my recent thoughts on religion.

13 Mar, 2024

Hi everyone! This is my first blog, and its a hefty one. Hope you enjoy.

My whole life I've had a complicated relationship with religion. I've followed Hinduism along with the rest of my family, but I've never believed in any of the scriptures or stories. Recently, my thoughts have been changing.

The Purpose of Religion

The purpose of religion is and always has been to reinforce values, thereby providing hope. Hope that they are part of a system, and if they follow that system, things will be alright. Back when we knew almost nothing about our universe, when people didn't have the tools to protect themselves from arbitrary death, when hatred was rampant, religion is what kept people going.

From The Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson:

“Faith means that it doesn't matter what happens. You can trust that somebody is watching. Trust that somebody will make it all right.”

It is an emotional appeal. It doesn't need to make sense. After all, people are just as emotional as they are logical.

Also from The Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson:

“It sounds to me, young one," Haddek said, "that you are searching for something that cannot be found."
"The truth?" Sazed said.
"No," Haddek replied. "A religion that requires no faith of its believers.”

The goal of religion isn't to explain the universe, but to soothe people's souls and encourage them to do the right thing. Explaining how the universe works is a consequence of that goal.

The Individual

At its core, religion is a tool. If the tool does not suit its owner, it must be exchanged for a new one. Depending on your personality, background, and personal beliefs, I believe that you should be able to choose a faith accordingly.

Of course, this means that you do not have to stick completely to a religion. You can choose to only believe certain parts, or create brand new parts. Hell, you can even make up an entire belief system yourself. It all depends on you.

Atheism, in my opinion, is also a form of religion, or at least a form of faith. In Atheism, the system is that there is no system, having faith in the morality and conscience of the individual.

This all comes back to the purpose of religion: to reinforce values and morality. It should be an amplification to what you already believe, not to provide an entirely new system of values.¹ (Though, this is also the case sometimes. Life is complicated.)

For example, Someone's faith in the Christian God's Love can lead them to be more willing to do the right thing.² Without that, the fear that comes from uncertainty is more ready to creep in. On the other hand, faith can make it easier to be more courageous, empathetic, or willful (emphasis on can).

The flexibility of this mindset regarding religion also makes religion more compatible with science, not contradicting it, but complementing it. It makes it easier to accept when a part of your beliefs is wrong, and it makes it easier to change.

Sidenote: I keep hearing people say that religion goes beyond science. Please stop saying that. It implies that religion is something supreme to science. Say that it complements science instead. As long as the unknown exists and there are things that science hasn't explained yet, religion will have a place.

Another from The Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson (At this point you can tell I'm a fan):

“Why did they believe? Because they saw miracles. Things one man took as chance, a man of faith took as a sign. A loved one recovering from disease, a fortunate business deal, a chance meeting with a long lost friend. It wasn't the grand doctrines or the sweeping ideals that seemed to make believers out of men. It was the simple magic in the world around them.”

Religion in My Life:

I am a self-declared Hindu. Though I have been raised in a Hindu family, there are parts of the religion that I choose not to believe, and new parts I have come up with that I choose to believe.

I believe that the myriad of gods and deities in Hinduism are merely stories, used as a tool to bring us closer to the unknowable that is the Brahman. Each deity represents a symbol or idea, containing more symbols and ideas. When we pray to that deity, we are reminding and embodying those ideas in all their complexities. The rituals and ceremonies are also to help us get closer to the unknowable supreme truth. I like to think of my own ceremonies or chants or ideas to make them more personal.

It's similar to trying to emulate people or characters we look up to.³ Those kinds of people are like small-deities of their own, no? Saying I want to kind like "person A" or I want to never give up like "person B". (I think that this is also why parents and teachers are held so highly in Hinduism, though that can also end badly sometimes.) I have my own deities in my life that I look up to, as I'm not a fan of a lot of the traditional Hindu ones. Still, those are also useful sometimes.

The Brahman is not an individual, closer to a law or idea. Physics is the pursuit of that idea through experimental evidence and mathematical knowledge. The Brahman is the root of existence and consciousness, hidden behind several more layers of existence. I may write about this another day.

These ideas are subject to change as I am introduced to more ideas. I'm currently reading Self-Unfoldment by Swami Chinmayananda in order to get those ideas. (Give it a read! I think if you search up self unfoldment .pdf you can find it.)

and you.

What do you believe in? What role does faith play in your life? I believe that everyone believes in something, whether that is themselves, a god, or that there is no god at all.

I want to hear the stories of people from all sorts of backgrounds, and that includes what they believe in. In the words of Uncle Iroh:

It is important to draw wisdom from many different places. If you take it from only one place, it become rigid and stale.

And stagnant water and such and such. Email me at baryonyxpenrose@gmail.com

Also send me writing tips if you have any suggestions lol.