Jobran thought for a moment, then said, “In the end, my quest was greatly simplified by the fact that my goal was not to find the ‘ultimate’ answer to religious truth—I don’t have to necessarily find the ‘true’ religion, or anything like that. My quest was solely intended to determine what I needed to do in order to have the best chance to be reunited with Sophia.”
“OK,” Abraham said, a little dubiously.
“So, ultimately, that is how I evaluate everything,” Jobran replied. “In a sense, it’s like making a rational calculation of the probabilities; in the end, my decision is made for the option that has the greatest likelihood of reuniting me with Sophia.”
“Fine,” Abraham said. “So how are you determining these probabilities?”
“I’ll tell you,” Jobran replied, confidently. “Let’s start with the indigenous religions: that is, the religions of pre-literate societies in Africa, Asia, Australia, Oceania, and so on, as well as Native Americans. In the final analysis, it seems to me that the indigenous religions of such peoples are just that: indigenous—that is, limited to their original population. They are centered in a particular culture, a particular way of life. They have no ‘missionary’ focus, because they do not deny the reality of other religious traditions, from other lands and cultures; Native Americans didn’t try to ‘convert’ Christians—they only wanted the freedom to be able to practice their own religion in peace.”
“Sure.”
Jobran looked serious, and said, “But such religious traditions also tend to fade—or become adapted almost beyond recognition—once the cultural tradition underlying them is disrupted. Take the Yoruba people and religion of West Africa: when slaves were taken from Africa, they were by and large not permitted to practice their native religions, which were deemed ‘pagan superstitions’ by the slave traders—who considered themselves ‘Good Christians,’ of course. Consequently, when these people were brought to South America and the Caribbean, they had to disguise their religion. Therefore, African gods and spirits were given Christian-sounding names, and the result is what we know in the United States and Haiti as Voodoo or Vodun. Voodoo combines elements of Christianity—particularly Catholicism—with the native religions of western Africa. Voodoo practitioners worship a supreme God, venerate their ancestors and various spirits, utilizing a fetish—such as a doll—and give offerings and sacrifices to their gods, who in turn give trances and magical powers to practitioners. But although such people might seem outwardly to be venerating Christian saints, their ceremonies had a secret meaning. Nowadays, since Islam and Christianity have reduced the practice of native religions, there are cases where expatriated Africans have even returned to their country of origin—carrying Voodoo with them—thus closing the ‘cycle.’
“There were similar origins to syncretistic religions such as Santería—the ‘Way of the Saints’—which developed in Cuba, then in the rest of the Spanish Empire and Latin America. Santería recognizes a supreme God called Olodumare (the ‘owner of all destinies’), but human interaction with God actually focuses on the more than 400 orishas, or divine beings. Santería explicitly merges African gods with Christian saints; the supposed saintly ‘Lady of Regla’ might really be Yemayá, mother of the seas, for example. The individual practitioner—men are called santeros, and women santeras—may have special relationships with specific orishas, which are used for particular purposes: for healing, for wisdom, for divination, and so on. During ceremonies, the orisha is thought to be able to ‘possess’ the body of the practitioner. There are many benefits that practitioners claim to receive from Santería, such as protection, healing, finding love, and so on. In addition to elaborate group rituals, practitioners often have an altar in their own home.
