Religion as Ethnicity – Tribalism

We often here that Religion is the cause for all that is wrong in the World.  People name anyone of two or three of the Major World Religions, or even some of the minor ones, and then cite all of the terrible social and political problems in those areas, and especially where the regions overlap, and, of course, everything that is not all goodness and light is on account of the dark and sinister influence of Religion. 

One of the failures in the logic here is that so few of these people in these Religious Zones are actually practicing Religious.  In this regards “Religion” is being made a substitute for what behaves exactly like Ethnicity.  For instance, one thinks of Jews as people who practice Judaism, but, really, it actually describes an Ethnic Classification.  You will hear some Jews say that they are not ‘practicing’ Jews, but they won’t deny that they are still Jewish.  The same goes in regards to many of the World’s Catholics.  For instance, an Irish Catholic is a Catholic whether he ever goes to Mass or not.  With Islam it is a bit different, as there is so much social duress involved in keeping up the appearances of religious practice, so in many Islamic Communities for the most part the Muslims don’t have much of a choice, and have to be seen practicing their Religion, but that doesn’t mean that their hearts are really ‘in it’.  

But, yes, I do concede that there are people who do indeed sincerely practice their Religion, but they still might act Ethnically, under the name of the Religion. 

So, anyway, we need to determine what this Ethnic Behavior is, and how it differs strictly from Religious Behavior.  

This reminds me of Woodrow Wilson, who had been President of the United States and was best known for having brought the United States into the First World War.  But before all of that he had been a Professor of History at Princeton University, one of the finest schools in America.  He had written a treatise about Democracy and had concluded that Democracy would eventually resolve into “Ethnic Self-Determination”, which at the time everyone thought was fine and dandy, that is, until the rise of German Nationalism, Italian Nationalism, and all of the Balkan Nationalisms, which would use Democratic inroads in order to subjugate the various multi-ethnic States to effective Ethnic Dictatorships.  Ethnic Self-Determinism would prove more of a Curse then a Blessing.   

You see, for all the talk that Democracy is about Popular Self Representation, Woodrow Wilson had recognized that not all of the people could possibly be represented, and that the structural dynamics of Democracy could only go so far as to guarantee that 51% of the people would be represented.  Democracy would be dictatorship of the Majority, and Minorities could be effectively disenfranchised, thrown only enough bones to keep them from violent rioting, or, in today’s terms, to keep them from recruiting themselves off to terrorist organizations. Isn’t it odd that Today we look back at violent riots, of people burning down their own Cities, with a twinge of Nostalgia, when we compare it to the Modern Craze for cold-blooded and heartless terrorist bomb attacks. 

So, in a Political Jurisdiction where the people are all roughly of the same Ethnic Background, that is, looking at the people, apart from any distinctive dress or costume, they would all look about the same, then Distinctions would resolve to their particular Religious Community.

And not just Religions can act in this way.  Take France for instance.  After the Revolution, Religion, any Religion, became anathema.  And everyone in France is, well, French.  So how could people make Quasi-Ethnic distinctions whereby some people would have Privilege and the remaining people subjugated to be the workers and servants?  France’s Answer to this basic question was Free Masonry.  After the Revolution the Bourgeoisie, to cement their victory over the Aristocracy, or, rather, to cement their inclusion into the New Aristocracy, created Orders of Free Masonry.  They would help only themselves and keep everyone else on the outside.  It was Tribalism fresh in new wrappings.  It started as a Secret Organization, but did so well and soon monopolized all of the real Power that they no longer felt the need to hide, and proudly wear their I-Am-Better-Than-You-Are Pins on their lapels.  In America they still feel the need to hide in the Dark, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t running everything.  

Anyway, how is Religion any different?  Well, given today’s conditions, with the Collapse of Civilization, and the competition between all the various Barbaric Influences, Religion is largely prevented from attaining to its true moral potential.   You see, Religion’s primary purpose is to give Society enough of a Moral Base to make Civilization possible.  No Civilization can thrive with Barbarians stealing everything, or taking everything and calling it Free Competition.  People need to Cooperate, and this Cooperation is made possible by Religion and the Moral Institutions that Religion creates, teaches and supports.  We would see that Religious People would voluntarily cooperate and work as one big team.  And, there can only be One Religion, perfectly speaking, or, of course, we would have Quasi-Ethnic Identification and In-Fighting going on, and the Civilization would split up.  Then, ironically, the Religion that is geared the best for Exploitation and being Predatory, that is, the Religion that is least as Religion should be, would win in the End – collapsing Civilization for the sake of short term profits.  For instance, Protestantism and, before it in the same model, Judaism, which, unlike with the more morally fastidious Religions, are not ashamed of Usury and are proud to charge Interest and to make Greed something of an avant-garde Virtue, not for Everybody of course, but for the Elect of God, or the Chosen People, as the case might be. 

And where one Religion uses sneaky and shameless Doctrines to wrest power and influence away from the more restrained and morally benevolent Religions, well, unfortunately, we have seen historically that sometimes these ‘benevolent’ Religions do not automatically “turn the other cheek” but will lash out in in some apparently insane anger and even with violence.  It is not the best view of a Religion.  But what did Jesus say, “sometimes the Spirit is willing but the Flesh is weak”.  I suppose that Jesus understood that sometimes the Mind is the thing that is weak.

So, anyway, to see how a Religion really is, one needs to see it within its Own Society, its own Civilization, without mixing up the variables.  And what Yardstick do we use to measure?  Well, what I have always said of Civilization, is that Civilized Institutions allow for the greatest Density of Population, that is, the better people can get along, the more people you can confine within a given area.  So the Measure of Religion can perhaps be taken in the same way, with the provision that a Good Religion should implement strategies to keep some eventual Lid on the Growth of Population.   We can see this distinction with Chinese Civilization.  The Chinese are traditionally so Civilized that they have achieved, time and time again, the greatest Population Densities in Human History.  But time and time again they have pushed through the Saturation Breaking Point and their Society had collapsed and there were major De-Population Events – Collapses of Civilization.  Of course, they would bounce back after 100 or 150 or 300 years, but that hardly negates the suffering in between.  It was kind of like the Success of Capitalism, where so much is made of the Wealthy Boom Periods, but when the Busts and the Depressions and the Numerous Recessions are mentioned, we are told that that is all “necessary corrections and adjustments”.  So, in the same way, we can have a ‘very successful’ Civilization, maximizing Resources and packing the world shoulder to shoulder with Population, until it comes to the point of needing to Adjust and Correct, and it all collapses in Disease, Hunger and Famine for 50 or so years.  So, Civilized Institutions are really not enough.  Within the Dynamics of Civilization, Religion can both foster the Cooperation between People to make High Population Densities possible and at the same time inculcate Principles and Values aimed at moderating Population Growth and to aim at some kind of sustainable Population Equilibrium.