Jan 7, 20214 min read

Why Do We Need Religion? Do We Really Need a Religion? World is Changing, Are You?

Religion, as we know it, has always been a controversial food for thought. Various people have various opinions, and religion in itself doesn't have a very pinpoint description or definition of what it is, but we still know anyway.

Oftentimes, we label religion as something we don't need, and the reasons for that are valid. Religion, in human history, has taken lives and divided people and lands and blown up cities since it's creation if we look into it. Religious beliefs have often lead to clashes and wars at different points in time and acted as major turnovers in the course of history.

But we cannot really just blame it all on religion. Beliefs are still personal choices or maybe things that have formed due to years of them being conditioned into our thought process. Either way, the question is, what do we call true religion? Well, it's continuously evolving. Not everyone can be absolutely devout to the laws of their religion.

There is no true religion, actually. True religion calls for your faith and belief in one absolute God that is the holder of all powers and nobody else. Medieval accounts on religion, however, talk to purifying people from false religion to true religion, which we can't really say much about since it was the medieval times and a time of change and transition that the generations went through back then, rummaging and exploring different beliefs and alternatives and ideas and concepts and so on.

Religion is still evolving. Well, not the religion to be exact but the ways in which people think about it and follow it. In fact, new ideas and beliefs have emerged too with time passing. For example, Raëlism, a cult that believed in UFOlogy and aliens bringing humanity into existence, came up in the 1970s, founded by Claude Vorilhon. It originated in France and now has thousands of followers and believers worldwide.

We do need a religion, as a matter of fact, evolving or not. And here is why.

Social Interactions

Religions can divide people, yes, because it's that many of them that exist. But on the other hand, it also brings people with the same beliefs and ideas together in a social space. People can interact, share thoughts, feel comfortable, and bond over similar things. Of course, people are free to do this even without the presence of religion or on the basis of other things, but religion is a good great way to bring people together. If people can begin not to hate each other for having a different set of thoughts, that is as simple as it gets to stop inter-regional clashes at the core.

Religion does build a space for people to come together and socialize and form a society structured with certain methods and beliefs.

Also, Read about: What Makes Christianity Different From Other Religions? Know the Uniqueness of Christianity!

A Guardian

We all need a driving factor or a pushing force, or even more importantly, a direction to go on. Religion gives us the idea of believing in an almighty or a powerful source of everything from where we came to be. It is like having a guardian that guides us towards nice things to do in general and set up certain ways of doing things, maybe even imbibe ethics and morals.

The problem only arises when people begin to think that these guardians are at war with each other. Religion, in itself, is something that shows us the right way of doing things, living our life. While certain things can obviously vary from person to person, the idea of having someone watching over us is a good thing in all.

Not worshipping a specific deity or so does not lead to your freedom from religion but unless you want it that way, but having a higher power to believe in is good in its way.

Up Next: Why is True Religion Outdated in the 21st Century? Do We Really Need Freedom from Religion?

Rules

Religion, in itself, translates to a set of rules. It is no unknown fact that religions all come with rules. It is what makes them in a way. And rules are a good thing to follow. It builds your ethics, sets certain boundaries, and helps you understand right from wrong. You could say you are losing your religion when you are losing your ethics and the values it's supposed to teach you. True religion, taking it specifically, would only exist if there were rules. Even raëlism has its own rules that one might not think of it does. Rules help shape religion and an overall person that believes in its ideals and goals.

Parting Thoughts

We can conclude that without religion, the world might look like a better place, but at the same time, you also wouldn't have Christmas. To think, there would be nothing to obey and nothing to follow, and nothing to prove our beliefs through. Certain things wouldn't exist that we essentially need in our lives. In all, freedom from religion might come at a cost if people did not know what they want to do with it or do not have an ethically acceptable direction to their thoughts and goals.

To lose your religion is only when you take it the wrong way and mean harm. No religion whatsoever asks one to harm another to put another individual in harm's way. It's people using religion as an excuse for their misdeeds that leads to religion, creating divides and rifts between people. Religion was never meant to divide people. It was always the man that did it.

The peaceful coexistence of people with various thoughts and beliefs together can absolutely prevent any sort of wrongdoing if people only chose to do so. Religion, as a matter of fact, delivers prime importance to the well-being of people and the harmonious existing of mankind, and nowhere has one religion ever put another down.

No religion promotes itself over another or humiliates the ideologies of another. In fact, they are all the same in some parts. They all promote honesty, equality, and respect, and peace as an eternal part of themselves. We need religion for all the good things it has to offer us. It is always the only man himself that has used religion for wrongs.