religion makes stupid people even more stupid

[psyah]

Re: religion makes stupid people even more stupid

@Ranjhaa

I completely understand and appreciate what you are trying to explain, but the only thing I am asking is to show how religion can make a person a better human being than he already is. Or to take diwana’s excellent example, while we know there are many ways how religion can be used as a knife that can kill or cause disharmony but can somebody explain how it can be used to remove the cancer or make this earth a better place?

That is very true, but the thing is that once we realize that a particular thing is or can be harmful even with its many benefits or idealistic thinking (communism for example) we try course correction and not pursue with it in the same manner. Why should religion be any different?

40 Hadith Collection Imam-An-Nawawi

There shall be no harm, nor reciprocating harm

Religion will provide the formula for goodness, in this example we are not allowed to harm nor allow harm to occur, to stop it occurring and to prevent it occurring. With religion such as Islam if nuclear technology was discovered then the bomb that can be created from that knoweldge would be prevented from being constructed due to the ethics as defined by our religion. On the other hand those who had other values made the bomb and paved the world towards the climate that we live in today.

Religion acknowledges the soul and that it too needs sustenance. Worship is the food for the soul. Those who do good for other people have a world view of ‘goodness’ and do their deeds for a purpose that fulfils them. Does it mean that if they stop feeling good about giving charity that they will stop doing it? Religion shows us what is good and we observe it even when it is not fulfilling to us.

We give charity and perform acts of worship often to serve our inner interests, but if we stop feeling content about worship we still will not stop worshipping God. It means that those who are religious will maintain an outwardly good behaviour even when their inner selves are not telling them to do so. The lucky ones will always have their inner selves saying “do good”, but sometimes it tells us to do something else. Without religion we will not have a standard for good and no motive to continue.

Religion tells us how God prefers to be worshipped and what the best way of interaction with other is like. Religion will make us more patient in the face of calamity and reduce the rates of suicide.