Belief Is Death - but it doesn’t have to be
The peak of naive faith, the crash of disillusioned nihilism, and the measured climb of rationality.
7 essays and graphic posters examine how people form, question, and choose their beliefs, drawing from author Joan Merlo’s experiences as a former cult member.
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Sizes:
18” X 24”
12” X 16”
9” X 12”
🖨️ Printed on archival matte paper
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This piece was inspired by reflecting on my personal experience of gaining belief in my former religion, Mormonism. The religion's founder created an all-encompassing narrative or dogma to answer life’s biggest questions. The mythology culminates in his description of the afterlife and three “kingdoms of glory,” or levels to heaven. The moon, the stars, and the sun symbolize these, called telestial, terrestrial, and celestial, respectively. My adolescence and early adulthood were dominated by the drive to act in a way that would get me into the “celestial kingdom.”
The ideas that spawned from his delusions became a shared reality for me and millions of others.
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So yeah, dinosaurs.
Some topics are a little awkward to discuss with true believers. Those who have really thought about it, know that you can’t just accept that dinosaurs roamed the earth millions of years ago. Not while fully believing in creationism and other Mormon teachings.
Isn’t it quite beautiful that the ancestors of the dinosaurs, the finches of Galapagos, were what spurred our understanding of evolution?
Hint: the two colorways are Darwin’s fav colors (nerd alert)
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“I think you could use a cup of coffee.”
Not something you want to hear from the VP of your business unit, especially not as a Mormon who believes that coffee is a devil's drink.
That was 10 years ago, luckily, since then, I’ve gotten much more practiced at recognizing and rejecting ridiculous ideas. Which has allowed me to fall in love with coffee. If you look closely, you’ll see a coffee plant in the background, captured on a trip to a coffee farm in Indonesia.
Identifying and filtering out bullshit is a mental muscle. Anyone can do it, but you gotta want to.
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"By their fruits you shall know them."
But maybe don’t look at all their “fruits.” Or ask too many questions. Are we sure rambutans weren’t the forbidden fruit? In my former religion, the most forbidden fruit is skepticism. The most glorified, blind faith.
I now know that skepticism isn't about destroying all of the magic. It's about distinguishing between the smoke and mirrors and legitimate wonders.
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“Identity would seem to be the garment with which one covers the nakedness of the self: in which case, it is best that the garment be loose, a little like the robes of the desert, through which one's nakedness can always be felt, and, sometimes, discerned. This trust in one's nakedness is all that gives one the power to change one's robes.”
-James Baldwin
What if we defined ourselves, not by what we believe but by the kind of people we want to be? We have that ability.
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Where will you go?
Mormons/Christians/religious people often ask this. Implying there’s nowhere else to go. Lol.
Stepping outside of dogmatic belief reveals a world full of wisdom. There are belief systems without the insane baggage. There is a direct correlation between good beliefs and good actions. I believe Humanism and Utilitarianism produce outcomes that are as good or better than religion, without the many downsides.
"Safe harbors," if you will.
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Zoom in. Biology class, anyone?
Yeah, they’re neurons. These little guys are the reason for the season. Also for evil. Many people don’t want to accept that. It’s much easier to believe in a metaphysical force than to accept that evil is a capacity that stems from within us. And it’s often the results of zealous beliefs that aren’t rooted in reality.