Ever since the dawn of time: Man and religion have enjoyed a strenuous relationship. 84% of the world follows one faith or another. Christianity reigns supreme, Islam and Judaism are not far behind. Much ink and time have been wasted by better men than me; bickering on the issue of religion. In times such as these perhaps it worth examining religion and whether or not it has a fundamental flaw?
​​​A Man’s faith is not to be mocked at. We each of us; perceive the reality of the world differently. To say that religion is outdated is as wrong as science can solve the mysteries of the universe. Science and religion are on two different paths. We must not shame people for what they believe in, unless for the utter idiots who believe in a Flat Earth and for people who don’t Vaccinate their Children’s. To understand religion and man of faith: we must first understand religions relationship with science.
​At first Glance; people who believe in an afterlife and in an all-powerful heavenly existent can seem absurd, boarding on disillusioned, but what separates the man of faith from the flat earther is rather difficult to quantify. Faith is on a spiritual path, not a scientific one.
Faith deals with the afterlife; where science is left wanting. Religion is for the soul as science is for the mind. Christians believe in eternal life is neither supported nor disproved by science. Science cannot with any degree of certainty prove or disprove the existence of God. Science deals with reality and Religion with afterlife.
Science and religions are the two main pillars of humanity. For better or worse the history of our civilization is incomplete without the two pillars and these two pillars shall always be at war. To compare one with another is a great quixotic: as long as Humanity shall live on this earth; one cannot win over the other. The best we can hope for is that both Religion and science can stand on equal footings. One is not lesser than the other.
The shortcomings of religion are obvious, especially in the face of science. Religions fall well short of science in the believably regard and the proof regard, but the religions of the world have never proclaimed to offer proof rather the religions of the worlds have told people to take the teachings of that religions on belief without proof.
The problem that science has with religions is one of violence. Religion has never been kind to science. As a matter of Fact, religion has strived to brutally stomp out the very mention of science. Galileo was imprisoned. Giordano Bruno burned at the stake for voicing beliefs that are widely accepted today. It is amazing that science continued to flourish despite the brutality of Roman Inquisition and the Catholic church. Other religions such as Islam, Judaism, Hinduism are also not blameless. They have committed their shares of atrocities against science.
The hatred that science feels for religion is an understandable one. Without the atrocities that religion had wrought in the name of God: science would have flourished a great deal more and humanity was robbed of countless years of discovery and technological innovation by religion, but one cannot deny that these unfairness were done by men of religion rather than religion itself. Religion has no entity, no form: it is whatever we make of it. The men of religions are to be blamed not the religion itself.
Atheism and religion share many of the same traits. Both believe in the morality of humans. It is a universal fallacy that a religious man is not responsible for the consequences of his action. Man and women are responsible for the acts that they commit. No one is leading you astray, not satan or any other person.
Atheist and People of faith believe in justice, compassion, honesty, and integrity – just to name a few. The only point of difference between them is that Atheist feel dismayed and despondent about the problems that religion has caused in the history of humanity, while people of faith see religion as a sort of like redemption
There’s no denying that many wrongs and injustices have, in the history of human existence, been perpetrated in the name of religion. Religion was and is always supposed to be a blueprint for the spiritual and material progress of humanity.
Think about it this way. An average person of faith believes in the existence of one god(The one true god). He renounces all other gods in the favor of his own, and Atheist, on the other hand, renounces all gods, So In-essence an atheist is only renouncing one more god that his average religious counterpart. That makes most of us in part atheists.
Atheism and religion will never go hand in hand; Just as Science and Religion can never truly coexist peacefully. Religious people will never let Athiest rest or people of Science and science will always be on the search for truth. Religion will seek to convert the non-believers and silence the scientist. That is how the conflict between Atheism and science has happened with religion, and the conflict will continue to wage on for centuries more. Peace between the three is little more than a pipe dream. Atheist won’t be dissuaded from the reality of the world, science will never give up the search for truth and People of faith will never give up on their belief.
The problems that most people have with religion can be boiled down into three categories, or three important points. These three points are held up as problems with religion.
Religion is outdated.
The most simple and widely held belief against religion is that many feel religion is outdated. The laws that govern the working of any religion were written nearly centuries ago. Judaism has existed since before Christ, Christianity is 2000 year old. Islam was founded nearly 1500 years ago. It seems absurd that the teachings of these religions should be followed today and most of the world sees these teachings as Arcane.
While there is a degree of Truth to this point but consider this: religions change. Christians have changed their opinion on Gay relationships. Islam is slowly coming around to the idea that Women are equal to men. It is true that these changes are happening too slow but what it religion if not mirror of our own beliefs and the primary focus of any religion has been peace. Peace is as relevant today as it was at any time in history. There is nothing wrong with being more compassionate or more loving to your fellow man.
Religion is just Manipulation
People often seem to make the mistake of confusing the teachings of the religion with the teaching of the teachers of the religion. Religion is not just manipulation but some people have used religion for their own personal gain. Christianity has nothing to do with the Ku-Klax-Klan or the Neo-Nazis. Just as Islam has nothing to do with Muslim Extremism. Most religions teach peace and compassion, not violence and war.
Religion Causes war
Religions have been the primary factor for wars. Rivers of blood have run in the name of religions. Billions have given their life’s in the name of one religion and billions more have taken trillions of life in the name of their faith. Unspeakable horrors have been done in the name of God. Think of how much better the world could have been if not for religion, but had we adhered to the letters of religions than the world would have been a different place.
Religion and Science will always be at war. There will always be those that will say that the Universe is a better place without religion and on balance they might be right. For all the lives that religion has claimed to save; there are a hundred more forever destroyed by religion and in the name of religion, but religion teaches us Humanity, compassion and live above all else and that is the parts of religion that we must follow.