There was recently an article about religion on Instablogs, where the writer was making a case against religion, and I felt compelled to make some comments (which turned out very lengthy). I feel even more compelled now to take a stand on the other end of the line. I make a case based on logical appeal, and will attempt to attenuate any element of bias. Here’s my case:

First: Let us define religion as a body that assembles a collection of ideals which they believe to be positive. This body also practices certain doctrines that they believe will aid them in instilling these ideals in themselves. In other words, they make effort to mix these positive ingredients into themselves.

The reason I specify positive ideas, is that there are groups of mystics and miscreants out there who pose as religions but are destructive; just like there are good governments and corrupt governments, but we ideally define that governments are meant to be good.

Second: The inclusion of the term positive in my definition of religion, as well the mention of the word “good” leads me to define what it means to be good. Goodness can be defined as accepting and practicing certain ethics that promote fairness, peace, happiness, and ultimately life, not just for oneself, but for as many people as possible.

It is this desire to spread peace and happiness to others that leads to the creation of religious bodies and here’s how:

When you want to make the best clothes, food, computers etc. and sell them to as many people as possible, what you really want to do is establish a company that produces and markets these things. Forming a company or organization is the best way to spread goods and services. Similarly, if one really cares about spreading goodness to others, then the best way to do this is to establish an organization that is dedicated to spreading and instilling these values in people. This is the purpose of forming religious bodies, and any so-called religious group not dedicated to this should be scrapped.

True religion is formed with the sincerest intentions possible, but some rogue elements misuse the platform to fill people heads with fear, instead of love. Their purpose of doing this is to manipulate people into becoming dependent on them, a position which they exploit for selfish gains. Debates after “beings in higher realms” and “what happens after this world” are adulterations of religion (and should be relegated to literature). Religion is about how us, beings in this world can live in peace in this present world we are in. The talks about “a better life in the next world” are actually originally meant to refer to our hope of making this world a perfect place to live, at some point in the future. It just turned out that some got very poetic about it and the metaphors became so strong, that some suggestible folks took them literally.

I embrace religion wholeheartedly because it has never caused me pain, or caused me to hurt others. Rather, the teachings of mercy and compassion have inspired me to help others who are in need (knowing fully that they can never repay me), and has led to others helping me when I was unfortunate to be in need.

The influence of religion is very powerful. It is like a very good software programmer who can either go black-hat and become a hacker, or go white-hat and write excellent security codes. Likewise, religious practices of meditation and focus, which are meant to inject good doctrines into the heart of our thinking, can be misused to place evil there. That’s why a lot of people are skeptical of religion. Its because of those who misuse its influence. To tell you the truth, even I as a religious person would support a ban on religion if evil men continue to abuse the way they are now, just like the fuse would cut the electricity to protect our valuable appliances. But to say that religion is bad through and through, no one should agree that notion.

Thanks for stopping by my article. I hope you found this worth reading.