Does Religion Poison Everything?
Christopher Hitchens, one of the four horseman of atheism declared in his book the negative view of religion as he stated in his book title, God is not Great: Religion poisons everything. What does he mean by that? By the very title of the book itself posit a problem. If religion poison "everything" now, in what sense we could say religion poisons religion? If the assumption behind the word poisons is to destroy, why religion keep growing while they are poisoning each other? (Contra secularism thesis). The idea of religion poison everything does not make any sense here. Hence, Hitchens idea of religion as a poison everything is actually over-stated. Here I would argue, focusing in one dimension, that religion does not poison everything, since religion does not poison the mental health of humanity in general, rather it give an antidote to the mass hysteria of this sickening world that easily make people gone crazy.
The atheism worldview stand upon the idea of impersonal force in history. All strings of history are narrowed to the automatic and mechanistic evolution, without any telos whatsoever. The only mode of living in uncertain world is to exercise the rational mind as Hitchens himself would say, he will distrust anything if there is no use of reason attached (religion). Yet interestingly, his idea of reason as the yard stick of everything is also based on a belief without reason, it is mere confidence (Con Fides) as Douglas Wilson argued. If there is no religion, the exercise of mind can promptly lead any human to depression as they responding to the random and purposeless world of what atheism claimed.Without religion, only reason men are prone to madness. Why so?
Base on statictics, our mind are prone to over-thinking. 90% of the time, human are amplifying the negative thoughts in their head as they respond to the world. Yes, with the help of positive thinking (reason counter reason) it might help in some case but not all case. Man by nature are dualist because man are consists not on material element but spiritual. Even Dawkins agree that we are wired to be dualist. He argue this idea is wrong without giving any reason why it is wrong per se. Instead, he gives a very week argument that it is wrong because it does not in line with natural selection (Of course, naturalistic framework only work in natural explanation). Dawkins argument is just like saying a man who does not have a height at all because the ruler as the measurement only 30 cm long. Naturalistic framework does not disprove spirituality for spiritual dimension is exits beyond the scope of naturalistic itself. The idea of consciousness give a very strong evidence for dualism, with a high degree of certainty.
If indeed man are made of the dual nature, reason alone does not enough to be exercised, as be face this troubled world. We have a strong evidence whereby religion does not poison everything rather helps people to heal significantly from their depression and madness. Carl Jung sees that that the pitiful violence in world war I and detachment from the religious archetype of man and made people trapped in materialism, which hinder people from seeing the "shadow" in deepest part of their being. Man need to express and articulate this religious phenomena and ideas, in order to be psychologically healthy.
In his classic book, Modern Man in search of Soul Jung wrote that based on his 30 years of experiences say most of the people who consulted him, the mental problem lies because they have lost the religious outlook on life. In similar nuance, a prominent Harvard Professor Herbert Benson published lot of book regarding the relation between spirituality and medicine, which has been attracting world wide attention. Here I agree with Kurt Abraham who expressed his concern,
"It is imperative that psychiatrists include some understanding of the spiritual dimension in people's lives. Also religious question is very important, for it can hold the potential of tremendous healing, growth and inner-transformation."
Religion can heals the mental and this idea is not a bluff, but real, happening base on empirical experiences and observation. To say that "religion poison everything" is actually too much of a saying. Suppose we can ban all religion from the world for time being. Surely the case of mental illness will rise significantly, especially if the solution are found only in religion not reason.
Base on statictics, our mind are prone to over-thinking. 90% of the time, human are amplifying the negative thoughts in their head as they respond to the world. Yes, with the help of positive thinking (reason counter reason) it might help in some case but not all case. Man by nature are dualist because man are consists not on material element but spiritual. Even Dawkins agree that we are wired to be dualist. He argue this idea is wrong without giving any reason why it is wrong per se. Instead, he gives a very week argument that it is wrong because it does not in line with natural selection (Of course, naturalistic framework only work in natural explanation). Dawkins argument is just like saying a man who does not have a height at all because the ruler as the measurement only 30 cm long. Naturalistic framework does not disprove spirituality for spiritual dimension is exits beyond the scope of naturalistic itself. The idea of consciousness give a very strong evidence for dualism, with a high degree of certainty.
If indeed man are made of the dual nature, reason alone does not enough to be exercised, as be face this troubled world. We have a strong evidence whereby religion does not poison everything rather helps people to heal significantly from their depression and madness. Carl Jung sees that that the pitiful violence in world war I and detachment from the religious archetype of man and made people trapped in materialism, which hinder people from seeing the "shadow" in deepest part of their being. Man need to express and articulate this religious phenomena and ideas, in order to be psychologically healthy.
In his classic book, Modern Man in search of Soul Jung wrote that based on his 30 years of experiences say most of the people who consulted him, the mental problem lies because they have lost the religious outlook on life. In similar nuance, a prominent Harvard Professor Herbert Benson published lot of book regarding the relation between spirituality and medicine, which has been attracting world wide attention. Here I agree with Kurt Abraham who expressed his concern,
"It is imperative that psychiatrists include some understanding of the spiritual dimension in people's lives. Also religious question is very important, for it can hold the potential of tremendous healing, growth and inner-transformation."
Religion can heals the mental and this idea is not a bluff, but real, happening base on empirical experiences and observation. To say that "religion poison everything" is actually too much of a saying. Suppose we can ban all religion from the world for time being. Surely the case of mental illness will rise significantly, especially if the solution are found only in religion not reason.
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