Happy Everything!

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I sit writing this article on Easter Sunday. It’s a beautiful day out in southern California and it’s starting to feel a bit like spring, if you could even call what we’ve experienced over the past couple months winter. Easter is the focal point of the Roman Catholic calendar that I grew up with. Most Christians probably know a little more about Christmas, but a little kid being born in a manger doesn’t mean much unless that kid is able to grow up, overcome death and lead us all to salvation. We celebrate with colored eggs and chocolate bunnies. Another weird-ass tradition that has been present for so long that most of us have forgotten where it even came from.

Without going too deep into the history of the holiday, you might remember that when the Romans adopted Christianity, they blended some of their ‘pagan’ traditions with this fledgling religion. Pieces of their celebration of spring and life re-born were paired with the resurrection of Christ and we wind up with bunnies and eggs. On one hand that seems to discredit the dogma of the Christian religion because these things have little to do with the savior. But I think that it actually solidifies the whole situation.

Since its earliest beginnings, religion has been a way to explain the unexplainable.

Lightning and thunder in the sky? Thor is in a wretched mood. Drought and lack of crops? The gods of the harvest were not properly honored and have become displeased with us. Stories, fables and legends of the past mostly show up, at least initially, in the same way that you would answer a child when they ask you a question to which you do not know the answer. It just seems that we as humans got a bit more attached to some stories more than others.

Enter science.

No longer would humans be subjugated to the whims of some higher race. The scientific method at it’s discovery allowed for a rational and repeatable process to determine what may be the cause or relationships of the happenings around us. In a way, science has always been at odds with religion. As the human race continues to evolve it would seem that we are beginning to gravitate more towards science, throwing away the spirituality and religions of our mothers and fathers. And if you look back into the annals of human history, you might say that this is for the best. For every missionary who truly embraced the teachings of their god, there seems to be a zealot who went too far and caused way more harm than good. Without religion, you might say that we as a race would have been able to avoid many bloody wars and violence in the name of whichever dogma was the fashion of the time.

But is that really true?

Speaking of course in generalities, my generation does not seem to be all that religious. Very few of my friends attend a place of worship, whatever that worship might be, on a regular basis. The running theme, in the liberal blue oasis that is Los Angeles, is that those who are more educated throw away religion because there is no scientific proof to support it.

I’m not sure those that do throw away religion are any happier for the act.

They, like their religious counterparts, still struggle with relationships, career goals, the finality of death and a whole host of other issues that create the human experience. Their denouncement of faith hasn’t really freed them from anything, as they begin to cling to the rejection of faith just as aggressively as the alternative measure, wearing it like a badge of honor.

The issue is not religion. The issue is tribalism.

Since the beginning of mankind we have entered into cooperative living arrangements. We are social creatures who benefit from our interactions with others and would, for the most part, struggle mightily as individuals. So we attach ourselves to others. Early on this was probably just based on location and even now, location has more to do with it than most other things. So our group creates some type of story that supports all of the things that we do in our quest for survival. With the limited resources offered to us by planet earth, we have to get pretty good at obtaining and making the most of those resources.

Then another group comes along. The fear is that there is not enough to go around. The fear is that this group is different than our group and if they beat us to the punch, they will take the resources and force us into living in a manner that is less than the one that they live in. It is a classic case of an ‘us’ vs ‘them.’

If you think there is more to it than that and I’m oversimplifying, I encourage you to take a look at the ridiculous connection a great many humans have to a specific sports team. You may like the team because of where you grew up (New Jersey Nets), their mascot and uniforms (Jacksonville Jaguars) or just because you wanted to root against someone else (Boston Red Sox.) But professional sports has evolved so much in recent years that players change teams on a regular basis. A recent statistic suggested that somewhere around 75% of NBA players have changed teams at least once in the past three years. So the connection to the team is an odd one at best. You may like the collection of players you have one year and despise them the next, but you still root for the same laundry.

The reason is our deep need to be a part of a group.

Religion is no different. In books I’ve read on Ireland it appears to be common practice to ask if you were a Papist or Protestant, meaning are you one of us or one of them. It’s a question of friend or enemy and religion is just the laundry that we’re all wearing. Muslim, Hindi, Jew, Christian, Buddhist, Taoist and all the other ism’s and ist’s there might be. It’s not important.

And I’ll tell you why.

There is absolutely nothing keeping you from feeling a deep connection to something bigger than yourself. I’ve walked through St. Patrick's Cathedral in Manhattan and felt connected. I’ve chanted the Lotus Sutra in a Buddhist temple and felt connected. I’ve sat on the beach and stared at the ocean and felt connected.

A friend of mine and his sister aren’t very religious or spiritual. In my interactions with their mom, she seems to be a little bit more connected to that part of herself. She has prayer flags in the yard, mantras in her bedroom and a little altar at which to pray. For the holiday I’ve been told she pushed back lunch so that she could go to church in the morning. She’s not overly connected to this place of worship, but she likes the music. She’s grown up with music and it allows her to feel that connection. The connection that she shares with spirit is her own. It can’t be wrapped up in different sects and denominations.

So as we roll through holidays and holy days and the little celebrations of our life, I’m inclined to think that what we are celebrating isn’t all that important. It might be different for everyone at the gathering you attend. The important part is that we are celebrating.

So don’t let religion get in the way of a good time.

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