“A different—and more rebellious—reaction to the legacy of enslavement was taken in Jamaica, where the Rastafarian religion originated in 1930. The black people of Jamaica quite rightly thought of themselves as dispossessed and in ‘exile’ from their homeland, and saw themselves as living in ‘Babylon’—their name for Jamaica, and its repressive governmental system. Influenced by the Bible, they compared their situation to the ancient Hebrews; they were awaiting an ‘Exodus’ from Babylon, and repatriation to Africa. Reggae musician Bob Marley, who is by far the best-known Rastafarian, wrote a song called ‘Exodus’ on this theme, hoping for the movement of ‘JAH people’—the people of Jahveh, or God—from Jamaica. A book called the Holy Piby, better known as ‘the Black Man’s Bible,’ was influential in the early days of the movement, since this ‘Bible’ told about the black man’s glorious ultimate destiny. There is also the Rastafarians’ so-called ‘Lost Bible,’ the Kebra Nagast, which includes stories and traditions—heavily influenced by the regular Bible—about the Ethiopian people, who it calls ‘the chosen ones.’ Ethiopia—the oldest independent nation in Africa—was of great interest to Marcus Garvey, founder of the ‘Back to Africa’ movement in the early 20th century, who was born in Jamaica. The Rastafarians also adopted as their colors the black (for Africans), red (for the triumphant church), and green (for the beauty of Ethiopia) of the Garvey movement. Prior to leaving Jamaica for the United States, Garvey’s last statement is supposed to have been, ‘Look to Africa for the crowning of a Black King; he shall be the Redeemer.’ Then in 1930, when Emperor Haile Selassie I was crowned king of Ethiopia, this was viewed by some Jamaican people as almost the fulfillment of prophecy. They see Ethiopia and Africa as the ‘Promised Land,’ and Haile Selassie as the promised Messiah and ruler of black people, who will bring his people back to Africa; since his death in 1975, they view his spiritual presence as still with them. In general, they think that they achieve immortality in this life, rather than in an afterlife, since this very life is ‘Hell.’ The name ‘Rastafarian’ comes from Ras Tafari, the precoronation name of Emperor Selassie.” He thought for a moment, then added, “Oh; besides the music of Bob Marley, who died in 1981, Rastafarians are best known for wearing their hair in dreadlocks, and for using marijuana, or ganja—they prohibit liquor and tobacco—constantly, as well as an important part of their religious practice.”
Abraham smiled, and said, “So you’re telling me that the next time I see you, you’ll have your hair in dreadlocks, and a blunt sticking out of your mouth? Or that you’re going to set up a Santería altar in the corner?”
Jobran shook his head, and said, “No, of course not. My point is that traditions like these are tied so closely to their culture of origin, that they can’t really be adopted by outsiders. Take the case of Native Americans: Their entire culture was infused with a deep spirituality; however, you can’t just transplant the ‘religion’ into a different culture, and expect it to work. Those New Agers who go on ‘vision quests,’ attend a sweat lodge ceremony, observe a Lakota Sun Dance, and so on, may be completely sincere, but these are not simply abstract practices and beliefs—they are an integral part of specific Native American cultures. Being a Native American isn’t like a weekend seminar; you’ve either ‘got it,’ or you don’t. Christianity is different, since it is centered so much more upon doctrines, and less on culture; it’s certainly possible for a person who grew up in an Irish Catholic neighborhood to end up in a Pentecostal Holiness church, or for a Dutch Calvinist to end up a New Orleans Catholic, for example. But for some religions—Shinto, as much as Santería—you can’t just ‘pick and choose’ elements you like and transplant them; you must participate in the rituals as part of a historical community of people.”
Abraham nodded, and said, “It’s similar to Judaism: you can’t just pick out a few Jewish religious practices and follow them; you’re either part of the whole culture and tradition, or you’re not.” He thought for a moment, then added, “Well, I guess that you can choose Jewish culture without necessarily also choosing the Jewish religion. But if you assimilate so completely that the only thing ‘Jewish’ about you is a liking for lox and gefilte fish, I think it’s safe to say that you�
�ve abandoned your Jewishness.”
Jobran nodded back, and continued, “But this is not just the case with indigenous religions; it is the same with the ancient mystery religions, not to mention European mythic traditions of Norse Gods and the like. When Christianity became influential, these religions died out—sometimes after active suppression by the Church. In fact, even though there are a few people nowadays who claim to be either modern practitioners of the ancient Norse religions or ‘Odinists,’ such as the community of Ásatrú—that’s Old Norse for ‘belief in the gods’—I really wonder if they are literally polytheists, who believe in the actual existence of gods such as Odin, Thor, Freya, and such? And do they really believe that Runes—a set of magical alphabets—can be used for divination? Some of them, like Edred Thorsson and Kvendúlf Gundarrson, seem more intelligent than that.” He laughed, then added, “Maybe they just want to have something to say other than ‘Christian Identity’ or ‘Wicca,’ when someone asks them, ‘What religion are you?’”
Abraham frowned and said, “Actually, I have heard a little about these ‘Neo-Pagan’ and Odinist groups. Aren’t most of them racist?”
“Not necessarily,” Jobran replied. “Ásatrú claims to be anti-racist, for example, and some of the groups are strongly anti-Nazi. Most of them are probably more pro-Scandinavian, pro-Heathen, and anti-Christian than they are either racist or anti-Semitic—not that if you were to attend one of their meetings, you would find any black people or Jews there.” He chuckled again, and added, “And who knows: maybe most of them are there just because they like Viking ‘Black Metal’ music, and role-playing games like Mage: The Ascension?” He stopped, then concluded, “So in summary, I do not think that my chances of being reunited with Sophia would be increased by my conversion to Yoruba, Santería, or Neo-Paganism; so I have no qualms about excluding them from consideration.”
