Blind Faith in Religion Destroys Our Ability to Critically Think For Ourselves!
Human beings need a source of security. When they are at their most vulnerable, they need something to turn to for comfort. When they want something direly, they need someone to ask or security. When they are looking for salvation, they need something to provide them with that sense of spirituality.
God and religion fulfill all those needs. Humans pray to God for comfort, wants, and redemption. Religion provides them with the faith and a haven that they can turn to when they have hit rock bottom.
What is Religion?
True religion teaches us to love and not to hate. An honest faith in God will never drive a person to slaughter another human being. What it will do is ask us to spread peace and tranquillity among humanity. It teaches us that everyone is essential. It gives us a sense of courage to face our problems boldly and helps us choose the moral high ground.
True religion teaches us self-awareness and ways to connect with one's spirit. It makes us introspect deep within ourselves and seek the answers that would help us walk in the right direction.
How has Religion Blinded Us?
However, more often than not, religion turns out to be a curse. To some people, religion and their faith gain so much importance that logic and reasoning cease to exist. It almost becomes like an addiction. Whenever something goes wrong, they keep turning to their blind beliefs for the solution to all their problems.
We often see people regularly praying to God when disaster strikes in their lives. As if God will solve everything without them giving any effort, but that is not true. God will guide us through the right track, not solve our problems.
We have to fight our own battles. Rather than using religion to introspect, human beings use it as an excuse for escapism. What they do not understand is that by doing this, they are only driving themselves further away from realizing the actual and most poignant values of religion and faith. That is to seek God within one's self.
Moreover, not just this, people keep misusing religion repeatedly. They murder and brutalize each other in the name of religion. God becomes nothing but another word to them that they can use to get away with anything.
Religion Breeds Distinctions
When religion becomes the most important driving force in a person’s life, they tend to lose all sense of rationality. Moreover, this is quite evident in today’s situation. Human beings are spreading hatred and terrorism in the name of religion. They have created divisions among themselves based on religion.
If you are a Muslim among the Hindu majority, you are unworthy of decent treatment and vice versa. What they forget is that we are all one, born from the same source and feeding on the same Earth. In such situations, religion stands to be a superficial farce.
In a whirlpool of blind faith, we forget to think for ourselves. We forget that our fellow human beings are people too, and they need to be treated with the same respect, as we would like them to treat us.
We become illogical and irrational and cannot think outside the box. This creates a situation of fragility and chaos. So much so that we will destroy everything that gets in our way or attacks our faith. We lose all sense of empathy and perceptiveness and deem ourselves to be the most superior. This domineering sense of ego is what ultimately leads to our downfall.
Gaining Freedom from the Shackles of Religion
So is there a way to achieve complete freedom from religion? The answer is that it is highly unlikely. Today, religion is a major driving force in wars and conflicts. Moreover, as long as human beings will exist, so will their faith in God.
There is no one way to gain freedom from religion. Either we reject God entirely and become atheists, or we try to compromise and only adopt the good that religion has to offer.
As long as religion exists, people will find a way to abuse their power. That is just a human tendency. So, there is no way to gain total freedom from religion or its darker side. What we can only do is to think for ourselves and nurture our ability to judge right from wrong.
Many times, our religious authorities will ask us to stereotype against and spread hatred towards certain communities and minorities. In that situation, we need to question their and our own beliefs. We need to ask ourselves whether doing that is morally right or wrong.
If we can find an answer to that, then maybe we can gain some freedom from religion or rather its more oppressive side.
Complete freedom from religion is impossible, at least for the next couple of centuries. Hence, we need to prepare ourselves to understand the impacts of religion more wisely and approach it more cynically—question your faith, beliefs, and authorities.
You can think about what is right for you. Overall, we need to teach the real values and virtues religion has to offer and reject the diabolical malpractices some cruel and selfish humans try to spread in its name.
Also Read: Why is Religion Outdated in the 21st Century? Understand the Relevance of Religion in 21st Century!
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