The inherent difficulty with the organization of this book has been the strategic separation of the political, sociological and psychological impacts that religions have naturally had on the individual, particularly in Western cultures.  I have for so much of my life always expressed this personal idiom that, “I prefer, “D” as my choice!”  You may remember in those multiple-choice questions, there were always the A., B. or C. choice, and then there was D. that suggests that “all of the above” are true and E., “none of the above.”  Well, for me it has been as equally difficult to separate these three imperative factors of religion as it has been for the real separation of church and state in our American politics.  In our predominantly Judeo-Christian Western culture it just isn't likely to become a reality anytime soon; not as long as we continue to operate under the mesmerizing spell and illusion that we as individuals are truly nothing without the presence and overwhelming moral authority of our illusionary gods and either their often self-appointed or spiritually delusional despotic leaders.  It has become increasingly more difficult for me to continue to actually accept that so many apparently educated and intelligent ministers and religious leaders can so earnestly continue to so naïvely and innocently deceive the blameless, trusting and faithful believers of their captivated and often constricted congregations.  I cautiously recognize that many of these enthusiastic ministers too could easily be suffering from the same tragic spiritual pathology that I am attempting to address in the writing of this book.  As a culture, we have been so thoroughly infected with the pathological ills passed on to us from generations of religious propaganda, that it has become almost impossible to distinguish between the contrived mythologies that religion purports to being real and the blatant reality that life presents to us so dramatically on a daily basis.
          Because these three major factors have become so thoroughly intertwined, it has resulted in the overall effect of being so much greater than the “sum of the parts.”  All three of these factors rather ravenously feed on one another; each lending that needed and essential sense of credibility and or the appearance of reality to the other.  It is an incredibly tangled web of deceit that is so complex as to defy any real detection.  If there was indeed just one God, one divine law, one way, one truth and just one size designed to fit all, then there may be some rational justification for that “one” religion to be found naked and incestuously in bed with politics.  But for the very fact that there are so many varying religions throughout the world and each with their own differing theology, all claiming to having the ultimate solution, that outlandish proposition of their being just one God has got to be a totally qualified impossibility.  What has instead resulted from this intertwined melody of these various and sometimes confrontational Western religions is the unwanted metamorphosis from what should have been the very crowning glory of mankind's gifted evolution into diverse social and political groupings that have so successfully and sadly avoided that more desired peaceful and certainly more productive coexistence.  It is astounding to step back and view the human race with its ongoing conflicts and bloody wars an attempt understand why we humans can not find some solution that would insure a far more peaceful future.  What is equally confusing is our American government that is so infused with the various supposedly righteous tenets of a religion, Christianity that claims to be in total concert with the teachings and principles of a man named Jesus it was so loving and peaceful in his very nature.  I can't imagine that Jesus would have ever declared war and condone the bloody acts of mass murder of even the most heinous and corrupted peoples of any society.  There is something that is obviously grossly askew when the propositions of a supposedly loving religion are so blatantly dishonored by a government that claims to being that most singular “one nation under God.”  That very same God with whom Jesus is supposedly and so intimately associated most assuredly be one bloody deity to have stood by and watched so much carnage taking place in his name.  If I were that God, I would have by now most assuredly and firmly demanded that my name and the name of my son, Jesus be struck from any religion, church, organization or most particularly any government that participates in such awesome carnage that is necessarily accomplished by the abominable and unsanctioned sacrifice of even one innocent individual.  It is my contention that the American government simply takes the liberty of defining that God to suit its own civil needs.  And if this be the case, then it would naturally follow that this God is simply an imaginative creation and puppet to be simply manipulated by the wills and at the beckoning call of those who proclaim his existence as a reality.  Given this thought a serious scrutiny and then you tell me!
          I am, without any reasonable doubt, influenced by the orientation of my psychological training, Gestalt.  It is a discipline within the field of psychology that specifically depicts a concept of wholeness rather than the dissection of an individual’s psyche into individual and separate parts.  So many of the individuals of our Western Judeo-Christian culture have become a complex mixture of such diverse emotions, intellectual ideals, scientific realities, philosophies, personal morals, mythologies, superstitions, instincts, religious beliefs and all sorts of imaginative fantasies that are usually governed by some religious construct that attempts and often justifies or rationalizes the obvious inconsistencies between beliefs and just some small portion of reality.  The parent-like retort to any questions of discontent with this broad milieu of all too often contradictory offerings is usually something like, “just have faith.”  Even better, “God works in mysterious ways,” as though that justifies just about anything imaginable!  In times past before science had finally revealed so many concrete realities that convincingly contradicted many religious beliefs and explanations, it might have been reasonable for the individual to exercise those blinded acts of faith without question.  That just isn't as possible or so simple in today's world where our knowledge is expanding exponentially.  And at the same time, this ever so escalating knowledge is made even more so readily available through the technology of computers and mass media.  There appears to be no end to man's capacity to continually add to this growing body of knowledge, most all of which tends to actually undermine the intellectual and moral authority that was once held so exclusively by the usually conservative tenets of religion.  There is a slow exodus of individuals from many of the organized religions and it is my contentions that this slow exodus would be even greater were there some realistic and comforting alternatives that were readily and easily available.  And what needs to be available is not just that of another religion but instead, a body of what might be considered as liberal knowledge that clearly and precisely instructs the individual of their own profound and unique value to the human race.  We need an affirming message that translates to our having life, liberty and happiness.
