Religion, Violence, and Wisdom

No matter if you are Muslim, Hinduism, Christianity, or Buddhism, it doesn't define whether you are peaceful or violent.

"There are Buddhist monks in Myanmar slaughtering women and children. Does Buddhism promote violence? Of course not. People are violent or peaceful. And that depends on the politics, social world, the way they see their communities, the way they see themselves." - Reza Aslan

Maybe existentialism is right: many things in the world will not change with/ without God. Eventually, it is us who have to decide what is right or wrong about values, and religion is no exception.

There's only one thing I don't like about religion: its innate naiveness. To believe religion is to take a leap of faith, and simply shut down your logical faculty, because one will realise it is exhausting to doubt while trying to believe it. Hence if one commits to a religion, one has put aside his doubts.

"To have faith is to lose your mind and to win God." - Soren Kierkegaard.

Religion is a mere illusion of wisdom, but most of the time illusion is more beautiful than reality. Genuine wisdom resides in the continual seeking of wisdom. Let's say that even though philosophy contains lots of wisdom, it is still not wisdom itself. The word philosophy is originated from the Ancient Greek word 'philosophia' (philo means love, sophia means wisdom). Philosophy is the love of wisdom. Although many questions in philosophy don't have an answer, such as "who am I", "does God exist", and "what is right/ wrong", nonetheless, we continue seeking answers. That is wisdom. However, religion requires followers to devote their minds to dogmatic teachings which sometimes can't be logically reasoned. Believing in something that its existence is not certain of is what we called faith, but it is however not wisdom. Bertrand Russell has once supposed such an analogy for the existence of God, which is known as Russell's Teapot:

"If I were to suggest that between the Earth and Mars there is a china teapot revolving about the sun in an elliptical orbit, nobody would be able to disprove my assertion provided I were careful to add that the teapot is too small to be revealed even by our most powerful telescopes. But if I were to go on to say that, since my assertion cannot be disproved, it is intolerable presumption on the part of human reason to doubt it, I should rightly be thought to be talking nonsense. If, however, the existence of such a teapot were affirmed in ancient books, taught as the sacred truth every Sunday, and instilled into the minds of children at school, hesitation to believe in its existence would become a mark of eccentricity and entitle the doubter to the attentions of the psychiatrist in an enlightened age or of the Inquisitor in an earlier time." - Bertrand Russell on "Is There a God" in 1952.

I was searching for wisdom and truth. I was confused and deluded. But now I see. Religion is a haven of security and community, and it provides a sense of hope, a way of living, and a meaning of life. Religion do have its bright side. Of course it does. The moral values and examples. The most important thing about Jesus is no longer the validity of his existence, but the moral example he lays down for humanity.

Therefore, although religion has innate naiveness because the nature of religion requires us to give up our ability to critically doubt, it is not stupid and naïve to follow religion. If it is stupid, how would an engineer or a doctor believe in Christianity. It's the social and cultural part of a religion that attract people. However, what makes religion distinct from other activity is its spiritual connection with a supreme entity, namely God. So even though the social and cultural part can be replaced by arts, humanities, and communities, this spiritual connection is what so significant and irreplaceable for religion.

If I am to be honest with you, I have the intention of making the world less religious. My reason is already mentioned: the innate naiveness of religion. If one is to imagine religion is the infant period of humanity and reasons is the matured age, it is not too hard to see that children fight without reasons, and man although still fight, they don't fight without conference (unless they are drunk). That is why some of us may fear religious people (e.g. islamophobia), because they are too 'extreme', they believe in something that can't be reasoned; it is what it is because God says so. But what is more intimidating is their unworldly perspective on life. They focus too much on the 'afterlife', and hence they are willing to do anything: sacrificing themselves or killing others to achieve their goals (whether it is getting to heaven or making the world a better place). For those who are already religious, I have no intention to make any judgment on you or invalidate your belief. But for those who are not yet religious, I am bound to make sure that you understand religion well enough before you make decisions.

Summary: Religion has nothing to do with violence. It is the people who are violent. Religion has innate naiveness, but it is however not stupid or naïve to follow religion, because of the moral values, social and cultural benefits. If you are looking for wisdom or truth, do not go to religion; it is an illusion. I wish the world is less religious because religion is the infant period of humanity. Many things won't change with or without religion.

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