Is It Reasonable to Be Religious S. Lourdunathan

8/12/2019 Is It Reasonable to Be Religious S. Lourdunathan

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Philosophy Faculty Seminar-1, S. Lourdunathan, 25 th July 2013, S. Lourdunathan

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Is it reasonable to bereligious?

If religion does not exist would God exist?

If God does not exist would religion exist?, ShouldGod need religion or religion needs God? should

people of faith necessarily need faith in Religion? Arethey separable?

01. Sometimes it is better to think ; to thinkwhy we should think This is thedisposition of the way of being humanin a world of beings-not-human .Modern thinking claims that the nature

of being human implies the centrality ofreflective- ability. Rene Descartes forinstance, is pretty assertive of theindubitable that we think , therefore weexist, meaning to say as humans we areself-reflective or reason-able.Alternatively the absence of self-reflective capability forecloses thepotentiality of being human and

discloses the possibilities not-sufficiently human. Though tosome/many extent, we as humans areculturally domesticated/constructed weare not mere entities devoid of self -reflective or reason-ability.

02. The term religion does not and cannothave an essential meaning. Religionmeans different things to differentpeople. For some, buying/eating fish onFriday is a sense of religious identity, forsome going to pilgrim centers is a senseof being religious, for some othersutterance of a set of words/prayersrepeatedly is a sense of being religious,for some others (ritual-skillful players)

following/adherence of a set of rulesand regulations is a sense of beingreligious, for some others beingtheological (attributing specific

meaning) is the way of being religious(for instance, instead eating fish onFriday, save the Friday-money forcharity) etc. So, the definition ofreligion is that it can have manydefinitions and hence cannot be definedin an essentialist manner.antiessentialism

03. In this discussion, let me use the termsreligious and having faith assynonymous. The claim that someone isreligious, I take to mean that s/he claimsto have faith and s/he is a religiouspractitioner.

04. My primary concern is to ask: is itreasonable to be religious? To think thereason for being religious is the concernhere, by which we as self-reflectivehumans implore a sense of Faith seeking understanding rather thanfaith seeking faith for faith, cannotseek by itself . (An egg cannot seek itsown reason for its being an egg. Oneneeds to the break the egg, if need be.

05. Breaking the Issues: Many people claim they are

religious. Why do they say that theyare religious? If so, what do theymean when they say they arereligious? In other words, what isthe possible reasonableness on thebasis of which such claims are

justified? Are our beliefs justifiedtrue beliefs?


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If we claim that we are religious oncertain reasonable grounds, does itmean say that those who are not-religious are irrational and after all

what is rational is rational if and onlyif it is publicly rational and therecanno t be such thing called privatereason and what we normally callprivate reason is only a matter ofprivate affairs and not necessarilyreason per-se.

If it is not reasonably justifiable tobe religious, why should one claimthat s/he is religious? That is to say,that X is religious in absence ofbeing rational? If so, on the groundsof the centrality human-reason, suchreligious-humans, can we say ,refuse to be rational?

If a claim to be religious is rationally justifiable does it amount to say,those who claim to be non-religiousare irrational or non-rational?Alternatively If we claim that we arenot religious does it mean, thosewho are religious are irrational? Canwe justify our reasons to bereligious? Can we justify our reasonsto be no -religious?

Many religious persons claim thatreligion and morality are interlinked,to be religious is to be moral, and ifso, does it mean to say those whoare not religious are non-moral?And if one can be moral withoutbeing religious why if it all there bereligious-claims. What is the

relation between reason andreligion and morality?

I think one can raise many more relatedissues around this theme but let me

hold back to address the issue namely -is it reasonable to be religious? if so,what are the reasons on the grounds ofwhich one can justify ones reason to bereligious and if not otherwise.

06. There seems to be three types of globaltrends with reference to religious-claimsthat operative in the recent times:

4.1.

There are identifiable groups thatspine for a culture based onunquestioning faith, they arenamed religious fundamentals.

4.2. There are those who are religiousin a sense of unselfconsciousrelationship to their traditions

4.3. There are those ignited by thesecular trends of modernity

needle a culture based on reason,science, democracy andtechnology- atheistic trends. Theyconsider religion as cultured -despisers.

4.4. There are those who struggle tofind a balance/bridge betweenfaith and reason.

4.5. Who am I and what is my identity in relation to religion isstill an identity issue for many.

Philosophical discussions do alwaystreat the study of religion as one of itsintimate subject of inquiry and in fact itis not far from truth if I claim that


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religious claims deep down arephilosophical and not vice versa. Therelation between philosophy andreligion remains so intimate those

philosophical inquiries make the faithin the path of understanding.

07. We shall first look at these statements:(i) John says, I am religious

because I have faith .(ii) Peter says, I am religious

because I have sufficient reasonsto be religious.

(iii) Suresh says, I am religiousbecause I have sufficientreasons, the reasons of my claimto be religious are moderatelyreasonable.

