Disclaimer: in this post I am aware that I speak with a certain level of confidence as if what I say is fact. To clarify, these are all my own personal opinions and no offense is intended. As Nietzsche claimed in regards to almost every philosophical opinion, that they are “a confession on the part of its author and a kind of involuntary and unconscious memoir”. Basically, don’t take this too seriously, I’m just talking for the sake of talking.
Alright, I get it, that title is quite something but I can explain. Humans, as a species, we hate uncertainty, we want answers and we just hate not knowing (we “would rather lie down and die on a sure nothing than on an uncertain something” – to somewhat misrepresent Nietzsche’s quote given the context, but it works). No one truly knows whether or not there is a god, even the most dedicated religious scholars, even the pope, they may have absolute faith in the existence of their god(s) but the point is they don’t know beyond all doubt. Even Jesus had doubts (though admittedly not about the existence of God, simply about his love and omni-benevolence) while hanging on the cross he exclaims “why have you forsaken me?”
When I claimed that no one truly knows whether or not there is a god, there is a caveat and that is for those who experience religious psychosis. Doubt is the enemy of comfort and contentment and only the insane are without doubt. Ultimately there are three ways in which to live your life: 1. Be absolutely sure of the existence of god(s) (naturally, this is scary as you know that humanity is no longer top of the food chain so to speak and one day you will have to be judged by a supernatural being beyond your comprehension). 2. Be unsure of the existence of god(s) (scary due to uncertainty, instability, these will always cause fear; fear of the unknown). 3. Be absolutely sure of the non existence of god(s) (by far the scariest option. If there’s no god, there’s no creator, no meaning, no purpose to our continued existence. A godless existence is a futile one, no matter if the way you cope with it is existentialism, absurdism or nihilism, nothing changes no matter how much you lie to yourself).
Obviously, people will dispute this and will say something like “well that’s paradoxical because if there truly is no god and no meaning then this life is all we have and that in itself makes it special. If this is all there is then this is all we have.” That’s a very admirable and beautiful way of thinking but you’re still ultimately creating illusions and excuses to cope with something crushing. If you have a terminal illness and choose to be happy and optimistic and live your life to the fullest then that’s amazing and admirable but it doesn’t change anything, you’re still ill and you’ve created a comforting coping method to deal with it.
Now I understand that I’m in danger of coming across as pessimistic. You may well be thinking “well then if life is so meaningless, why don’t you just off yourself and save us this depressing drivel?” I’d have to say that’s rather rude but it is a genuine question. I will clarify though, this post is by no means a statement of my religious, moral or ethical beliefs. I count myself in the second category I mentioned and, to (most likely controversially) align myself with Freud; though I described optimism and anti nihilism as comforting illusions, I am by no means saying that that is a bad thing, in fact I would say that it’s rather necessary.
To go back to the original subject of this post I truly believe that, while religious psychosis is not possible to achieve consciously, people intentionally remain in the second category, lying to themselves because they cannot cope with the prospect of the third category. Think of people who believe in the occult and witchcraft; people who have tried to summon and invoke spirits and demons. It’s never worked, there’s been no proof at any point throughout history that any of it is real and yet people still do it, they still lie to themselves because finding out that you’re not alone in the universe is terrifying, but the one thing scarier is finding out that you are. If you truly once believed in demons and spirits and witchcraft and find no proof of the existence and in fact find the opposite then that will absolutely crush you. The basis of everything in your life, the foundation of everything you believe in has been pulled away so what do you do? You pretend it hasn’t, you make excuses, you didn’t do the invocation correctly, no one’s ever done in correctly, they weren’t worthy of the spirits. Comforting illusions which are necessary to avoid accepting and facing a dangerous and terrifying reality.
This is not exclusive to occultism and witchcraft of course. Think of one of the most commonly used religious phrases; “the lord works in mysterious ways”. It’s perfect. Any doubts, any fears, anything that threatens your belief system can be avoided and brushed aside; “well how could you possibly understand what this supernatural celestial being knows, plans and intends?”
To round this off, I want to clarify that I have no intention of changing anyone’s religious, moral, ethical or existential beliefs and I’m sure everyone will disagree with at least one thing I said which, in my mind, is a win because if I can get you to engage and think, even if you’re thinking about how stupid I am and how much you’d love to punch me in the face then I’d class this as a successful post. If you enjoy this style and these kinds of topics then I’ll be making more posts soon about similar things and I hope that you’ll enjoy them.
Contemplations of Ciaran 
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