          The question appears to remain, how is it that so many apparently intelligent individuals continue to have such unyielding faith in religions that are so out of step with today's scientific and historical realities?  This most specific inquiry is another poignant question that is precisely what I am attempting to answer without too much belaboring and unnecessary rhetoric with the writing of this particular treatise.  And at the same time, I am repeatedly trying to convince myself that it really is worth the agonizing efforts involved with swimming against the tide of conventional rationale.  It is agonizing because I am equally a product of this spiritually hungry yet intellectually diverse society, and as convinced as I am of my own impartial view of reality, I still suffer from the same social and spiritual afflictions created by religion itself, too often displaying the same dreadful symptoms.  Jesus, in his rather rhetorical reply to the Jewish lawyers’ “tempting” question as to what is or should be the first Commandment, replied; “To love thy God, with all thy heart, with all thy soul and with thy mind.”  I contend that Jesus specifically included the mind as an imperative for one to think and make use of his own gifted intellect.  Religion has sadly become a spiritual, intellectual and psychological addiction with the greatest magnitude of symptoms that are as seriously chronic as that of any physical or pathological addiction.  At the very top of the list of those unremitting symptoms is that emphatically expressed notion, “I have to believe in something; I need a religion or at the very least, some reasonable philosophy of life in order to give any true meaning to this miserable existence!”  The drug addict truly believes that he needs a fix and at the same time persistently makes that expected and totally unrealistic claim, “I am in total control and I can kick this damn habit at given time I choose; I don't need any of you or help.  Just mind your own business!”  It is equally true for the religiously addicted to contend that they need no help with their spiritual convictions; “I know that I am right and that I am just where I belong!”  We are such complex beings that often spend more time rationalizing than just simply dealing with reality.
          This incredible ‘addiction’ to religion is as real as any medical, psychological or pathological addiction with the added complexity of having no readily available cure, most simply because the very foundation of the addiction is not real or even tangible in the first place; there simply is no God or divine power as is emphatically suggested by most all religions.  This religious addiction is so totally psychological and thoroughly intellectualized that it could be best described as the most thorough of any form of brainwashing imaginable.  The spiritual addict, or should I dare say victim often proclaims, “I am quite content, even happy with my beliefs as they stand and in any case, this wonderful religion of mine has provided a great deal of comfort for me and my family.”  And all of this is likely very true for countless generations.  This is all very feasible to some extent and this intensely false sense of contentment only adds to that fallacious sense of credibility.  This spiritual and intellectualized victim of religion often experiences the same euphoric sense of psychological security as does the typical dope addict.  And in the case of the religious addict there is simply no serious threat to one's physical health, life, liberty or pursuit of happiness, as long as one buys the whole package.  So the logical conclusion might simply be stated as, “So, if it ain’t broke, it just don't need no fixing!”  Therein lies the real complexity of any rational solution and that applies to the most simple of understanding, all the way to the most advanced intellectual capacities of any individual.  Whatever if anything happened to the uncomplicated use and application of one's mind?  After all, what is wrong or seriously dangerous about believing in a Santa Claus, tooth fairy or even an Easter Bunny?  I would agree that there is absolutely no harm so long as one understands that there really is no Santa Claus.  There is no more of a realistic or empirical proof for the existence of God than there is proof of the existence of an Easter Bunny; while children are asked to believe, adults are simply asked to have faith.  You have to go on faith as is readily suggested by most any religion.  I keep having this reoccurring image in my mind of this handsome and very affable used car salesman; “Believe me!  This car is a real winner.  The owner was this little old lady...”
