Let's be honest, we have too little wisdom and too much religion. As explained before, wisdom is an underrated virtue, whereas religion is, bluntly put, faith turned into politics. Neither wisdom nor faith lead to murder. Here, then, is an argument why wisdom should replace religion.
Short story: Because it does not focus on the destination (i.e. what is after death or what is the point of all this) but rather on the journey there. Since nobody KNOWS the answer to any fundamental question, those who seek wisdom know not to listen to anybody claiming to know it. Prophets might claim to know the Truth so as to gain political support, and some might be genuinely convinced in the truth of their beliefs. Yet, in the paradigm of the wise, truth is always a matter of perspective, and the Truth of everything should be pursued individually, because only those who start the journey from scratch can fully understand its meaning.
Texts, legends, stories, rituals, traditions and other such religious practices are merely shortcuts on the path to understanding, and they are misleading. Imagine climbing Mount Everest all the way to the summit. Starting from sea level and reaching the top is a much more spiritual endeavor than parachuting a few hundred meters from the summit. Yes, these few hundred meters are going to be difficult, even with a map, the right equipment, and training. However, you will still have picked up from a shortcut left to you by predecessors. You will trust their judgement and their decisions as to how to reach the summit.
This approach is great for science, as it means you don't have to reinvent the wheel, or map out a new path to reach the summit of Mount Everest every single time. You merely use tried and tested things to create, discover or innovate. Yet it is not the case with religion, nor with wisdom. Any study of religion on the path to Truth relies exactly on questioning and reinterpreting your predecessors' versions of what they believed to be the Truth, in a way that cannot be proven or disproven effectively for lack of a way to measure effects of a particular theory. Religion demands that you believe what others have believed in the past, and accept the answers given to you, even though there is no way to test their validity beyond reasonable doubt. Going back to the metaphor, it is akin to making you use wooden wheels to get around, even if there are no trees where you live.
Wisdom, on the other hand, is all about rediscovering the wheel with every generation or climbing Mount Everest without any shortcuts. The point is not to reach the goal, to find the Truth, but to pursue the goal, to experience the journey... to craft your own wheel. This is the only way one can shape their own identity. There is no satisfaction in being dropped off by helicopter on the summit of Mount Everest, any more than there is in being told what to believe. Yet journeying there, feeling every footstep, seeing every sight, is the true prize. Wisdom is not about finding answers, but pursuing them. Truth is in the pursuit, not the destination, because the destination is irrelevant. Say you are told the Truth at a young age. What, then would be the satisfaction in life? What would you live for? What if knowing the Truth is the same as not knowing it? Nobody knows. And because nobody knows, wisdom should take the place of religion, and each person should find their own beliefs.
Short story: Because it does not focus on the destination (i.e. what is after death or what is the point of all this) but rather on the journey there. Since nobody KNOWS the answer to any fundamental question, those who seek wisdom know not to listen to anybody claiming to know it. Prophets might claim to know the Truth so as to gain political support, and some might be genuinely convinced in the truth of their beliefs. Yet, in the paradigm of the wise, truth is always a matter of perspective, and the Truth of everything should be pursued individually, because only those who start the journey from scratch can fully understand its meaning.
Texts, legends, stories, rituals, traditions and other such religious practices are merely shortcuts on the path to understanding, and they are misleading. Imagine climbing Mount Everest all the way to the summit. Starting from sea level and reaching the top is a much more spiritual endeavor than parachuting a few hundred meters from the summit. Yes, these few hundred meters are going to be difficult, even with a map, the right equipment, and training. However, you will still have picked up from a shortcut left to you by predecessors. You will trust their judgement and their decisions as to how to reach the summit.
This approach is great for science, as it means you don't have to reinvent the wheel, or map out a new path to reach the summit of Mount Everest every single time. You merely use tried and tested things to create, discover or innovate. Yet it is not the case with religion, nor with wisdom. Any study of religion on the path to Truth relies exactly on questioning and reinterpreting your predecessors' versions of what they believed to be the Truth, in a way that cannot be proven or disproven effectively for lack of a way to measure effects of a particular theory. Religion demands that you believe what others have believed in the past, and accept the answers given to you, even though there is no way to test their validity beyond reasonable doubt. Going back to the metaphor, it is akin to making you use wooden wheels to get around, even if there are no trees where you live.
Wisdom, on the other hand, is all about rediscovering the wheel with every generation or climbing Mount Everest without any shortcuts. The point is not to reach the goal, to find the Truth, but to pursue the goal, to experience the journey... to craft your own wheel. This is the only way one can shape their own identity. There is no satisfaction in being dropped off by helicopter on the summit of Mount Everest, any more than there is in being told what to believe. Yet journeying there, feeling every footstep, seeing every sight, is the true prize. Wisdom is not about finding answers, but pursuing them. Truth is in the pursuit, not the destination, because the destination is irrelevant. Say you are told the Truth at a young age. What, then would be the satisfaction in life? What would you live for? What if knowing the Truth is the same as not knowing it? Nobody knows. And because nobody knows, wisdom should take the place of religion, and each person should find their own beliefs.
What kind of appreciation would you have for a Truth that took no effort to discover? Similarly, what faith can you have in a Truth delivered to you? It is not your Truth, but that of whoever believed it. Having a message appear to make sense to you is no reason not to pursue your own Truth. Who knows... in place of the wheels you were told to use, you might just discover wings.
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