religious education the hypocrisy of belief text by JEFF RIAN I’m a lefty-atheist-pragmatist. I see life as a complex network of relations and relationships that are materially driven, starting from cells to ourselves and passing through a variety of mutations. In the best case, an acceptance of difference abets a tolerance of diversity. Which, of course, is wishful thinking. We survive via community and some kind of order — rites, rules, laws, habits, and so on. Many seek a higher order of expression in organized religion, which promises a metaphysical continuity that remains unproven but is affirmed by belief, often from the strict authority of charismatic leaders. Religions are divisive when belief and authority are dogmatic, and more so when leaders are charming and physically attractive. Belief in general, or any mental representation of ultimate truth, such as a consistently just world, is delusional. Life is built on evolving…