Abraham nodded his head, and said, “Agreed.”
Jobran wrinkled his brow, and said, “Now, as far as trying to determine criteria that would make a religion true, I spent a lot of time trying to find some answers. Although Christianity is the largest religion in terms of adherents, there is no religion that even claims to have a majority of the world’s population—but a simple ‘majority rules’ argument isn’t persuasive to me by itself anyway, because I now know much more intimately the lack of sophistication of the religious beliefs of most people. Really, most people fall into one of three groups: (1) They stick with the religion they were raised in; (2) They convert from that original religion to one other—or to no religion—and stick with that; or (3) They ‘shop around’ for religions, frequently switching from one to another. The religious ‘vote’ of most people really doesn’t count for much with me, because their beliefs are relatively uninformed; most of the two billion Christians probably know next to nothing about Islam, or Buddhism, for example.”
“Sure; most of us accept relatively uncritically the religion we were raised in,” Abraham agreed. Then he frowned, and added, “Except for Jews; for some reason, we seem to try everything possible to avoid associating with the religion we were brought up in,” smiling.
Jobran smiled too, then continued, “But I finally arrived at two principles that I think are pretty solid: One, I think that a religion must have at least some plausible connection to antiquity—or at least, to our earliest civilizations and their written records.” He clasped his fists together, and said, “Since the basic situation governing human life—birth, death, and so on—has been the same since humans were first able to think, it’s difficult for me to see how a truly ‘new’ religion can come into being. Religions that claim they were suddenly ‘discovered’ very recently lack a certain degree of plausibility for me. After all, we have written records extending back for more than 2,000 years documenting the religious beliefs of early peoples, and we know that they asked most of the same questions we ask today. If any relatively ‘new’ religion is supposed to be true, why was it not revealed to us by God—or at least discovered—earlier? For example, why didn’t Scientology exist until Lafayette Ron Hubbard wrote a best-selling book in 1950, and molded his supporters into a ‘religion’ four years later? Sure, all these religions claim to be consistent with older traditions, but the claim is pretty weak; the ancient Egyptians didn’t have E-Meters, and Enlightenment thinkers didn’t develop charts illustrating the fifteen levels of ‘Operating Thetan.’
“I think that that’s why most of the newer religions—such as Sikhism, and the Bahá’í faith—are in a sense variations on existing religions; that way, they can appropriate some of the antiquity of the older traditions. For example, the Jews had their prophets, then Christians claimed to have a greater prophet, then Muslims claimed to have the last prophet, then Sikhs did the same with a still later prophet, and now we have Bahá’í with another ‘last prophet.’ But there is really nothing significantly new in their doctrines: reincarnation isn’t new, nor is the notion of personal survival without reincarnation; the idea that ‘All men are brothers’ is hardly new. It’s true that new techniques may be discovered or invented, such as modern Pentecostalism’s speaking in tongues; Ron Hubbard’s processes; Reiki’s hand positions; Subud’s Lathian; TM’s ‘streamlining’ of meditative practice; I AM’s ‘decreeing,’ and so on. But all new religions face the natural incredulity and skepticism that asks, ‘If this is true, why didn’t someone realize it—or discover it—earlier?’ So consequently, I think that all religions need to have a reasonable historic basis or provenance that dates back a considerable ways. All of the major world religions do seem to have this, whether they trace themselves back to an Adam and Eve as do the monotheistic religions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam—or at least they can be traced back historically more than 2,000 years.”
