It is OK to believe that exercise is good because there is evidence to support that belief. It is OK to believe that a vegetarian is healthier than a meat eater because vegetarians live longer than animal killers and have far fewer diseases and health crises.
But it is not OK to believe that the earth is flat, that Obama was born in Kenya, and that reindeer pull Santa Claus through the air once a year. Nor is it OK to believe in any of the religions that infect the minds of people on this planet.
It is not a virtue to believe in anything that has zero evidence to support it. That is a vice, not a virtue.
To argue that people are punished or rewarded after death based upon the content of their belief system is to argue that belief systems are important, so important that they determine one’s eternal fate.
And the argument is defective because it presupposes the existence of an eternally-abiding self that can receive an eternal reward or punishment, and there is no evidence that such a self exists.
I follow many Buddhist practices with no religious belief whatsoever. I know the Buddha was a man who died and who is not coming back. I seek no post-life reward nor do I fear post-life punishment. I do the practices diligently, because I know they are gradually turning me into a less aggressive, kinder person. And that has nothing to do with religion.
No religion holds a patent on kindness and therefore all religions are superfluous. Kindness is free. Houses of worship will someday be converted into meditation halls where non-religious practices that lead to increasing kindness are cultivated.
The virus of religion will be eradicated. Religion is just a mental illness, and kind people have healthy minds. Religion closes minds and breeds hatred and intolerance. Zen opens minds and breeds lovingkindness and acceptance. The proof is in the pudding: Zen practice produces a few ordinary people and many kind people. Religious training produces many ordinary people and a few monsters.
