BoumTAC

Religion

Published on August 18, 2025

I grew up like many French people: atheist. I never believed in God. Yet, over the years, my view of religion has completely changed.

Until my twenties, I found religions really stupid and absurd. Then during my twenties, my perspective evolved. Today, I want to present to you the negative and positive sides that I observe in religion.

The Negative Sides

The main reproach I have against religion is that it removes individual responsibility. How many times do we hear: "It's not my fault, God willed it," "I have sinned," "We must know how to forgive" (a phrase that often serves to justify one's mistakes rather than own up to them), or "I'm not perfect."

When individuals are no longer responsible, they no longer acknowledge their mistakes and faults. And not acknowledging one's mistakes means refusing to improve. It's a denial of reality, a refusal to see things as they are.

However, accepting self-questioning is difficult. It means accepting one's mistakes and all the harm one may have done. I think that at most 20% of the population is capable of this.

"But thou mayest—that gives a man greatness, for it puts him level with the angels, for in his weakness and his filth and the murder of his brother he has still the great choice. He can choose his course and fight it through and win." - East of Eden

This quote from Steinbeck perfectly illustrates this human capacity for choice and personal responsibility, even in our weaknesses.

If 80% of people are incapable of acknowledging their mistakes and faults, then having an entity above everything that takes this responsibility has merit. It removes responsibility, certainly, but allows people incapable of owning up to themselves to acknowledge their wrongs more easily.

If religions didn't exist, the majority of people couldn't engage in self-reflection. Over 2000 years, this must have had a globally positive impact.

The Positive Sides

If religion has survived for 2000 years, there's a deep reason for it. The Lindy effect teaches us that the longer something lasts over time, the more likely it is to continue existing. If religions were useless, they would have been forgotten long ago.

Removing responsibility also has a positive effect: it allows taking a weight off one's shoulders, moving on more easily. "Ok, I made a mistake, I understood it wasn't right, I ask for forgiveness and I move forward." It removes stress to know that there's someone above us who guides us, a sort of eternal parent to reassure us.

Religion allows having a clear line of conduct, a moral framework that defines what is right to do.

Then there's forgiveness. This is something difficult and not at all natural. Our natural tendency is to want justice and revenge. Think of The Count of Monte Cristo: Dantès substitutes himself for God's hand to deliver justice, but he realizes it's a huge mistake. We must let providence act. We cannot take ourselves for God, because when we try, we destroy everything.

"Tell the angel who will watch over your life, Morrel, to pray sometimes for a man who, like Satan, believed himself for an instant the equal of God, and who recognized, with all the humility of a Christian, that in God's hands alone are supreme power and infinite wisdom." - The Count of Monte Cristo

Forgiveness helps reduce anxiety and depression, it improves quality of life. It allows freeing oneself from resentment and breaking cycles of revenge. Learning to forgive means accepting to move on in order to advance in life.

Religion allows placing someone always above us, not taking ourselves for God, staying humble.

"The main purpose of religion, I wrote in the Incerto, is not to affirm that there is a God, but to prevent humans from thinking they are Gods." - Nassim Taleb

There's also Mass, this gathering moment that brings the local community to life. Coming together, creating social bonds, sharing a common moment with one's neighbors — this is something precious in our individualistic society. Mass also offers a moment of pause, peace, and reflection necessary in our hectic lives. This parenthesis of calm allows recharging, taking stock of one's life, to then be in shape and move forward with more serenity.

One of the fundamental points of religion is hope and optimism. Since the death of religion in France, we have become too pessimistic. I think it's fundamental to remain optimistic. Difficulties happen to everyone, no one escapes them. We must know how to get back up and continue fighting.

"Remember, Red, hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies." - The Shawshank Redemption

"Hope is the most important thing in life. It gives human beings a sense of purpose and gives them the energy to move forward." - Norman Cousins

"Where there is no hope, we must invent it" - Albert Camus

This is one of my big flaws: having grown up without religion, I see the world very pessimistically — it's very French. Keeping hope is what gives me the desire to continue living and persevering in everything I accomplish. Hope keeps man alive.

"All human wisdom will be in these two words: Wait and hope!" - The Count of Monte Cristo

Conclusion

I don't believe in God, but the more years pass, the more I discover the positive impact of religion. I think we need it more than we imagine.

Religion may not be perfect, it has its flaws, but it responds to fundamental human needs: the need for meaning, hope, forgiveness, humility. I surely still have plenty of positive aspects to discover as my reflection on this subject continues to evolve.