Between these first two statements orpositions, the because in the firststatement in fact does not have anybecause (reason) for it only repeats the

first part of the statement. It is likesaying: I am religious because I amreligious (I have faith). Such astatement lacks any epistemic validityfor the second part of statementprefixed with because merely restatesthe first part of the statement. It is amatter of repeating the case in questionhence redundant. It is like saying Indiais a spiritual country and Gandhi is fromIndia, therefore Gandhi is spiritual. (Toput it differently), X belongs to aparticular system of religious belief,therefore X is a believer (I hold) issimilar to saying, X religious because hebelongs to religious sect and therefore X

has f aith. Repetition of a position in -question does not amount to providethe reasonableness of it. Astatement/position cannot be

conclusively be legitimized to be true nomatter how often it is repeated andhow-different ways it is repeated.

08. This is what i s often termed as theproblem of begging the question orcircular reasoning . (Lourdu says, Godmust exist. Antony asks, How do youknow that God exists? Lourduresponds:Because the Bible says so.

Anonty asks, Why should one beliefwhatever is said in Bible?. Lourduresponds: Because the Bible is theword of God this is what is known asthe problem of begging the question orargument in circularity) I know forcertain we do make such repeatedclaims thinking that we are trying toassert but what we do is we are

repeating the original statement.Antony Flew would say this, a finebrash of hypothesis is killed by thousand

qualifications .09. Truth necessitates its merit and not its

1000 times repetitions. That be reason,that St. Augustine, in his Sermon(43.7,9) asserts, Crede ut intelligas (Believe in order that you may

understand ). This means that faithdemands trust in a reliable source andFaith if it is to be FAITH (in Augustiniansense, should seek understanding.Understanding or knowledge providesthe foundation for being faithful to Faith(being religious). Augustine would go


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further to argue that while faith comesfirst in time, knowledge comes first inimportance). In fact, the FrenchPhilosopher Rene Descartes, cogito

ergo sum is but a derivation from thecatholic Augustinian position, dubitoergo sum (I doubt therefore I am).(Note: this is one of the reason I feeloften skeptical about peoples positionthat faith does not require knowledge,and I believe such tall claims are anti-catholic. This is one of the reasons,Vatican documents demands thenecessity of a serious study ofphilosophy and serious study ofphilosophy means, letting the studentsto study philosophy in centers where,the philosophical is taught and notmere philosophy is taught.

10. Repetition may serve the purpose of adomineering position or self-dominationbut it lacks any authentication.Repeated acts of feeding the chicken inthe farm is not intended to promote thechickens but its moral intention is tofeed the chicken in order to be fed bythe feeders, a process of self -gratification and not necessarily thegratification of the chickens, the other-gratification. Repetition of any assertiondoes not have truth-value rather it doesposses the value of undue dominationon/for those it is repeated.

11. The third statement is a questionregarding not only the reasons but thereasonability of the reasons of onesclaim, and this is what exactly what Iintend opening up for a discussion

(though I have not finely addressed thisissue here, we may reserve it for themore discussion).

12. Hence, philosophically speaking, any

assertion or claim needs to be rationally justified. In other words, a truth-claim istrue in so far as it conceives thepossibility of its truth-conditions. Astatement/position is authenticated tobe true if and only if it propels its truthconditions. This is one of the reasons,that an epistemic position demands thatknowledge-claims must be justified true

belief .13. And so, the question is it reasonable to

be religious demands a serious sense ofthinking the reasons to be religious. Thestatement Peter says, I am religiousbecause I have sufficient reasons to bereligious is more plausible than thestatement of John I am religiousbecause I have faith . The statement ofSuresh is more reasonable than theformer ones. The last one, calls for anepistemic validity. It is, as per theAugustinian position, is the way of beingChristian within the Catholic Church -Faith seeks understanding.

14. Reasonableness to be religious: Religious practice reduces the chances of a

person committing suicide: A studyconducted among suicide victims, those

with no-religious practices are more proneto suicide attempts than with those whopractice religion

Religious practitioners and Churchattendants were less prone to depression :A large Canadian study involving 70,000adults found that those who attended


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Church services regularly had fewerdepressive symptoms than average.Interestingly, those who describedthemselves as spiritual, rather thanreligious, had more depressive symptoms.

Both effects were true regardless of age,sex and other variables.

Religious practices help the bereaved tocope with the loss/death of loved ones: One recent study examined 135 relativesand close friends of those who died in apalliative care centre at one, nine and 14months after bereavement. People with nospiritual beliefs did not resolve their griefover the period of the study, those withstrong beliefs did so progressively, andthose with low levels of belief showed nochange for the first nine months, but theybegan to resolve their grief after that point..

