The Advantages of Being a Religious Fanatic

A Westboro Church Protester

What if I knew that there was no one coming to save me or humanity.  We had to get along as best we could, make as wise decisions as we could, and assume responsibility for them including the mistakes.  Now that is stressful.  If we continued to heat up the atmosphere with greenhouse gases, and deplete the ozone layer, the Earth would eventually look like Venus. and no one would even be around to care or pick up the pieces. 

But what if, on the other hand, I believed that none of this was going to happen.  Climate change was a hoax because it wasn't mentioned in the Bible or any other holy book.  A heavenly figure would rescue me no matter what I did, no matter whom I did it to, so long as I called out his name at some point in the process.  Now that sounds like the road to sublime peace.  However, there is a catch.

What if I told everybody I believed in the latter scenario, but because it was a bit farfetched, my belief was always wavering. In short, every now and then I had an itty-bitty doubt.  I would, in such a case, have to cajole as many people as possible into believing as I do, so as not to allow any negativity to spoil my serenity.   In fact I might have to get downright nasty, and insulting to those who refused to go along with my picturesque worldview, because it could so easily be punctured.  Sometimes people I loved would stray from my community but then I would have to cut them off so as not to contaminate the landscape that I had so painstakingly built up.  

So what does all this mean?  Life is stressful, whichever path you choose.