Bertrand Russell, a
British philosopher, was born on May 18th, 1872 in Wales as a British
aristocrat. Sadly, “at the age of three he was left an orphan” (Nobel Media).
He grew up and became interested various subjects and was very outspoken about multiple subjects such as sex, mathematics, nuclear
disarmament, and the one interesting me the most being his view on religion. A Little History on Philosophy mentioned
that for Bertrand Russell, “there was no chance of God stepping in to save humanity:
our only chance lay in using our powers of reason” (Warburton, 184). Russell
believed that religion was a source of comfort for people to rely on because of
humans’ fear of death and need for explanation as to why bad people get away
with doing bad things (Warburton, 184). Russell believed that religion did more
bad than it did good. He felt as though it only brought misery and war among people.
Russell stated, “Either man will abolish war, or war will abolish man” (Warburton,
184).
I understand where Bertrand Russell is coming from and acknowledge point of view, however, I disagree with his perspective on religion. Although people do rely on religion to explain the bad things that happen in peoples' lives or the bad circumstances that occur, but to me, that's because it makes sense and I truly believe that. Religion to me is so much more than this concept that I just flow with because everyone else is or without real reason. I truly believe God exists and I follow my religion with full intention of every action I commit. I'm not the type of person to blindly follow, but rather to ask questions, and I have asked my share of questions. I've had way too many experiences concerning Christ to not believe in God. I've seen miracles occurring not only with people around me, but with even myself. Religion may cause disagreement, but it brings more peace than it does misery. According to the Encyclopedia of War, only seven percent of wars occurred due to religion. Besides the fact that religion doesn't bring as much misery as Russell claims, some people truly have faith and find pure joy within religion. This alone, whether God exists or not, helps these people who have faith to live better, more joyful lives. Why would the human race not want to find joy that is forever? Either way, what do we lose by believing in God? 
CS Lewis, author of Mere Christianity stated that when he was atheist, "My argument against God was that the universe seemed so cruel and unjust. But how had I got this idea of just and unjust? A man does not call a line crooked unless he has some idea of a straight line. What was I comparing this universe with when I called it unjust?" (Lewis, 25). Who is holding us accountable for these things if there is no God? What appeals to the person for them to say that this is unjust? Bertrand Russell makes great points about why people may rely on religion, but fails to realize that there are logical explanations for the existence of God. Everything has a cause that is caused by another cause, therefore there must have been an uncaused first cause to allow for everything else that followed. This first cause is God. As CS Lewis said in Is Theology Poetry?, "I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen. Not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else" (Lewis, 15).
Literature Cited
Lewis, C. S. “Is Theology Poetry?” Samizdat, 1962, www.samizdat.qc.ca/arts/lit/Theology.
Lewis, C. S. Mere Christianity. William Collins, 2017.
Nobel Media. "Bertrand Russell - Biographical". Nobelprize.org. Nobel Media AB 2014. Web. 19 Apr 2018. http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1950/russell-bio.html
Warburton, Nigel. A Little History of Philosophy. Yale University Press, 2014.
I appreciate that you voiced your opinion about believing in God as well as balancing out Russell's.
ReplyDeleteYou're right, Russell thought we'd be better off as a species without religion. He'd have agreed with John Lennon's sentiment in "Imagine" ("imagine all the people, living life in peace..."), had no use for the concept of personal immortality, and did not grasp the "joy" of religious experience that some people do experience. If you really want to engage his ideas on this, read his "Why I Am Not A Christian" (which can easily be extrapolated with the substitution of every other major and minor religious tradition, btw)... https://users.drew.edu/jlenz/whynot.html
ReplyDeleteAs for C.S. Lewis: I don't understand why he thought we need some external, supernatural Being to hold us accountable for our actions. Why can't we hold ourselves accountable? In fact, we do: we have laws, and beyond that we have various forms of social and interpersonal sanction that reinforce our norms and values. And as for the first cause argument: you might want to revisit Bertrand Russell on that.
I loved that you stated your opinion on god and how passionate you are about your religion.
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