Avoiding certain actions and habits can be as important as reducing dependency on religion. Organized religion got everyone used to giving them the reins and paying them money in various ways, but that’s no more an obligation than spitting when a black cat crosses your path. It is easier said than done for those living in close-knit communities, as they can be derided or ostracized when refusing to pay their dues. Their only way out may be to leave their suffocating environment and seek a better future.
Here are a few things to refrain from doing to improve the likelihood of a lasting peace in the Middle East:
Don’t have faith that reason will prevail.
Don’t trust that a sensible solution will be reached if only people are more tolerant toward each other. Common sense is unlikely to win because it faces an onslaught by common nonsense, propagated by well-funded religious interest groups.
Don’t send thoughts and prayers to victims.
They need actual support, not lip service.
Don’t trust God to save your people.
He hasn’t saved them so far, and is not famous for changing his ways.
Don’t pray for the situation to improve.
Praying for a solution is like praying to win the lottery. Those who win often see it as proof that their prayers worked, but you never hear about the prayers of the millions who didn’t win. These suckers keep paying and praying. In the conflict, the currency is human life.
Don’t take religion as a given.
Don’t assume that fervent belief cannot be changed. Religions are based on stories, conjectures, and social accords, not on facts. As such, they are vulnerable to outside pressures and evolving public opinion. For instance, even the strictest religious factions adapted themselves to modern norms by no longer condoning slavery.
Don’t donate to religious organizations.
Pay attention to who you donate to and what their real motives are. Even if they insist the money is for feeding the poor and helping the needy, some of it may go toward building the religious apparatus. Channel your money to truly non-religious organizations instead. Used clothes, for instance, can be donated to secular organizations rather than the Salvation Army. Religious organizations have plenty of money and pay no taxes in many countries. They have highly valuable real estate holdings, the result of centuries of land and property acquisitions. Some of them have investment portfolios that dwarf those of good-sized countries. Given the proportional rise in the percentage of nones in the population, these organizations don’t need nor deserve more than they already have.
Don’t pay your tithes.
Religious organizations have more money than they can spend. If you can help it, avoid giving them your hard-earned money and instead donate it to organizations that support non-religious activism.
I don’t have any delusions that a massive number of people will give up their religion tomorrow, but we can gradually nudge the world toward being more secular. A less religious society can act on sound values and conscientious morals, treat its members with respect, and seek peace rather than endless war. Why not give it a chance?