          Just consider the continuing effort of conservative Christians to influence school boards to select educational books that support their mostly conservative and narrow agenda, or should I say propaganda for the incorporation of their own brand of mythology.  And if that poignant effort fails there is still a strong censorship of educational materials as well as the manner of classroom presentation of any educational materials that may simply and directly contradict the very often questionable and unfounded tenets of most fundamental religions.  Of course, American Christians appear to be the most adamant.  Liberal educators and teachers are too often unduly scrutinized for the content and manner in which they teach and as such are subject to unreasonable objections that are usually accompanied with the threats of losing one's employment.  It could be easily postulated that education should be added to the other major impacts of religion on the individual simply because religion has had such an impact on education.  There is little doubt that a narrowly defined and intentionally illiberal education most certainly has the capacity to inhibit the spontaneous creativity of the individual student.  In reality, traditional education is too often nothing more than a representation of the awesome influence and the mind power of religions along with their often covert employment of political and social tactics to ensure their own proverbial and narrow agenda.  Education has another most subtle and perhaps even a circuitous mission and that is it intentionally structures and sculptures an individual's behavior into that of an obedient drudge.  This is probably nothing more than the expected consequence of the stance of any complacent Christian community that is programmed to be responsive to the demands for obedience. There is no coordinated conspiracy to my knowledge or even a cognitive awareness by either the administrators or instructors of our educational system; it is simply the product of hundreds of years of the intentional religious domination of our society.
          This is as I had suggested in my original book simply a manifestation of a society resulting from the dogmas and dictates of a religion that was specifically designed to pacify a multitude of slaves.  Obedience was and still is the prime definition of any good citizen.  The relationship between the slave and the slave master has only slightly changed and those changes are more of a matter of selected semantics and the specific role that the individual now plays in society.  Today there exist what is often referred to as the “establishment” and it is this often overbearing establishment that fulfills and readily replaces the role of the slave master.  The rest of us are simply the slaves in this more modern form of slavery that is defined and expressed in more politically-correct terminology.  We just don't wish to offend or possibly compromise anybody’s sensibilities. Interestingly enough, it is still that intended Greco-Roman interpolation of the teachings of a Jewish profit that was cognitively molded into an awesome and often terribly oppressive religion; Christianity, that still dominates, subjugates and pacifies the average citizen into blind faith.  The mythology that was designed to legitimize this particular religion was a reasonable and acceptable fabrication for the year 325.  This mythology was presented so convincingly as reality, and without the knowledge and comprehension of today's science in those earlier times that contradict the church’s fairy-tale explanation for creation; the masses had and still have simply accepted the religious teachings as facts and reality per se.
          If there is any truth to the expression that, “You can't teach an old dog new tricks,” then it might just as reasonably follow that it is almost impossible to replace old teachings with new realities.  What is of even greater concern to me is not so much the fallacious contents of what is being taught than the very nature of the delivery system itself.  I wish to remind you that it is and always has been my contention that the bulk of our political-social problems in society are not the result of some malicious conspiracy; it is simply the resultant manifestation of a day and time and a critical social-political condition when the Greco-Roman establishment was justifiably concerned with and threatened by an overwhelming number of slaves.  The political order-of-the-day behind the initial establishment of Christianity was simply that of obedience.  The lesson plan included a forced delivery of the carefully contrived tenets of a new religion that left no alternative to the captive slave; either confess your faith or go to hell!  And the promised reward for one's faithful obedience to this new-found religion has got to rank at the top of the list of the best delivery sales scam ever accomplished, even by those most clever moguls of Madison Avenue.  I believe that its unqualified success can only be attributed to the overall ignorance of mankind in an age that preceded scientific enlightenment.  Religion survives today only because of its long history; in this Age of Reality it would be almost impossible to establish such fantasies and mythologies and expect such blind faith.
          Today, it is reasonable to question just why, in the light of so much scientific discovery and blatant reality, does the majority of Western citizens of the world appear to still faithfully adhere to a belief system that was specifically designed for slaves?  First of all, the average Christian just simply is not exposed to this historical fact.  One of the many other answers to this question could lie within the delivery system itself.  During the most formidable years of one's intellectually developmental growth, the system of delivery responsible for transmitting the skills and information needed for living in today's society is an anathema to the very concept of individuality.  Starting in first grade, children are trained to line up and follow the leader and the imagined picture that comes to mind is that mother duck and her young hatchlings.  Individual expression, creativity or behavior is too often deemed inappropriate and what is rewarded is simply obedience; just follow the rules and you'll be OK.  Students are routinely given a grade that is based on their intellectual accomplishments as well as another grade that is determined by what is called good citizenship; again, obedient behavior.  The student that is most successful is one that conforms to the lesson plan and consistently behaves according to that common denominator of good citizenship.  I'm not sure that every child actually benefits equally from twelve years of obedience training either intellectually or otherwise.  What is commonly prescribed for our dogs is obedience training!  The only true common denominator in our school system today is that of obedient behavior.  As we all know, there naturally exist and is expected this great diversity of intellectual ability and achievement, which only goes to discriminate against the individual whose propensity is perhaps more behavioral than intellectual.  We have a school system which rewards conformity and obedience and secondly, establishes a cast system based purely upon intellectual abilities.  The slaves were told to be obedience to the ruling establishment as well as totally faithful to the church or be condemned to hell eternally.  For the student who fails to graduate from these twelve years of obedience training, he or she is more likely promised difficulty and prejudice in finding gainful employment and is thus condemned to a life of failure in general.  I don't see any of this as being truly humane and it certainly doesn't conform to what Jesus might have considered as love for one's neighbor.  We should all be of equal value and worthy of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, no matter what our station.
