learning to be happy

Human beings come equipped with the unique ability (among animals at least) to speak languages which not only allow them to organize and co-ordinate, but also express their thoughts, ideas, and feelings in a very sophisticated manner. Yet, although the ability to speak is born into every human, this ability will be useless if they are no other humans around who teach a language to a newly born. Without language learning, most of a human's communication skill will be just like that of yet another ape. The same holds for much other social behavior.
It is the belief of our religion that the same also holds for human's innate ability to be happy. All humans can be happy, but just from being born as a human they don't know how. I recently dug up some articles which back this belief with scientific evidence: A study has been done about a specific choice of things to find which of those choices makes people more happy and which of those choices people think makes them more happy. Well, the scientifically proven result: what makes people more happy is not what they think it is!
Here are some articles about that:

• Money can buy happiness - but only if you spend it wisely, say scientists
• Yes, Money Can Buy Happiness . . . but probably not in the way you imagined.
• Buying Experiences, Not Possessions, Leads To Greater Happiness

There is no mechanism in our modern society which teaches people how to be happy. Yet, everybody's own happiness depends also on the happiness of others. Nobody likes to have a dissatisfied, nagging boss, wife, or teacher. Nobody wants criminals, psychopaths, or terrorists.
This is why the world needs a religion that stretches out to people and shows them the way to happiness. Not force them to be happy like George Bush wanted to force democracy on the unbelievers, but teach them to be happy in their very own way. That's why we need a religion that's based on compassion first, and not on a God, spirits, and historic stories. May everybody believe what they want about the creation of earth, life, and humankind. May everybody believe what they want about the afterlife. But, let's all work together to help everybody believe in the basic goodness of all humans. Compassion, community, and creativity.

a first example

I don't have the visionary strenght to write a complete religious book from scratch. Therefore I have created this blog to discuss issues, one at a time, using current events or other references as individual points of depart.

For this first post I am inspired by a personal testimony of a believer in Jesus Christ. I think that this text offers an insightful example of what people need from religion. I think in an era where many people are drawn towards a religion for the wrong reasons (i.e. power, conservatism, etc.) it is import to see that religion also responds to some innate human needs which exist by our nature and which deserve to be cared for.

The two needs which I read from the testimony are meaning and the relief of guilt. In the present post I want to concentrate on the relief of guilt.

In Christian tradition people become guilty by sin, but I think we can take a more general view point and consider all human behaviour that hurts other people or ourselves. If a person has done something wrong, they get into a double struggle of coming up with excuses and refusing to admit their error and at the same time a wish that they would have done better. But since people have to protect their reputation, the refusal to admit and the excuses will often prevail and the good which is inside everybody will not be able to take effect. The guilt which is innate to all humans has the potential to better every being, by correcting their behaviour which they have realized to be bad. However, guilt that stays captivated inside a person will bother them unconsciously and paralyze them, blocking their progress and growth.

This is why human guilt needs to be taken care of by somebody and I think that some kind of religion can offer this service to us. In another post, I will show how the Religion for People does just that.

Believes of the Religion for People

By "religious belief" I understand the belief in things that are not completely derivable from science and the senses. The believes of my religion do not contract any science and common sense, sometimes they do in fact concur with science.
They are para-scientific believes nonetheless, because they are more general and contain statements which sciences might not be able to show (or scientists would not even accept as hypotheses).
The distinguishing feature of the believes stated here is that I truly believe that they are very important statements for humanity, which affect everybody's live more or less directly.

What I believe:

• all humans are created equal and have the same rights and obligations
• all humans are fundamentally different in character/personality, personal needs, abilities and their viewpoint on the world
• humans are profoundly social beings and happiness to a human is not just found within himself, but through their relationships with other humans
• all humans are born as good people and have the capacity to make themselves and others happy
• humanity is not just defined by the gene pool, but also by culture and the complex interactions between people. Being fully human requires to learn how to interact with others, which is what all children do. (For example, language is not in the genes, it has to be learned from others.) However, this learning process never stops.
• most unhappiness is caused by people hurting themselves or others
• all humans have potential to become better humans by becoming more kind, doing less things which they later regret, achieving their goals and a balance in life, being more happy, more cheerful towards others.

Other religions usually prescribe a way to live for people: do this and that and God will be happy with you. The Religion for People encourages and supports people to find their own way to Happiness. The only demand that the Religion for People makes is that people recognize the importance of other people for their own happiness and that they avoid to hurt others and are honest with themselves.

What this blog wants to achieve

• shift the focus of religious debate to people's and society's needs
• shift the focus from issues of belief to how we can best (and most directly) improve people's lives
• go from opposition to collaboration
• from dogma to pragmatism
  

Why do we need a Religion for People?

Religions offer people things that they need:

• community
• meaning
• guidelines/advice
• forgiveness
• possibility to support a greater cause (be it charity or mission)

However, religions often come with a lot of baggage which is useless, outdated, or even dangerous:

• morals that do not reflect people's needs
• morals that are chauvinist, racist, sexist or discriminating in other ways
• morals that are sometimes even unlawful and in contradiction with rules a society wants to live in (e.g. mission by violence)
• creation myths and stories about spirits, gods, etc.

First observation: It is possible to get the advantages of religion without getting the disadvantages. Many religions are currently evolving that way, but we can go more directly. Do better.

Furthermore, religions do not offer some things which are actually needed:

• guidelines and advice do not take into account the different living situations of different people in our time.
  
• guidelines and advice do not take into account that people with different character/personality have fundamentally different ways of thinking and have to be talked to in somewhat different ways (e.g. everybody is open to reason and is open to emotion, but some are much more specialized in one of the both)
• guidelines and advice are necessary, but in specific situations can contradict each other: in this situation, people need to learn to find their personal dividing lines to make balanced decisions.
• guidelines and advice can sometimes also seem to set goals to high to reach: then, people need help to develop the abilities to behave according to their principles; good intentions are not enough, we need abilities.

Second Observation: Most religions have high demands on the moral behavior of their followers, but they don't provide enough support to people to actually overcome their weaknesses and find a lifestyle that does not hurt other people and makes themselves more happy.

A Religion for People has to help people, not bother them; it has to empower people, not prescribe their lives; it has to improve society, not create dividing lines. This is what our effort wants to achieve.