I understand and sympathize with the need for religion to answer the questions.

I am less sympathetic when religion becomes calcified and ossified as cult. The rigidity prevents further questions and other answers.

Of course, because if you keep asking, the answers collapse the whole structure.

I did it reluctantly with Judeo-Christianity, which I detailed in a former blog. A minister friend wanted to talk religion.

“Are you sure?” I said, giving him an opportunity to escape, a way out. “It’s dangerous, and you might not like the result.”

“Let’s do it,” he said, with the enthusiasm of his recent ministerial training.

We were at a party at his house when he pulled me aside. After two hours, he lost his faith.

The best he could come up with was agnosticism, where you just don’t know. But the religious certainty was gone.

The earlier blog post tells what came next. You can look it up.

This applies to every religion there is or ever was. Eventually, you hit the brick wall of doctrine. If you break down the wall, you’re adrift in a different universe with nothing to stand on but your own two feet.

I was thinking this time about vegetarians.

They profess a reverence for all life, and don’t eat meat. They don’t know what they’re missing. The extremists won’t even eat an omelet or drink milk. They’re ovo/lacto.

“Aren’t plants alive?”

“Well, yes, but they’re a lower level and don’t count as much.”

“So you discriminate like a racist.”

“We’re worried about the planet. Global warming is not a hoax.”

“No, it isn’t. But plants produce our oxygen, the breath of life, adjust the atmosphere, reduce global warming, so shouldn’t we plant more plants instead of eating them? Do you hear the squeal of asparagus when you bite into it?”

“I gotta eat something.”

“Is it the Jainists who say that all life is sacred and has a soul? That’s why they protect cockroaches and fleas, all the way down to microbes.”

“Uh, yes, I guess.”

“And they protect bacteria, but stop short at viruses which are not quite really alive until they’re triggered?”

“Uh…yeah…”

“But bacteria can cause death, so you support death and the agents of death?”

“Uh, no, uh…”

“Are you one of those who say we must protect and preserve all life from the very beginning?”

“Of course!”

“The egg and sperm are alive?”

“Yes, they are.”

“What about the millions of living sperm in every ejaculation who die because they’re not the lucky one? Do you oppose masturbation because it’s certain death for millions, like a world war?”

“Uh…I don’t wanna…”

“And withholding the release of sperm can mean you have a lot of old sperm hanging around degrading and can lead to final insemination which can produce birth defects and the dull normal we see around us every day.”

“Oh, Stop! Please stop! My head hurts when I think too much, which is not very often. I gotta have breakfast to keep up my blood sugar and renew my strength.”

“And what will you eat?”

“I have a sudden hankering for bacon and eggs.”

“I rest my case.”