I Believe

Religion offers comfort, safety and protection for those individuals who are either lost or confused in the world. But these efforts have extended beyond the realm of protection and into that of distortion. As Karl Marx stated, “Religion is the impotence of the human mind to deal with occurrences it cannot understand.” An individual’s need to have an answer exceeds the importance of the correct answer. This is why I believe that religion is no longer useful in the world and corrupts the minds of millions.

There are many natural phenomena that were difficult to explain during the times of the scientific revolution. The concepts of gravity and the solar system were unknown by the majority of the population of Europe during the 1500s. Because of the lack of understanding of classical physics and scientific principles the church stepped in and called it the work of God. The general public dared not interfere with the church’s decree mostly because of the broad influence of the church at the time. Early scientists were afraid to publish findings explaining the natural world from fear of excommunication by the church. Those that were brave enough to muster up the courage to share their findings were labeled enemies of the church. One such researcher was Galileo with his support of the heliocentric theory of the solar system. The Catholic Church denied his claim citing it as contrary to the scripture, despite the data and calculation that proved Galileo correct.

Religion is engaged in a constant struggle with science. Each advancement directs more questions to religions principles. Religion was used to control the thoughts of the public, even with some of these thoughts incorrect. Science can provide actual evidence to supports its claims, religion requires faith. Religion’s place in the world is diminishing. Science has made great advancements in the last few centuries. It can now explain, in detail, the natural world and nearly all the phenomena that once frightened the public.

Can religion stand up to the progress of science? The church that once controlled a continent and with it the thoughts of the people is not challenged by a new force that can provide actual evidence of natural occurrences. Human knowledge has reached new limits; the world no longer needs religion to create fallacies to explain the unknown. When people seek the truth they no longer need to turn to the church in fear, rather they turn to science for an explanation. People should not be told lies about the world around them simply because it does not agree with a text thousands of years old. They deserve the truth.