This I Believe

I believe religion is a form of mind control. I reached this conclusion after my expirience of living as an orthodox Jew.

I had always felt an affinity towards my Jewish Heritage, and at age seventeen decided to attend and orthodox synagogue where I developed a friendship with the rabbi and his family. I grew tremendously devout-observing the Sabbath, eating in accordance with Jewish dietary law, and praying daily. My thirst for knowledge in my newfound faith led me to the internet where I came across a lady named “Kathy” who had herself become religious and was then raising a hassidic family in brooklyn.

Upon graduating highschool I flew to New York, first visiting “Kathy” for a weekend, then heading upstate to study in a Jewish women’s program that my rabbi had reccomended. “Kathy” was pleasant and hospitable, thus I continued corresponding with her. As the program concluded I desired to submerse myself in the hassidic culture, so I rented an appartment in Brooklyn near “Kathy”.

Life if hassidic Brooklyn was not as I envisioned. The ultra-orthodox women were considerably oppressed. They were often excluded from religious festivities and were expected to wear long clothing even amid the hottest weather. As I became more aquainted with “Kathy” I found her temperamental and often witnessed her husband display hostility towards her and their children. I knew this was not how I wished to live and after two months returned home.

Despite all that I saw in Brooklyn, I remained fearful that God would punish me if I did not obey Jewish law. As time passed, however, I became increasingly aware of the injustice in the world and religion no longer provided a satisfactory explanation or solution. I also began to realize how superficial religion was. There were men who refused to drive on Saturday yet lacked respect for their wives and people who prayed dailyyet loated fellow human beings, sometimes simply because they were from a different religious sect. I continued to discover discrepancies between my philosophies and those I was indoctrinated with. I was troubled by the bible’s positive portrayal of animal sacrafices and viewed pestilance and suffering as the result of human actions rather than devine will. Religion teaches people to accept without challenge which is extremely dangerous, for action and dissent, rathe that faith and obedience are what brings justice.