Is Religion Necessary?
No one can take the names of billions in one breath unless it’s in a prayer.
Religion, which many consider being man-made is what defines the most of us. We are born into a certain religion that our parents might be practising or following and we (at least some of us) have a choice to explore for ourselves. We may then choose to follow the religion in which we were born into, adopt a new religion, i.e., convert into a different religion with which we may feel to connect or choose to be non-religious, an atheist. This choice I believe should be granted to human beings all over the world. After all, everybody has the right and freedom to explore for oneself.
Now there are many kinds of religions and many kinds of ethnicities. Some of the popular or populated ones being–Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Islam, etc. Mostly in all religions, the followers believe in the existence of a God or a spiritual being who is omnipotent and all knowing. The giver of birth and death. The followers also mostly believe in after-life and reincarnation.
The question that I pose here is not about the existence of God but about the necessity of religion and the belief in God. So, is religion really necessary?
To answer the question, I think we must first consider a hypothetical (but possible) world where there is no religion. No Christians, Hindus, Muslims, Jews, Buddhists, etc. What would such a world look or be like? Would it be any better? Because if it wasn’t better than the world full of religions, then we might as well have religions. For a moment, let’s consider what such a world would be like.
For one, it would really be a world without boundaries as people wouldn’t differentiate one another on the basis of religion. Nobody would be an outsider in that sense. There wouldn’t be any holocaust as Hitler wouldn’t be able to arouse the anger in the Germans against the Jews. There wouldn’t be any 9/11 as the Muslims wouldn’t be targeting the Christians. There wouldn’t be any ISIS. Back home, there wouldn’t be any Babri Masjid demolition, the call for building a Ram Mandir, Gujrat riots of 2002. These disasters could be averted, human lives could be saved.
If one really begins to consider on these lines, one would think that a world without religion might, after all, be a world of peace. At least people wouldn’t fight on the basis of religion, which can be considered to be the basis of many a riot. Many dictators have risen due to the bitterness between different religions.
Now that we have imagined a world without religions which kind of looks rosy, let us imagine a bit more. Even though our imagined world might not have any religion, there is no guarantee that there wouldn’t be any wars. Most of the wars in human history were fought due to hunger, poverty, depression. There could still be a 9/11 as the developing world would want to rage a war on the developed world due to their unwanted interferences. There could still be an immigration crisis due to famine in some countries on the count of dictatorship. There could still be a Hitler arousing anger in the rich class against the filthy and immigrated poor class. There could still be an American civil war with the whites against the blacks.
Thus, a world without religion doesn’t mean a world without conflicts and wars. On the contrary, there could be more of them as people could be more pessimistic, without hope and without a common thread.
Religions of all kind believe in compassion, kindness, inclusiveness. God might just be a short-form of the Gift of Desperation, but it still gives hope. It is true that without hell, there can’t be any heaven, that religion instils fear, but then in some ways, this fear might do good to the society. Only when we have experienced or known the horrors of evil, do we realize the importance of goodness.
Religions help societies to be connected, to care for one another, to form communities, to be kind and compassionate, to control our human desires, to not exceed our rational limits. It can very well lead to the rise of fanatics, which it often does, it can instil in people a feeling of jingoism and superiority that may then lead to conflicts. But I think that one who truly understands his/her religion would be more inclined towards optimism than pessimism, hope than fear, forgiveness than revenge, discussions than conflicts, peace than war.
Thus, religion may very well not be needed if humans were inherently more humane, and religion can in and of itself be the means of destruction, but then it may also be the means of showing the right path, the path of kindness and compassion. I think and perceive religion to be a way to foster humanity and I think that in this 21st century we need the help of every method that we have to do just that!
There ain’t no God and the whole world’s empty and it doesn’t matter what we do to each other!! I hope not. —Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
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