What I Learned from Bertrand Russell: On Religion, Society & Patriotism

“It has been said that man is a rational animal. All my life I have been searching for evidence which could support this.”

The following is not a biography of Bertrand Russell. Rather, it is my interpretation of his philosophy and how it applies to modern American society. Notably, Russell spent much of his life and controversial career studying the negative effects that religion has on otherwise functional societies, as well as how religious dogma violates basic human logic and reason. As one can imagine, such opinions were not widely accepted in the mid-1900s. Hopefully, with the benefit of hindsight, contemporary Americans can appreciate some of Russell’s arguments and accept their validity.

“Do not fear to be eccentric in opinion, for every opinion now accepted was once eccentric.”

Bertrand A. W. Russell was born in 1872 to the daughter of a Baron and an Agnostic father. Since his father wished him to be raised Agnostic, Russell was made a Ward of the Court at the age of three and sent to live with his grandmother. Later, a graduate of Trinity College, Cambridge, he began an exceptional career as a professor of Philosophy and Mathematics, lecturing throughout the globe. Upon the outbreak of the First World War, Russell was fined for publishing a pamphlet which criticized prison sentences for conscientious objectors and was forced to forfeit his lectureship position at Trinity College. He was offered a position at Harvard University, but was denied a passport by military authorities and imprisoned for six-months for writing a pacifistic article. In 1938, he began an illustrious teaching career at some of the most prestigious universities in the United States. However, he was denied an appointment at the College of the City of New York after various religious groups protested the college’s decision, citing Russell’s questionable views on morality. He became a fellow of the Royal Society in 1908 and received their Sylvester medal. Later, he was re-appointed a fellow at Trinity College and in 1950 received the Nobel Prize for Literature.

“The people who are regarded as moral luminaries are those who forego ordinary pleasures themselves and find compensation in interfering with the pleasures of others.”

The notion that engaging in sexual relations prior to marriage is sinful is outright ridiculous. Indeed, sexual chemistry is a vital, yet not primary, component of any healthy romantic relationship. Why should inexperienced virgins be expected to understand who it is that they wish to spend the rest of their lives with? Sadly, this taboo remains firmly embedded in American culture. The fact is that most youths engage in sexually activity regardless of what authority figures say. Indeed, even those who profess virginity pledges are just as likely to engage in pre-marital sex as any other demographic. If the dogma were removed, parents would be able to initiate open discourse with their children regarding safe sex. Is it any wonder that teen pregnancy and teen STD rates remain highest in the United States compared to all industrialized nations?

“Many people would sooner die than think; in fact, they do so.”

This same notion can be applied to the use of contraceptives. It is a gross violation of human logic to demand that a country ravaged with HIV such as Africa should forego the use of condoms since the Vatican does not approve of the practice. How many unwanted children have been cast aside in dumpsters or abandoned on church steps by scared women who may have made fine mothers if only they could have waited a few more years? Instead, the future mothers of wonderful children are forced to abandon hope of personal achievement and raise children whom they may grow to detest.

“If there were in the world today any large number of people who desired their own happiness more than they desired the unhappiness of others, we could have paradise in a few years.”

Though divorce is not regarded as a taboo to the degree it was in Russell’s time, many religions still frown upon it. I am inclined to agree with his position that any marriage should be legally dissolved if any one of the partners so desires. How many women, or men, have been kept in abusive or imperfect relationships because their church says that divorce is a sin? It is unreasonable to expect every married couple to remain as such if one or both partners wish otherwise. Remaining in the same unhealthy relationship and expecting improvement is not virtuous; it is insanity.

“Patriotism is the willingness to kill and be killed for trivial reasons.”

Most people harbor a natural loyalty to those things which they were born into. Perhaps Thompson’s Inner Circle Theory explains why a member of one race, religion, or government feels as though he is better than any other. But why such blind obedience to ideals and principles which we had no say in creating? Why are so many young men willing to fight and die for a nation which they know so little about? No man should ever follow a flag blindly nor defend the old men who will send young boys to die. Whether the target is terrorism, communism, enemies of the state, securing national interests or any other depersonalized intangible, one would do well to scrutinize the motives of the elite. Qualities such as loyalty and obedience should never be regarded as virtuous as logic, reason, and intelligence.

“I think we ought always to entertain our opinions with some measure of doubt. I shouldn’t wish people dogmatically to believe any philosophy, not even mine.”

• “The most savage controversies are those about matters as to which there is no good evidence either way.”
• “If a man is offered a fact which goes against his instincts, he will scrutinize it closely, and unless the evidence is overwhelming, he will refuse to believe it. If, on the other hand, he is offered something which affords a reason for acting in accordance with his instincts, he will accept it even on the slightest evidence. The origin of myths is explained in this way.”
• “In all affairs it’s a healthy thing now and then to hang a question mark on the things you have long taken for granted.”
• “So far as I can remember, there is not one word in the Gospels in praise of intelligence.”
• “In the part of this universe that we know there is great injustice, and often the good suffer, and often the wicked prosper, and one hardly knows which of those is more annoying.”
• “A stupid man’s report of what a clever man says can never be accurate, because he unconsciously translates what he hears into something he can understand.”
• “I would never die for my beliefs because I might be wrong.”