Is God dead? How can that which either does not exist, or on the other
hand possesses immortal life, die? The phrase God is dead is a
metaphorical play on words made famous by 19th century German
philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche. Nietzsche believed in scientific
method and was a strict atheist. He was observing God’s role as a
moral compass, within modern society of his time. Nietzsche concluded
that the era in which our basic values and morals were solely derived
from God and religious establishments, were a thing of the past.
German society was quickly leaving behind its ancient stereotypical
belief driven society towards a logical scientific method based one.
Fast-forward two centuries, what role does religion place in 21st
century western society and how does it affect us both positively and
negatively? Despite groundbreaking advances in science and our
understanding of everything from the earth’s origins to the unraveling
of our own DNA, as a society we still obstinately cling to our
unproven ancient beliefs. Why do we still persist in spite of mounting
evidence to the contrary? What is the state of rational and scientific
reasoning in today’s Western society?

Nearly all religions especially the Christian and derived religions
focus on teachings of selflessness, to put God and others before
yourself. This itself is contradictory to the instincts of “Survival
of the fittest” embedded into all living beings on Earth. Humans are
the only species in known existence that possess the free will and
thought to make decisions both, logical and illogical. It is hardly an
undesirable trait for a society to practice selflessness. A society
where citizens practice altruism is important to a civil society. The
flaws lie not within the theory but within the reality of the
implementation of a perfect ideal upon imperfect beings, still
beholden to their basic instincts. Even with the best intentions, it
is only human to try to reinterpret meanings to our own advantage,
even if it is subconsciously. The core of human nature and our actions
can be explained by the fact that all actions, no matter how selfless,
are always to ones own benefit. Take for example a seemingly selfless
act such as donating a large portion of ones personal wealth to a
charitable organization. It would be difficult to find anything
selfish about such an act, but at the core the individual performed
the act because it made them feel good. The same can be said for
nearly any action we perform such as helping someone else or providing
a free service to a charitable organization.

It may be unfair though to look at organized religion and only see
flaws and weakness. Organized religion can provide many benefits to
societies such as community building, bringing people together,
promotion of favorable ideals, youth programs and missionary programs
to communities. Many Christians believe that to obtain passage into
heaven in the afterlife they must perform God’s work on Earth,
converting others and performing good deeds. It would seem that devout
followers of a particular religion that preaches such communal values
as forgiveness and humanity towards neighbors would reflect in the
followers of the religion, unfortunately it is not always the case, as
history has proven many times. Many centuries of war, genocide and
ethnic cleansing have been committed in the name of religion, from the
Crusades to Bosnia to rival factions fighting today in Iraq. It would
be difficult to find a major religion that is free of blood on their
hands. If one were to study the literature from the Old Testament of
the Christian bible, one would find that God is arguably one of the
most unpleasant fictional characters: jealous, blood thirsty, unjust,
greedy, blood thirsty and sadomasochistic. The Christian religion
boils down to merely two options payable on death: abide by their
God’s instructions and live in paradise or disobey and be tortured for
all eternity. Such a choice likens more to a decree from a sadistic
dictator than a loving, caring supreme being.

Although the majority of the world’s population has prescribed
themselves to a major religion, there has been a small but growing
portion of the population that not only chooses to not prescribe to a
particular religion, but also does not even believe in a supreme
being, atheists. Atheists argue that the there is overwhelming
evidence against the existence of a supreme being, making it analogous
to the existence of other mythical creatures such as unicorns. A
French philosopher, Blaise Pascal, supporter of scientific methods,
from the 16th century devised a theory called “Pascal’s Wager”,
stating that even if there was little or no chance of God’s existence
that one should still prescribe the religions values and rules. Pascal
believed that if he adhered to the rules of Christianity and God
exists, he had everything to gain. Conversely if God does not exist,
he had nothing to lose. It would be difficult to find fault within
that reasoning, unless one considers that is there is hundreds of
competing religions and gods. One can only choose one religion at any
given time, failure to choose the correct religion has the same result
as choosing none at all.

Is God dead? Within the western culture as a society as a whole, the
answer is neither straightforward nor clear. There exists still a
growing divide of competing ideologies that are fighting over the
right to societies mindset, one individual at a time. In our modern
age of understanding, the staggering amount of people that choose to
outright reject rational thought is unsettling. It also cannot be
forgotten that the most prevailing and straightforward way to control
the masses for thousands of years, has always been organized religion,
hiding behind a shadow of fear. The reason may be that people are
afraid of change and the uncertainty it brings. Rapid technological
advances, scientific discoveries, population growth, transportation
improvements and the Internet are changing the world and bringing
different cultures and ideals together. Freedom of thought should be a
priority for us as a society. The ability to make decisions and think
freely is important for a civil society, thus the answer should be to
empower individuals to be their own God. Belief in a higher power does
not mean you sacrifice your right to freedom of thought. After all,
even if you believe in intelligent design, why would we be designed to
have incredible creativity ability and ability to think freely, if we
were intended to restrain ourselves? In the modern 21st century it
would be hard to contend that religion still holds a monopoly on
morality, the real question is that if it ever did.

http://blog.idreamincolour.net/2008/05/07/is-god-dead-a-look-at-religions-role-in-modern-western-culture/