On religion and control

What I’ve realized is that in a lot of respects, religion puts the ball back at your court.

Let me start from the very beginning. I’ve always thought about religion as a kind of salve, something you fall back on when you’re out of options. But now I believe it’s actually a way of regaining control. It’s not merely something you reach for when things aren’t going your way. It’s a way of internalizing control by externalizing the outcome.

So instead of being prone to fate and asking “what does this mean?”, you think of things as “this is God’s plan.” I can try, and if I don’t succeed, then that was just God’s plan for me.

People who experience great loss tend to turn to religion. Why is that? According to this theory, it’s because they are trying to internalize control by externalizing faith. Instead of saying “I can’t change this,” they ask “is this a good plan for me?” And the answer is always yes. In a sense, they are always putting control back in their court.

This doesn’t align at all with what I used to believe. What I used to believe was that religion was just something people do to feel better about themselves, something they use to escape reality. But that isn’t the case. In fact, it’s kind of the opposite. They are engaging with reality in a different sphere, in a different plane entirely. Instead of saying “reality is too difficult, we have to escape,” they say “this is what God has given me, this is his challenge to me, and I will survive as I shall.”

You have to realize that a lot of people nowadays don’t mean it in the sense of just hoping or accepting fate. But if you don’t follow a religion, how can you internalize your future? Especially in times of chaos, like in the Middle Ages, there were times when so much was happening that no one had any control over. That’s why I believe religion was so prevalent: it was a way of internalizing control. It wasn’t just because people were unlearned, non-erudite. People have generally been very similar in quality ever since antiquity. It’s a way of saying “you know what, God has this plan for me, and I will strive to achieve what he has set as his challenge to me. I will rise to the occasion.”

Because a lot of people, when they start thinking about the future or fate, ask “where am I? What can I do? This is just the hand I was dealt, and I guess I’ll cry about it.” But genuinely, I think there’s massive benefit in religion that I didn’t previously recognize.

This is kind of my theory regarding whether religion is good. And in fact, it isn’t that bad. Someone who is misled can follow religion, find their passion and find their purpose, but the key is internalizing the idea that they can act and not just follow.

It’s actually kind of crazy, because you can have people who are absolute hypocrites, or who want a scam religion, a pseudo religion. But in the end, all you’re doing is externalizing faith. You’re saying everything you can control is within your grasp, and you can control it. But if it isn’t, that’s just God’s plan. You can’t change it. It’s whatever, or it’s Shiva’s plan, or whoever your deity or group of deities are.

I thought generally that religion was just a way of seeking control, but it’s not really. It’s a way of putting control back into themselves by believing that someone else has the reins, which is kind of crazy. But I think it aligns with what I used to believe about control and belief and motivation, everything like that.

There’s a reason why people who are successful often have some kind of faith. They don’t fade, because they have faith in their ability, or God’s ability, or whatever. Just something. If you don’t believe, then… okay.