Unless you haven't seen a movie since 1939, you are probably familiar with that famous line in which the Wizard of Oz exclaims: "Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!" Upon the discovery that the so-called Wizard was a mere man behind a curtain who used trickery to create a frightening vision of himself complete with smoke and fire, the Scarecrow with complete justification told the Wizard that he was a "humbug."
I think that the men and women behind religion are much like the Wizard of Oz creating Gods and supposed miracles to frighten and intimidate vulnerable people. And like the Wizard, these "wizards of religion" demand that we pay no attention to the fact that it is they who are behind religion placing scary shouts into the mouths of the Gods they have created. Also, as in both the Wizard of Oz and religion, displays of threatening fire and smoke supposedly coming from the God can work wonders in controlling people getting them to do what they normally know is dangerously foolish.
The story of the Wizard of Oz also presents us with three characters, the Tinman, the Scarecrow, and the Cowardly Lion who turned to the Wizard seeking what it turned out they already had! Like these three characters, many people turn to what they hope is a higher power to find hearts (love), brains (wisdom), and courage. Yet people already have these things only needing to realize that they have them or that they need to work to nurture them. So just like the Tinman, the Scarecrow, and the Cowardly Lion never needed the Wizard to give them their hearts, brains, and courage, people don't need any God to give them hearts, brains, and courage.
Glinda the Good Witch teaches Dorothy an important lesson that if we do need help, then we should seek those who are competent to actually help us as we avoid humbugs. When it turned out that the Wizard was an incompetent buffoon unable to return Dorothy to Kansas, Glinda moved in to get the job done. So just as the Wizard symbolizes religion that fails to deliver, Glinda seems to be a metaphor for science and other effective human efforts.
While I'm not sure if Frank Baum intended his masterpiece to be allegory of religious fraud and failure, there does appear to be a lot of analogies with religion in it.
I think that the men and women behind religion are much like the Wizard of Oz creating Gods and supposed miracles to frighten and intimidate vulnerable people. And like the Wizard, these "wizards of religion" demand that we pay no attention to the fact that it is they who are behind religion placing scary shouts into the mouths of the Gods they have created. Also, as in both the Wizard of Oz and religion, displays of threatening fire and smoke supposedly coming from the God can work wonders in controlling people getting them to do what they normally know is dangerously foolish.
The story of the Wizard of Oz also presents us with three characters, the Tinman, the Scarecrow, and the Cowardly Lion who turned to the Wizard seeking what it turned out they already had! Like these three characters, many people turn to what they hope is a higher power to find hearts (love), brains (wisdom), and courage. Yet people already have these things only needing to realize that they have them or that they need to work to nurture them. So just like the Tinman, the Scarecrow, and the Cowardly Lion never needed the Wizard to give them their hearts, brains, and courage, people don't need any God to give them hearts, brains, and courage.
Glinda the Good Witch teaches Dorothy an important lesson that if we do need help, then we should seek those who are competent to actually help us as we avoid humbugs. When it turned out that the Wizard was an incompetent buffoon unable to return Dorothy to Kansas, Glinda moved in to get the job done. So just as the Wizard symbolizes religion that fails to deliver, Glinda seems to be a metaphor for science and other effective human efforts.
While I'm not sure if Frank Baum intended his masterpiece to be allegory of religious fraud and failure, there does appear to be a lot of analogies with religion in it.