Jobran paused to catch his breath, then went on, “I think the problem is even worse with so-called ‘revealed’ religions, which have to answer the question, ‘Why didn’t a loving God reveal this to earlier generations?’ That’s one reason why I have problems with groups such as the Mormons and the Jehovah’s Witnesses, that teach that the ‘True Church’ essentially vanished from the face of the earth for close to 2000 years, very shortly after Jesus appeared to establish his Church that ‘the Gates of Hell’ were not supposed to be able to prevail over. Why would Joseph Smith, or Charles Taze Russell, be so incredibly unique that only they could rediscover truths that had been lost for so long? There had to have been millions of people that read James 1 and prayed about it prior to Joseph Smith; why didn’t Moroni reveal the location of the golden plates to them? I mean, throughout Christian history, there have been people that were so sincerely seeking the truth that they would give away all their possessions, leave their families, and go off and live in abject poverty in a hermitage in order to pursue it. Why would God wait until Joseph Smith came along to restore his Church on Earth? Or why would he wait to reveal certain biblical truths until Pastor Russell appeared in the late 19th century? Both the Mormons and the Jehovah’s Witnesses are strongly in the ‘revealed religions’ tradition—which means that they strongly believe in a ‘personal’ God who is intimately involved with earthly affairs—yet they both admit that there was a period of time lasting many hundreds of years in which the true revealed doctrine of God was not taught on the Earth, even though it had been revealed during New Testament times. Didn’t God love the people between the first century and the nineteenth? Why would he let them die in ignorance, without even having the possibility of knowing the true religion?” He shrugged his shoulders, then said, “To avoid that, you need doctrines like the Mormons’ belief that everyone will hear the gospel in the afterlife, or the Witnesses’ belief that most everyone gets virtually a ‘second chance’ on Earth.”
Abraham thought for a moment, then suggested quietly, “Of course, it’s always a possibility that God doesn’t reveal religious truths to people; not in concrete, propositional statements, at least. Religious truth may
be more a matter of progressive discovery, like physical science is. In that case, it’s not surprising that we could remain in ignorance for hundreds or thousands of years.” He smiled ruefully, then added, “Of course, I can’t say things like that to my congregation; they might get the idea that their Rabbi doesn’t believe that God literally wrote the Ten Commandments with his finger, or something like that.”
Jobran nodded his agreement quite readily, and said, “Sure; the notion of ‘revealed dogmas’ in religion might very be untrue. In fact, atheism and agnosticism—as well as forms of theism that reject the notion of personal immortality— are also viable options, from a philosophical perspective.” Jobran clenched and unclenched his fists, and said, “But remember, my goal in all of this isn’t to find the ‘Absolute Truth’—my goal is to be reunited with Sophia! So if atheism is true, or if there is no individual soul or essence that survives death, then my entire ‘quest’ is futile; and I will never be reunited with Sophia.” He threw up his hands in apparent resignation, and said, “So, needless to say, I abandoned consideration of those options quite early on.”
Abraham nodded, and said, “You’re quite right; I keep forgetting the ‘limited’ nature of your quest. Please continue.”
Jobran finally sat back down, and said, “So anyway, all of the major world religions were still ‘in the running’—because they have demonstrably deeper historical roots—whereas the ‘newbies’ I excluded, unless they could show historically that they really are ‘oldbies.’”
Abraham said. “Fair enough; and I presume that Judaism—which traditionally traces its origin back to the first human beings—is still under consideration?”
“Sure,” Jobran said, “Which brings me to my second point: Since I find it hard to believe that the ‘true’ religion could, in effect, practically vanish from the face of the earth, I think that a true religion needs to have some degree of ‘numerical’ success. For example, the Zoroastrian religion is virtually dead, as are the religions of the Greeks and Romans. Some religious groups are losing members at significant rates, such as Freemasonry, Subud, and several ‘Ascended Masters’ groups. While both the Bible and world history show a lot of ‘ebb and flow’ for a given religious movement—times in which ‘revival’ is needed, so to speak—it’s difficult for me to believe that a genuine religion, which legitimately taught the truth, could just die out. And, it’s equally difficult for me to believe that a fairly small religion is the truest—which is why all these religions that claim to be the ‘fastest growing’ don’t impress me very much. It’s a lot easier for, say, the Latter-Day Saints with maybe 13 million members to increase by 5% than for Christianity as a whole to increase by that much; maybe I’m wrong about this, but the Latter-Day Saints have been around for 175 years—and they have a very high birthrate—and they’re represented in most countries of the world, but they haven’t even caught up to Sikhism in terms of adherents, and Sikhism is primarily limited to a single Third World country. The Mormons’ growth rate would be phenomenal if they were simply a business, or a political party, but they aren’t— they claim to be the ‘True Church.’ So in the absence of some overwhelming evidence to the contrary, I leave out the ‘smaller’ religions.” Then, looking at the wall rather than directly at Abraham, he added softly, “And that’s one of the reasons why Judaism is not, for me, one of the religions that I would consider.” Then he added hastily, “Although Jews are disproportionately represented in the professions, and their cultural achievements are entirely out of proportion to their numbers, the Jewish religion—as opposed to the culture of the Jewish people— seems to have considerably less influence in the world today than it had in, say, Roman times.”
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