History is odd.
Over the past few years, I’ve studied Identity with a capital ‘I’ and learned that it really is in the eye of the beholder. How we define ourselves is not always a conscious choice, nor even a choice for most: it just happens to be what we fit in society.
This is where Queer Theory pops up: for people who are not heterosexual and a member of the racial majority in their society and who do not indulge accepted religious notions, who are we?
Who am I?
Social psychology has revealed that we identify with the group that is currently most like how we view ourselves. It is like choosing a mirror that is warped in the same way our current perceptions of ourselves are warped, otherwise known as ‘bias’.
Does this not reveal a core truth of reality and perception: that reality is not some fixed, objective external phenomenon? Does this not indicate that how we perceive is as (in)valid as what we perceive?
Quantum mechanics pops in to interrupt this dialogue: ‘We can know where we are, or how fast we are travelling, but not both.’
Humph.
As I was saying, history is odd. A ‘christian’ recently noted that because all the scientists from Western Europe were ‘christians’, therefore we owe Christianity a great debt for providing us with scientific breakthroughs.
As a ‘christian’, that fellow identifies with the group that indoctrinated him. He is not capable of perceiving reality in any way which does not validate his supremacist cult.
A different fellow, one who identifies with Vikings, notes the centuries of brutal conquering the Christians conducted to enforce their belief systems and hegemony. Destruction of sacred sites, lifelong incarceration and genocide were Christianity’s tools.
As someone who wants to get to the core of history as clearly as possible, I do not identify with any group. Not even Queers except inasmuch as I determine the nature of my identity outside of dogma. Is this also a dogma?
Let’s not sink into this quagmire of philosophy just yet!
So, history is odd. It really does depend who is writing it and how open they are to the antagonist in their narrative. By triangulating via different sources and taking account of who wrote what, I have come to a conclusion.
Judaism, Christianity and Islam are founded on violence and power, and incorporate new technologies into their paradigm as supports further violence and power. Christianity is vastly superior to the other two in this. The basis for these supremacist cults in monotheism: Ockham’s Razor really does work!
Accounting for the peace, control and positivity that these religions bring to their followers, we must necessarily account for the negative impacts these cults have on those outside of these systems of control.
I continue searching for a way that all people, diverse in identity, can live without the application of child indoctrination, coercion, harassment, and murder.
Find what I have written offensive, unnerving, or true? Please explore the evolutionary development of religions. An epic drama of unequalled proportions as it is the history of us. Yes, even native peoples around the world have been affected by the evolution of monotheism.
Have fun!