Religion is like a day at the race track.
I have given the topic of world religions a lot of thought recently. Admittedly, this allegory has been constructed from my (imperfect) Christian perspective, but this is the allegory I have decided fits best.
We are all patrons at a race track. The rules at this particular track are:
- Entry to the track requires a $100 investment, no more, no less, which gets put into an account with your name on it.
- You only get to bet on one horse at a time, and each bet is for $9.
- If you don’t bet on a race, $10 is automatically removed from your account.
- There will be 10 races throughout the day, and you don’t get to leave the race track until the last race is finished.
- During Race 10, you have to place a bet, and it’s all or nothing.
- You have to pay the House $10 for parking on your way out of the racetrack, whether you won big or lost it all.
Sample portion of a Daily Racing Form (click to enlarge)
Upon our entry to the track, we all are handed a slip of paper with the day’s odds on it. Many of us, at our first race, really don’t know what to make of all the names and numbers– so we ignore them. Instead, we observe the bets that our parents/guardians (or people we trust) make before we start placing our own bets. We simply copy what they do for the first several races. During this time, we start to notice if our parents seem to be getting it right– if they seem to be making reasonable gains, or if their logic for picking their horses really makes any sense to us. If they do, and it does, we likely will continue to place our bets in the same manner as they do. If they don’t, or it doesn’t, we will start taking a closer look at the paper with the day’s odds, or what other people we come in contact with are doing with their bets.
Throughout our day at the track, other patrons we come in contact with are trying to convince you to place your bets one way or another– insisting that we can all win big, and that they have the best interpretation and understanding of the day’s odds and that if you stick with their betting algorithm, you’ll leave the track at the end of the day with your pockets full. Some have your best interest in mind and want to spread the luck all around, others don’t have your best interest in mind, and lead you in the wrong direction for their own gain in a “more-for-me” mentality; you have to discern who is who.
Sometimes the popular choice is a “guaranteed” win, but with a tiny payout. Sometimes the unpopular choice is the right choice, and has the biggest payout. Sometimes defying the odds works in your favor, sometimes it doesn’t. Sometimes going with the crowd works in your favor, sometimes it doesn’t. Sometimes going with your gut works in your favor, sometimes it doesn’t. It is, after all, a gamble!
Sometimes we bet along with our parents’/guardians’ forecasts, sometimes we don’t. Sometimes we don’t want to do the work of crunching the numbers and making heads or tails of the odds sheet and just go with the flow. Sometimes we just bet the same as those around us. Sometimes we just tune everyone out and do our own things because it seems like no one really knows how to win every time.
Selfies at Churchill Downs.
Sometimes we get caught up in all the noise around us and miss the betting deadline, or get busy with other things, or we lose interest in trying to determine the winning horse all together and just let the $10 evaporate without chance of returns. Some people may be of the opinion that the money they earn here won’t have any bearing on what happens to them when you leave the racetrack at the end of the day, so they don’t bother to try.
Just before race #10, the announcer’s voice booms over the sound system:
Good evening everyone, I hope you’ve had a lovely day at the track! Hopefully you’ve chosen your bets wisely during the last 9 races and have earned a good chunk of change and have the potential to win even bigger in this final race! But, if you haven’t, never fear! You’ve still got those last $10-19 in your account! Race 10 is about to get started in just a few moments; you all know the rules: you have to place an all-in bet, or lose everything you’ve already earned today. Best of luck to you folks!
When it comes down to the wire, you put it all on the line, say a prayer, the gun goes off, and you wait for the final crossing of the finish line.
Ok. I know, I know. It’s not a perfect allegory, and obviously I’ve never spent a day at the racetrack, but bear with me.
A few translations for the allegory:
- Money = spiritual “currency,” our investments of faith and good works, driven by said faith.
- Each race = a decision point in life.
- Each bet = where we actually choose to invest our faith and actions in response to the decision points were are presented with.
- Winnings/Payout = amount of glory brought unto God, based on our “bets.”
- Algorithms/strategies = Religions (Catholicism / Lutheranism / Judaism / Islam…).
- 10th Race = your 11th hour, the defining moments before your death.
- The Parking Payment booth = the gates of the afterlife.
With the $100 bank account, we all start out even with God. We are all born into this word with the same spiritual potential to win big by pleasing God. What we decide what to do with our spiritual currency (how we place our bets, as represented by our faith and works) determines how much we enjoy our day at the races. Winning is fun, losing is not– since we are stuck at the track until the 10th race, we all want to win as much along the way as possible. But sometimes, even winning comes at a cost:some people may give you trouble for doing better than they did, others may approach you and ask you for your secret. You must decide how to handle these situations.
