Is It Okay To Ruin Someone’s Faith?
Let's say there is a man named Tom who adopts a particular religion and promotes kindness, compassion, and love.
Let's say there is a man named Tom who adopts a particular religion and promotes kindness, compassion, and love.
Motivated by his loyalty to the religion, he functions with his community. He helped feed the hungry, clothed the poor, and cared for the sick and lonely.
Now let’s also say there is another man named Paul who opposes Tom’s religion and contests it. He presents scientific facts, reasoning, and convincing data against religion.
Paul further mocks Tom’s beliefs until he finally convinces him there is no afterlife prize to aim for, no passage of the soul. There is nothing beyond his primary existence.
So Tom finally walks away from religion and forsakes his faith. Tom initially decides to invest his time and energy in his own individual pursuits until he can figure things out.
Paul’s Perspective
So why did Paul do this if Tom was fine the way he was?
Paul saw that religion undermines what it means to be human. He was also told what to believe as a child, but eventually did his research and attached to reason instead of faith.
And because Paul lost his illusions, he initially developed nihilism. Paul used to be happy in his delusions just like Tom. He believed in an afterlife until he came to his senses. However, this left a void in his life. Yet logic will never allow him to return to the fantasy of religion he once held.
So to fill the void, he now campaigns against the same religion he once believed in. In a sense, Paul traded one ideology for another to keep the feeling of nothingness at bay—no one likes to feel a meaningless existence.
Paul saw that Tom allowed himself to be disabled by religious dogma rules. He felt compelled to "help" Tom the same way Tom felt compelled to "help" his community members. But Paul didn’t help Tom for a reward in Heaven. Paul instead helped him from the kindness of his own heart, and perhaps to fill the void he now carries.
Honesty
Most people ignore the feeling of nihilism we have from birth or mask it with religion and other distractions. However, for the deep thinker, realizing a meaningless existence becomes a deafening sound in their mind. As a result, the only way to numb the nihilism might be to recruit others into the same tribe of nothingness–because, essentially, misery loves company.
Basically, Paul’s behavior was a rebellious campaign against the disabling of humans who wait for a god to come down and do all the heavy lifting for them. He also sees religion demotivating people from living this life while they dream about a magical wonderland in the next life.
But Paul also saw dishonesty in Tom and wanted Tom to know that all those kind-hearted things he did for the community could be done without expecting a reward. Once Tom realizes the oppression over himself, he feels terrible and goes through the same process as Paul.
Tom used to help people in his community based on biblical instruction. Tom was once doing kind things for others so he could gain a reward. For a while, Tom is lost deep down inside when he lost his religion.
However, Tom eventually takes the things he enjoyed from religion and now does them for the right reasons instead of for fear of burning to a crisp if he doesn’t. He eventually becomes more honest with himself and others.
Conclusion
Does anyone see issues with the process or the outcome? Write your thoughts in the comments. Thanks.
Read my other articles:
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