant power trip many would have if they could crumble all of Dawkins' scientific credibility by, for example, smearing him with what some would say is perhaps our culture's most odious epithet: anti-Semite.
Perhaps the reason Dawkins has managed to stay on the ”right” side of the red line of political correctness is that he seems to want to criticize all manifestations of superstition and unfounded delusions, not just Judaism and so-called Christianity. Yet some of his harshest statements against these religions, if they had been formulated and expressed by someone less successful and socially established than he, would have led to both social ostracism and formal prosecution.
The foundation of good morals
Neither the theory of evolution nor sociobiology are moral doctrines, but they can serve as a first step towards a new view of morality based on science and in humble consideration of what we humans have so far managed to understand about the conditions of life.
Many religious and political doctrines of power fail in various ways to conform to much of what we now think we know about how life works. Instead, they assume that the fulfillment of various subjective needs is the most important overall goal of good morality. This is particularly true of so-called Christianity and communism. It is easy to understand how such beliefs could arise and spread among people who lived under different conditions than we do. And it is easy to understand that the combination of not knowing the conditions of life via evolution and material need makes it emotionally tempting for many to embrace teachings with a primary focus on precisely subjective need fulfillment; in a paradise after death or in a country on earth where ”true communism prevails with justice, peace and freedom”. Especially as such morality appears to some to combine reasonably realistic plans for the fulfillment of needs with the exaltation of the goodness of those who profess it.
Moral beliefs based on ancient Jewish superstitions
Rephrased in a less flattering way for those who profess such need-fulfilling doctrines, such as so-called Christianity and communism, this approach is probably often more about a more or less unconscious reasoning as follows.
I have needs and realize that others do too. I want to satisfy my needs and I want others to have the opportunity to satisfy theirs. Thus, I have good morals and am good. Any circumstances that might indicate that I am not quite as good as this reasoning suggests are a consequence of man's original sin (so-called Christianity) or the injustices of life (communism).
So-called Christianity: Because a supposedly innocent Jew was tortured to death in accordance with the plan of an all-powerful Jewish god to atone for my original sin, and because I believe in and worship both the torture victim and the all-powerful god, I can be forgiven for my original sins that I did not commit but am still obligated to feel shame about.
Communism: Material assets are unfairly distributed among people because some are rich and others are poor. By freeing people from the capitalist social order, we can establish a just and equal society that meets the needs of all people. It is an expression of justice and goodness to carry out such a social transformation. Anyone who opposes such justice and goodness is consequently evil. Such a person therefore needs to be re-educated to become good, or deprived of the possibility of influence. This process may need to include various forms of corporal punishment, culminating in execution, after due process of law or immediately without it if compelling practical reasons exist.
It seems possible, desirable and necessary that existing moral concepts should be analyzed and assessed as objectively as possible and with as accurate an analysis of consequences as we can produce. Nowadays, we are reluctant to use animal-drawn carriages designed thousands of years ago for transportation. Why then should we hold on to moral beliefs based on ancient Jewish superstition?
Writer: Gustav Berg
Originally published on 2022-10-13
”How should we live?” If someone claims to have come up with a new way of tackling the basic problems of morality, there is good reason to be critical. It is hard to imagine that there is anything new to add that has not already been thought of. Dig a little into the history of philosophy and you will surely find a kindred spirit.
Each of the major religions, in its own way, forms the backbone of the grand narrative of the place of man and the individual in existence. The creation story is fundamental - it explains the ”physics” of the world.
The major religions are also moral systems. How should a person live? First and foremost, religion explains the justice of our daily actions.
The moral system depicted by religions is much larger than the immediate, familial and tribal. Religions' narratives motivate hierarchy, a God-sanctioned social order, based on law. Law is generalized morality that extends across societies and generations. It is hard to imagine that civilization could have emerged without a grand religious narrative justifying social structure under a legal framework.
Modern secularized man thinks he has ”uncovered” and broken the spell, but instead he finds himself in a moral vacuum. There seems to be no such thing as a sustainable ”value base”. Nature denies all morality.
It is worth thinking about this before mocking and ridiculing the values and actions of our ancestors.
Why do you write ”so-called Christianity”, but not ”so-called Judaism”?