Comments on: Religion is not a crutch

By: Heather

Heather — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 17:31:42 +0000

No argument there Chris. But really it's only the ones in power who use it to control. The underlings use it for emotional stability and support. I myself came very very close to turning to God about 6 months ago even though I didn't believe in him. My husband was cheating with a woman who was trying to kill me, my husband became physically abusive at that time, I lost my best friend, I had no one to turn to for help, I was hospitalized for attempted suicide and about to attempt it again… and I really really wanted a god.. I really want to not be alone. I couldn't make myself believe.. but I understood, at that point, why some people needed to. When I was in the hospital I also met several people who were very religious because they really needed to be. Which is why I equate it to a child with an imaginary friend. Sometimes you just need someone.

By: James Tracy

James Tracy — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 16:14:13 +0000

It does seem rather common when I listen to Christian conversion stories that they are often rationalized in terms of some kind of life change. Whether it is a crutch or not, religion frequently serves as some sort of social and emotional stabilizer for many people.

By: Chris

Chris — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 15:39:15 +0000

Agreed but not only that but they allow themselves to be controlled by a book which is written by man and take it to be the word of a higher being. It still doesn't change the fact that man made it and still uses it control other men.

By: Heather

Heather — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 17:52:42 +0000

I believe that religion is often used as a crutch but I don't claim that all religious people are weak minded. I've been around a lot of people with a lot of problems.. some who actually used to be atheist or skeptics ho eventually turn to god because they can't handle things on their own. It's a bit like how children develop imaginary friends when they're going through a hard time. As someone who's gone through terrible things myself, though I am a very firm atheist, there have been times when I wished I could believe in a god just so that I didn't have to do it all alone. Imaginary or not, religion is a crutch. Though it can be helpful at a time of great stress or turmoil, it is overall bad because the person never learns to stand on their own.

By: James Tracy

James Tracy — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 17:08:32 +0000

You make some good and important points here in this post. The assumption that believers are mentally weak implies that they can never really be persuaded or de-converted. But this of course is not true. Empirically, this is a false assumption. Many religious people are highly intelligent and can defend their beliefs in clever and seemingly rational ways.

When it gets down to it, I think that the social aspect of religion is the most important, as you point out. Thoughtful religious folk often recognize that their beliefs have little logical support but they have a community of believers with shared experiences to fall back into. By him or herself, a religious believer would seem mentally incompetent. Get enough people to go along with it, however, and suddenly the beliefs start to seem somewhat normal.