Is Religion Relevant?

Excess of everything is bad; it holds true for everything, even water.

But religion is a much-needed anchor. It helps people, especially those going through hard times, live another day. It gives people hope—someone to look up to, something to rely on.

When people can’t rely on their family or friends (or, worse, they don’t have one), they turn towards God—the idea that someone has only good intentions for them, will protect them, and is eternal. Someone they can confide in and seek strength from.

What is the proof that God exists in reality? Are the stories of Noah building an ark in the Bible true? Are the Puranas mythical stories or reality? Did the revelation of the Mosaic Law to Moses at Mount Sinai, as described in the Torah, really happen? These are irrelevant questions. 

The purpose of religion is not to establish its origin or proof of existence but to pass on stories loaded with life lessons from one generation to another so that certain values can stay alive and sustain a civilization. A human, on average, lives for 80 years, but religion, primarily a compilation of stories meant to teach moral and ethical lessons, outlives humans for as long as 4000 years.

The traits embodied in the personality of a ‘God’—whether it be Ram, Jesus Christ, Shiva, Buddha, Guru Nanak, or any other deity—constitute a compilation of all the good traits, moral values, and ethical behaviour that one should strive for. Learning renunciation from Buddha, sacrifice from Jesus, a warrior mindset from Guru Nanak Dev, or a way of life from Krishna or Shiva.

Having an eternal personality with the right values, principles, and ethics provides a role model for individuals or their children to look up to and strive to emulate when they are newly exposed to the evil in the world. An idea that even if all the people on the planet turn evil and want to harm them, there is someone (whichever God they believe in) who will want the best for them, take care of them, and always support the truth.

And if you are a parent, then give your kids this anchor  that they can rely on or reach out to in your absence. What if you don’t exist tomorrow? What do you think should help your loved ones cope with that loss and live in a world that is filled with not-very-kind people? Liquor? Drugs? Depression? Or religion?

One of the biggest thing that pulls people out of depression and gives them direction and hope is religion. Religion is not a problem, as long as it is pro-tolerance and anti-conversion. If someone is just praying to someone they believe in, minding their own business, and it is improving their life and the lives of people around them, what is the problem?

Also, religion is a very stable stepping stone for spirituality. If you think you have healed, are out of survival mode, have read enough, and have matured emotionally and intellectually, you will naturally turn towards spirituality. Where you may, if you want to, replace ‘God’ with ‘the higher self’; religious texts with ‘silence and meditation.’

Religion pulls you out of tough times, and spirituality elevates you and keeps you from slipping again. And, as Dr. Peterson says, religion is true like numbers are. So, even when you wholeheartedly know and believe that numbers are a made-up concept (which they really are), you still use them to navigate through the day, manage your finances, run a business, an economy, a country, make calculations, land on the moon, and whatnot. So, the least we can do is not insult, target, or make fun of someone just because they are religious, and let people believe in it if it is helping them get through a day or a life.