Religion is Necessary

Religion & Life Assessment 2017

Secular communities believe that religion is unnecessary, due to the poorly constructed argument that science has replaced the old idea of God. Not all religions have a God, but they are still pushed out as they hold an unscientific belief in a deity or other dimensional force.

Religions participate in society with the majority of charity organisations, and by providing morals and guidelines. Religions also tend to support government, and have brought about many positive events in history. It is not a coincidence that the first societies to abolish slavery were Western societies rooted in Judeo-Christian values. And so were the first societies to affirm universal rights, emancipate women, and proclaim the value of liberty.

Without religion, specifically the Judeo-Christian religion, morality is just a matter of opinion.

There are scientific facts, but without God, there are no moral facts. In a secular world, there can only be opinions about morality. Without God, “good” and “evil” is just another way of saying “I like” and “I don’t like.” The statement “murder is evil” becomes “I don’t like murder.” Atheist philosophers acknowledge that if there is no God, there is no objective morality. Judeo-Christian values are predicated on the existence of a God of morality. Only if there is a God who says murder is wrong, is murder wrong. Otherwise, all morality is opinion.

This doesn’t mean that if a person doesn’t believe in God, they can’t be a good person. There are plenty of kind and moral individuals who don’t believe in God and Judeo-Christian values. But the existence of these people has nothing to do with the question of whether good and evil really exist if there is no God. There have been plenty of people who believed in God who were not good people – indeed more than a few have been evil – and have even committed evil in God’s name. The existence of God doesn’t ensure people will do good. The existence of God only ensures that good and evil objectively exist, and are not merely opinions.

Many will argue that you don’t need moral absolutes – people won’t murder because they don’t want to be murdered. But that’s just wishful thinking. Hitler, Stalin and Mao didn’t want to be murdered, but that didn’t stop them from murdering about 100 000 000 people. Without God we end up with “moral relativism,” meaning that morality is not absolute but only relative to the individual or society. They may be personal opinions or societies opinions, but only opinions.

All religions are a foundation for morals and beliefs; it helps shape us and determine what we see as right and wrong. Religious instruction and belief remain today the lifeblood of society’s moral ethos. Not only does religion teach virtue, it catalyses moral action.

No significant example can be given of a society that maintained a moral lifestyle without religion. If morality is subjective, even human rights are negotiable. Democracy works because most people most of the time voluntarily obey your laws. Religion taught that if the police didn't catch them when they broke a law, God would catch them.

Philosopher Aristotle supported slavery, as it was the result of natures morality - the survival of the fittest. Without a God of morality, moral positions, such as the value of human life, cannot be defended. If a secular person opposed polygamy, a practise that had once existed in almost every society, they would have little ability to defend it on moral grounds. For a secular person to classify sex as "play," and then oppose incest, would have no firm grounds as reason, as morality is opinion. People fear to leave homes at night due to teens who believe nothing is superior to their needs.

Destroy the link between social and cosmic orders, and you effectively destroy the validity of social order all together. Everything becomes negotiable. Religion (Judeo-Christian) is predicated on the belief in a God of morality and the absolute authority of this God.

Religion also challenges technological, political and economical ethics, in turn improving how they function and develop. For example, because the church opposed collection from some of the sources of stem cells, for stem cell research, a new and better source was developed.

Religion also provides theories and can guide both scientific and historical interpretations. Religion also provides answers to philosophical questions, which can help stabilise mentally unwell (depressed, anxious, etc.) peoples.

Religion's involvement in society is incredibly beneficial. You lose nothing and gain everything if you choose to live as if there is a God, even if you're not sure.

So yes. Religion is necessary.