Power of Religion

Okay, first I should probably say that I am, more or less, agnostic. There. Now, the power of religion. I first got inspired to write about this because I turned on the tv several weeks ago, and I caught the tail end of somebody talking about it, and he was saying that very religious people have been known to live long lives, enjoy slightly better health, have confidence, etc. Now, I also must agree that religion gives strength to many people all over the world; and I'm not limiting it to any one religion. I'm talking about any religion. People often times use that religion to gain strength in both day to day activities, and during a time of crisis.

I have had conversations with others in which religion has popped up. Essentially, their argument went something like, "nobody really knows which religion is the 'right' religion, so the thousands of people who worship in this way are wrong." My side of the argument then points out this statement, "even if it's wrong, people still draw on it for strength. It gives them the ability to go through anything from a normal day to something like the loss of a loved one. Sometimes it can be a very powerful thing." Their response, then, to that has gone something like, "then they're just holding on to a (possibly) fake ideology and religion. It would be better to try and find it within themselves to go through something like a crisis; not relying on possibly false ideals."

Yes, I have met several people who think like that; religion is pointless and unnecessary for the person, they should just find strength within themselves. Well, that's all good and well, and in an ideal reality, everybody would do that. However, most people can't. In fact, very few people actually can do that. That way of thinking is very ideolistic, and not everybody is going to be able to do that. I was watching the national news the other night, and they were talking about the soldiers in Iraq. They say that almost all of the soldiers attend the mass, and all of them pray for strength. Now, ideally, none of them would ever have to do that. They could simply find it within themselves to persevere. However, the world, and most people, don't work that way. They need something to rely on. Anything they can find to draw strength from people will. Those soldiers have definately found a means of strength. Even if some of them were like me and others, they don't necessarily believe there is an all powerful diety, they still use religion to draw strength.

I just find that interesting that so many people, especially soldiers during war, can find strength and courage from religion, even if religion itself could be nothing more than a wrong idea we humans have.