So, recently I was talking to a friend and somehow we got to talking about religion and stuff. When I complained that religion is often put on a huge pedestal and that it’s really just a glorified opinion and should be subject to the same criticism as any other opinion, they told me that that was a really hot take.
According to them, belief and religion is more than just an opinion since it’s such a big part of people’s lives. I countered that opinions are also big parts of people’s lives and personalities. I mean, a huge chunk of your personality is based on your opinions, right?
We agreed to disagree but I kept thinking about it. I don’t get why religion shouldn’t just be treated like any other opinion just because people tend to cling to it. I get that it people are emotionally invested but that’s not just the case with religion but other opinions too. I would appreciate your thoughts to help me understand better, is it really a hot take?
Catholic here.
We preach to our kids that Religion is a choice. Above all else, it is the choice to believe in the mysteries (by definition unprovable) issues of faith.
But what you believe isn’t a choice. You can not consciously choose to believe anything, you can only be convinced to believe or convinced, coerced, forced,… to pretend to believe but your actual belief is not under your conscious control.
But what you believe isn’t a choice
Catholics believe it to be a choice because we believe in free will, among other things. And we choose to believe in free will as a gift from God.
At which point the argument becomes circular, therefore a choice. You can choose whatever now
your actual belief is not under your conscious control.
People seem to choose to join, or leave, our religion on a regular basis. So as a matter of practicality… I’ve seen people choose and change their beliefs.
As I explained to others on this subject: do you believe that others can manipulate your opinion? If so, you can use those same techniques to manipulate yourself in the mirror. That’s your choice as well.
Even if you are a helpless sheep, you have the advantages of psychological research today to manipulate yourself into choosing your beliefs through simple psychology and mirrors.
Of course people’s opinions and beliefs can change. You just can’t decide to change them. You can obviously e.g. decide to learn more about a subject and as a result of that action your beliefs change but you can not just decide to change what you believe any more than you could decide to grow taller or to have your fingers fall off.
Well, the first religions in the history of humanity were a huge step forward, from basically nothing to a basic sense of culture and identity.
That said, most religions are thousands of years old, and we have updated our knowledge and wisdom since. Clinging to religion nowadays, to me, is just braindead.
Edit: but old customs hardly die, so there’s that.
I dont think so. Faith is something different from having formed an opinion if someone really believes. It is why I cannot change my opinion if there exists a god or not: The belief is just not there. No amount of convincing will change that.
I’ve actually witnessed multiple people who became believers after years of atheism. I’ve also seen people lose their faith. I think that religious beliefs are usually just really tough but not impossible to change, just like some opinions
I dont doubt that, Im just saying i believe it would never be because you logically convince someone.
