Religion Rebuttal Through Naturalism and Science
Religion is the belief in the supernatural, usually pertaining to God or gods. It was created by people, for people. All throughout history, many cultures have formed their own religion, based on their own beliefs, virtues, and experiences. Many of these religions conflict with others, having notable differences such as the belief in monotheism, dualism, or polytheism. With these major differences, it is obvious to many that not all of these religions can be accurate of what reality actually is. But what is to say that any of these religions are accurate at all? Some argue that all events in the world are natural. That everything can be explained by science, and that no supernatural beings influence how the universe works. This is known as naturalism, and is a belief that conflicts with religion. In this growing age of science, I believe that the belief in supernatural beings is becoming less relevant in the world, and that naturalism is becoming an ever growing threat to religion and faith.
It is quite possible that many people of these religions, such as Jesus, really did exist. But that does not mean the stories and miracles told were always true. A very prominent example of this are the Gospels of the New Testament. There are many things that make you wonder if they are truly historically accurate. The New Testament Gospels were heavily influenced by Jesus’ followers. An author having bias makes any text unreliable to some degree because the information provided usually has only the truth laced throughout the whole text, rather than an accurate historical record of what actually happened. Also, the Gospels were written years after Jesus’ death. At that point, the followers of Jesus were writing stories instead of accurate representations of what occurred at the current time. Both bias towards Jesus and writing about him decades after he has passed provides substantial evidence of why the New Testament Gospels are not very reliable sources of information about Jesus. The main ideas of the Gospels share some truth, but it turned more into a story than being written as a historical representation. A very famous part of Christianity, based on bias and untimely recording of Jesus. How could this be strong evidence of religion being true? Rather, religion is based on the assumption that God or gods exist. This happens to be true for many other religions. Stories of what happened do not always seem accurate in many religions’ texts, and the story of the Gospels was only one example of this. But that does not mean people stop having faith in the religion they are devoted to.
Is it known that religion is strongly based on faith. When a widespread movement obtains the power of many, it is difficult to show the other side of the argument. Many will say they have the urge or feeling that God exists, and so it does for them. Feelings and emotions are very strong motivators for belief. Believing in something, however, does not mean that it is accurate. Naturalism plays into this greatly. On one side, people believe in the supernatural, and that strange and miraculous events are because of them. On the other hand, people believe in the fact that things happen because that is how it is supposed to happen. Everything that has happened or will happen is due to the nature of it, which is the basis of Naturalism. This ideal is a threat to religion for many reasons. It directly conflicts with what religion is all about: the belief and faith of the supernatural, and their involvement in the universe. Unlike religion, naturalistic people believe that miracles cannot exist, because it will interfere with nature. Nature is, to put it simply, natural. Everything happens with no interference by other forces. Naturalism is on the rise in popularity, and it is only growing. This is threatening to religions all across the globe. Their numbers dwindle while naturalism’s numbers rise. It is becoming apparent that it is not unusual to see people with these sort of beliefs now. That everything follows the laws of nature. There is no afterlife, no God or gods, no existence of even wilder creatures such as goblins, ghosts, and ghouls, and more. And if any of these supernatural things are true, only time will tell. Science will eventually figure out the meaning to everything, either proving or disproving all the ideals of religion.
One can argue that there is no evidence that religions are not true, at least one of them. It has never been proven whether or not God or many gods exist at all, so it cannot be ruled out. By faith alone, people believe in what they want to believe. And whether or not it is true, it is what they accept in life and that is all that matters. Even though Naturalism is a threat to religions, religions such as Christianity, Hinduism, Judaism and more will prosper. The urge of their belief is enough for them to worship who and what they want. Just because you cannot see the supernatural, does not mean they do not exist. That is like comparing a penguin in the Antarctic to a lion in Africa. The penguin has never seen a lion before, but that does not mean the lion does not exist. By their own perspective, it is improbable for penguins to find out lions exist, but not impossible. That goes for the same as the supernatural. Many, if not all have not seen supernatural beings, but it is not impossible for them to exist.
While that is true, that does not mean by faith alone beings of that nature exists. It also does not rule out the fact that Naturalism is an ever growing religious movement that is competing against religions that we all know today. It is becoming something that many, usually people of younger age, regard as the religion that is dominating the Western world. Back before Naturalism existed, religion was a part of every person’s daily life. From school, to work, to even in your own house, religion was always regarded with the highest authority. Now that Naturalism is becoming more popular, this does not happen as often. Many arguments across the globe are emerging, figuring out the place of God, or gods depending on the religion and region, in systems of life other than religious sermons and ceremonies. People question whether religion branching into school systems and workplaces is a smart idea, and many are becoming more reluctant to do so. Naturalism is taking its hold on the world, affecting many things around it. That is why I believe Naturalism is disturbing religions negatively, and is becoming a threat to them as we know it.
Science versus religion has been a growing issue over time. More and more arguments are rising, battling out to see which is truly accurate. With the development of science, and the introduction of Naturalism, it is becoming difficult to argue for religion. For one, the lack of evidence on their side, and two, the introduction of science and how overtime it has proved many religions’ ideals to be wrong or false. The argument of science and religion revolving around evolution and creationism dates back hundreds of years and has not yet stopped. It will continue until more evidence is found, which will leave one side content and the other falling behind. The belief of the supernatural is becoming insignificant in the world because of science, and with Naturalism on the rise, it is becoming even more threatening.