          The larger the population the greater need there is for universal conformity; consider how many of our great grandparents succeeded in life without the completion of a twelve-year education, much less having the benefit of a college education.  Those powers that be just do not wish for things to get out of hand and the best way to maintain control is to educationally sedate the society into believing a myth that actually only serves the establishment in maintaining a workforce of modern-day slaves.  It has been rightfully postulated that in America the middle class is being dissipated and what you are apt to have left is that Greco-Roman model of ten percent citizens and ninety percent economic slaves.  The very system that supposedly offers that golden opportunity for one to make a significant change in their own social-financial status, appears to have an inherent and sinister potential of socially and psychologically accomplishing just the very opposite and certainly undesirable objective if we truly hope for a fair, equal and just social system.
          In many ways the actual and perhaps unintentional design of our universal twelve-year educational program has become very likened to an universal religion itself, and just like its infamous predecessor, the Greco-Roman Catholic Church, it is structurally and functionally a religion that is prescribed for every citizen.  It may fail in many ways to accomplish the function of delivering an illiberal education; it has been exceptionally successful in prescribing obedience as its primary means of discipline.  We often use in our Western society the word, discipline as a precise description of the boundaries that we set on the behavior of our youth as a means of control.  It is fortunate that some of our youth escape the mesmerizing and narcotic effect that this education system can have if fully accepted.  The curriculum itself is usually biased in such a prescribed manner as to enhance the ethnocentric interpretation of American history.
          The fact that the Spanish portion of the history of the United States is minimized certainly favored most Americans having a better opinion or just perhaps no understanding of the terrible genocide of Western Native Americans by Spanish Conquistadors; of course, this was not the cognitive intent, just the serendipitous result of the ethnocentricity of the Eastern American bias that arose from the higher educational system identified today as the Ivy League and at its lead, Harvard University.  I am equally distraught with the fashion with which we recorded our own “English” history of the United States’ early settlement and westward expansion in a literary approach which often misrepresents the awful manner in which we dealt so unjustly with the Native Americans, both East and West.  Our education, the content and manner in which it is presented combine to shape not only our view of the world and the manner with which we view ourselves but the very way in which we interact with others and our environment.  If that education is even remotely or unintentionally skewed to misrepresent what might be reality it can have a devastating and lasting effect on who and what we have become as individuals.  If our historians have a personal frame of reference that is only constructed with bits and pieces that come only from our Judeo-Christian heritage and view of the world that we experience, then it can be readily expected that any historical account will necessarily be interpreted with a moral justification of any otherwise atrocities, regardless of the gravity of their immoral turpitude.
          Our history, public education, religions, local and national governments, family traditions and our culture which inculcates all of these essential elements into just one neat and complete package, that whether designed or not, will induce most individuals into blindly accepting the mythologies of our Judeo-Christian culture as a bona fide reality and usually without any question or mode of reasonable doubt.  The many and varied influential aspects of one’s life experience are so intricately coordinated as to maintain a political and social order where the average individual is likely mesmerized into what might be simply called social obedience.  Because order is understandably desired and even realistically necessary for any civilized society to survive, it is reasonable for the individual to accept one’s ordered culture without any critical question or doubt, that it is most certainly the real thing.  Because this contrived social order has been the standard for so many hundreds of years, even the most astute and intelligent of any individuals too often fail to recognize the most obvious flaws, even in the light of so many contradictory realities that are being uncovered by the ever continuing and advancement of science, as well as the understanding that potentially comes from the publications of more recent objective interpretations of our Western history.
          Yes, we may have entered this Age or Reality with the intellectual tools to appreciate the heritage of today's discoveries, but we are still burdened with the auspicious and debilitating effects of ancient outdated mythologies that are more divisive than they are helpful in a new world where the distances between cultural, individual and geographical differences are becoming increasingly less significant.  Religions, if they are to survive in today's social climate, need to adopt a more liberal social policy of inclusion and abandon the tenets of their bigoted past.

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