Each race represents a decision point in life (Yes, I realize that people generally encounter more than 10 decision-points in their lifetime, but regardless of the number, it gets the same point across). There is spiritual “currency” at stake at each decision point, and the investment/bet you make determines the “payout;” which is ultimately the amount of glory brought unto God. If you don’t place any bets or are totally disinterested in “winning,” all of your chances to win are lost at that particular instance.
Algorithms for winning the races are like each of the world’s religions. Each religion has its formula on how to best relate to, and please, God. Each one has a variation of “if you stick with the program, you’ll come out ahead” ideology. At the end of the day, some of them are closer to the real list of winners than others. The interesting thing is, that I think most of our algorithms are flawed (albeit, some more than others). No one has a perfect understanding of exactly how to please God; we have theories, which we have molded into religions. We are doing the best we can to “win” as often as possible based on our own understanding– which, by essence of being human, is flawed.
As children, we don’t really understand how religion (relating to and pleasing God) works. We usually follow in the faith footsteps of our parents/guardians until we are old enough, or wise enough, to try and figure it out on our own. Sometimes we come to the same conclusion regarding the most successful algorithm/religion, a prescribed pattern of decision making, as our parents/guardians. Sometimes we don’t. As people who genuinely care about your wellbeing, it may cause some arguments between you and your parents/guardians if you choose an algorithm/religion different from the one they have decided is the best one out there. Pressure and persuasion to switch algorithms may come from either side, or neither side.
Sometimes when people make decisions about where to place their bets, they don’t take the time and the effort to look at the facts they are presented with. Sometimes we don’t want to do the work of researching the holy texts, the context of holy texts, or making heads or tails of conflicts between religions. Sometimes we just go with the flow. Sometimes we come up with a Frankenstein system of decision making by piecing together other algorithms we have heard, or just make up our own from scratch. Sometimes we just fly by the seat of our pants with what feels right to us at the time. Sometimes the algorithms get it right, sometimes they don’t, and sometimes we all just get a strike of dumb luck. Sometimes we make the right choice for all the wrong reasons; sometimes we make the wrong choice for all the right reasons.
Sometimes we get caught up in the noise of life, or get busy with other things and miss major opportunities to grow our spiritual bank account. Sometimes we just lose interest in trying to determine who or what’s right and just let the funds in our spiritual bank accounts evaporate without any chance of return. Sometimes we figure that we won’t win anyways, so “What’s the point of taking the time to try and figure out where to invest our bets?” and wave the funds in our spiritual bank accounts a “goodbye and good riddance!”
However, just before the end of the day (our time here on earth), we get one last bet. It’s all-in. We have one last chance to consider all of what we were bombarded with during our day at the races, one last chance to sort it out, and put our money where our mouth is. This final bet determines how we leave the racetrack. Do we leave with something to show for our time, or with nothing at all? I chose to include this in the allegory because most religions have some sort of exclusionary clause written in. For Christianity, if you accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you win big with entry to heaven, but if you don’t, well… you don’t (John 3:18, anyone?). Per my understanding (which may be flawed), in Islam, salvation is earned by total submission to worshiping God, who is understood to be separate from Jesus (Jesus is one of the flawless prophets, but not the son of God). At the end of the day, you are kind of forced to choose one because the bet you make, your faith and works, can only fall into one final decision — and you either get it right, or you don’t.
After we leave this life, the racetrack, we have to pay our dues to the House for “parking.”
If you won races (pleased God) along the way, and ultimately won the last race, $10 for parking won’t be missed; and you’ll get to go home (to heaven) and party with your extra winnings (with extra glory to give unto God) .
If you only won the final race, and came to please God in the 11th hour, $10 for parking will likely let you break just about even, perhaps with a few extra dollars to spend once you get home. Either with the extra winnings or not, since you have the $10, you get to go home (to heaven).
If you lost the final race, or decided not to place a bet at all, $10 will be more than you have in your pockets. It’s between you and the House (God), how that debt gets settled. I don’t claim to know how that works. My algorithm predicts that this results in going to hell; but the god I worship (as I understand Him), although He requires faith and repentance, is also merciful and loving. To repay your debt, do you get taken to prison (hell), to therapy for gamblers (purgatory/reincarnation/…?), or do you just get stuck in a boring waiting room (the grave) until God returns during the end of days and lets you go home (to heaven)? So, like I said, I don’t really know how that debt is repaid if you lose the final wager. I just know that I plan on making bets throughout my life in such a way that hopefully I don’t have to find out the hard way.
Anyway, that’s the product of a whole lot of thinking on the subject. If you think it’s a winner, cool. If you think it’s a pile of horse $#it, less cool, but, hey; you’re entitled to your opinion. Either way, I’d love for you to (politely) let me know what you think!
The Angsty Cephalopod's Musings 