Religious practice reduces risk-taking andsexual behavior among teenagers: Onemajor study involving over 2,000 youngpeople aged between 11-18 showed churchattendance and involvement in a church-based youth group reduced risk-takingbehaviors such as smoking, alcohol use,marijuana use, truancy and depression,even when controlling for confounders suchas socio-economic status and self-esteem.

Religious practices reduce and sexualbehavior among teenagers : Regardingsexual activity, church attendance andyouth involvement reduced sexual activity.Furthermore, the risk-taking behavior thatoften occurs in early adulthood was lessmarked in the religious cohort. Self-esteemwas also higher among those attendingchurch.

Reduces or able to fight Alcoholism,smoking: Of those who are saved fromalcoholism, people with religious practices

are more than that of people withoutreligious orientation/practice.

Religious practice enhances self esteem: astudy reveals that the self-esteem level ofthose who belong/practice religion is higher

than that of those who do not. Religious practitioners have lower number

of sexual partners: A survey of 1,100American adults aged over 18 found thatthose who were religious had a lowernumber of sexual partners than those whowere not

Religious practice adds to life expectancy:A meta-analysis of all studies relating toreligious involvement and longevity wascarried out in the year 2000. A total of126,000 people were involved. It found thatactive religious involvement increased the

chances of living longer than the average by29%, and participation in public religiouspractices, such as church attendance,increased he chance of living longer by 43%.

Enhances Marital Stability: The greatestamount of marital stability is found amongcouples who practice the same religion.

Marriages in which neither spouse isreligious are the least stable. Marriagesbetween couples who practice differentreligions, or where one is religious and theother is not, fall in between these twopoles. Marital stability among religiousbelievers is explained partly by religious


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injunctions against divorce, but it also maybe explained by the fact that religiousbelievers attach less importance to personalautonomy and more importance tocommitment.

Patient Recovery faster: A number ofstudies have been conducted to test theeffect of prayer on patient recovery. Thesehave compared groups of patients whowere being prayed for, but didnt know it,and another group who were not beingprayed for. None of the patients knew theywere part of these studies. Measures suchas mortality, duration of fever and length ofstay in hospital were shorter in the prayergroup than in the non-prayer group.However, these studies are not conclusive.They only indicate that there may be somepositive effect from prayer because otherstudies, for example involving cardiacpatients, have shown no effect.

Numerical strength: In India ReligionPracticing People numerically more thanthose who do not practice religion.

Religious practitioners have a strongersense to values and morals: religion andmorality are inseparable.

Religion exists in multiple ways : (myprevious lecture at Chennai)

Rich & Poverty, Happiness argument: Among the poor people, those withreligious practice are happy in spite theirdaily low-income, it is not surprising to seethat they are happy and visit temples andchurches repeatedly in spite of their lowerincome. People who are rich does not anyway refrain from religious practices and thismeans a question of happiness andpersonal satisfaction of the religiouspractitioners.

Post-modernity, in a sense is a way ofturning back to religious tradition.

15. The above-said studies, most of themsociological in nature argue to the effectthat people with religion (religious people)are in an advantageous position than thatof those who are not in tune with religious

practices.16. Most arguments or reasons for being

religious can be classified in thefollowing ways. They are of the type ofargument from . These include:16.1. Argument from human

pathology (Mother-Teresa)16.2. Argument numerical

strength

16.3. Argument from tradition orcultural inheritance

16.4. Argument from morality16.5. Argument from

consciousness (not explained here)16.6. Argument from no argument

etc 17. Some questions on Reasonableness of

our reasons to be religious:

Strength of the evidence does notguarantee the truth of theconclusive assertion: Pope JohnPaul made the first visit to Brazil, in1980; nearly 90 percent of thepopulation considered itselfCatholic; by the 2010 census, thathad fallen to under two-thirds, withthe number of Brazilians calling

themselves Protestants rising to 22percent from 6 percent during thesame period. According to a pollconducted recently by the localDatafolha organization, only 57% ofBrazilians identify themselves asCatholics, and fewer than 16% say


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they attend weekly Mass. Protestantevangelicals are making stronginroads among the Catholic faithful.

Argument from human pathology is

an argument for security-needs :Freud, for example, felt that belief inGod was a projection of our need forsecurity and for a father figure.

Religion is an easy-response andrecourse (safety-valve) to the un-spelt identity problem.

Bertrand Russell to the effect thatan argument from the facts of theworld to the existence of God couldnot be valid "as one could notdeduce a necessary conclusion froma contingent premise".

Religion as a systematic entity, as itemerged in the seventeenth andeighteenth centuries, is a concept ofpolemics and apologetics.

Reason is not the territory of thereligious practitioners. It ispsychological, emotional,pathological, and cultural. Noamount of belief makes something afact

Conclusion : If we claim we are homo-sapiens, and thereby we are self-reflective let there be moments of/forfurther reflections. Let faith seek its

understanding.

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Is It Reasonable to Be Religious S. Lourdunathan

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