So for my first blog, I thought I’d tackle a nice simple topic… is religion a positive or negative force in the World?
I don’t pretend that 500 words is going to answer that question! Indeed, the more I’ve researched and thought about it, the more questions I have.
Listening to the debates from both sides, it seems such a polarising topic, there is simply no room for movement from either camp. Well to some extent isn’t that to be expected?
You either believe in a God and let your life be guided by it to some extent, or you don’t and therefore live your life accordingly. Can you half believe in a God?
I think because of that binary starting position, you get more extremes in support or against. So as an example, let’s start by correcting an often mis-quoted statistic… religion is the cause of most wars in the World. Well of the 1763 historical conflicts, only 123 or ~7% had religion as their primary cause (Source: Encyclopedia of Wars); far more prevalent reasons are land conquest, politics, trade, or border security.
On top of that I often hear that ‘religious beliefs’ are simply incompatible with modern science, and that religious opinions are binary in what is a very ‘grey’ World. As a personal opinion, I do believe the power of science brings under scrutiny some aspects of the holy texts; but does that make religion fundamentally bad?
It’s interesting that over the last 100 years we’re beginning to see an increasing percentage of the population grow up without religion being one of their pillars in life. Do individuals seem better or worse for this? Is society stronger or weaker?
Well that is not an easy question to answer, the World has altered so much in that time, the way we live our lives now increasingly bears no resemblance to a century ago, so looking solely at the influence of religion would be wrong
You may have guessed (or maybe not), but I am not religious, but it doesn’t mean I don’t live my life trying to do the right thing and I’m incredibly lucky to be supported by amazing family and friends and I feel my life has great depth and breadth. I feel content.
However, here is my problem…. Is there an entire generation growing up that have a ‘void’ that previously religion would have filled? We live in an inter-connected, 24/7 World, where instant gratification is regarded as a ‘must’; in effect are we living in a World ‘with icing, but no cake’, where people ask what’s the purpose of life.
Is this one of the reasons why mental health for young people is such an issue in society, or why we seem to have more groups lurching to extremes, are they searching for that connection? I don’t have the answers, but it’s an interesting question…
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