Why It’s So Hard to Break Faith

Summary

The article discusses the challenges and reasons why it is difficult for individuals, particularly Christians, to break away from their religious faith, and the author shares their personal journey of moving away from religious belief.

Abstract

The article "Why It’s So Hard to Break Faith" delves into the psychological and cultural underpinnings that make it challenging for people, especially Christians, to abandon their religious beliefs. The author recounts their own experience of overcoming the fear of losing faith in 2015, attributing the difficulty to the comfort provided by beliefs in God, Heaven, and a divine plan, as well as the fear of an uncertain life and afterlife without these beliefs. The article highlights the role of childhood indoctrination in religious beliefs, citing Richard Dawkins' critique of labeling children with religious beliefs they are too young to understand or choose. The author argues that this practice is akin to child abuse and should be discontinued. Despite the challenges, the author offers hope, suggesting that questioning and reasoning can lead to freedom from restrictive religious doctrines, allowing for a life free from guilt over actions deemed sinful by religious texts.

Opinions

The author believes that the comfort derived from the belief in God, Heaven, and a divine plan is a significant barrier to abandoning faith.
The existence of Hell and the assurance of judgment for wrongdoers are also comforting concepts that Christians are reluctant to relinquish.
The author agrees with Richard Dawkins that indoctrinating children with religious beliefs is a form of child abuse and should be stopped.
The author posits that without belief in God, there is comfort in the possibility of a peaceful end to life without the fear of Hell.
The article suggests that questioning historical and logical inconsistencies in religious texts can lead to a liberating departure from religious constraints.
The author implies that life without religious restrictions can be more fulfilling and less guilt-ridden, as it allows for personal freedom and the pursuit of reason over superstition.

Comfort

So, what exactly is so scary about it? One of the main reasons is the existence of God provides a lot of comfort to people.

1.) If there is a God, then Heaven is real and we’ll all be reunited with our loved ones in an eternal paradise (if we’re good, of course).

2.) If God is real, then so is Hell, and we can rest easy knowing those who wronged us in life will be judged in death.

3.) If there is a god, then there is a plan for each of us. Anything that happens is for our own good, and so we can trust in the Lord to protect our interests.

Conversely, if there is no god, none of the above is true and we face both an uncertain life and an uncertain existence after death. There’s no grand meaning to our lives and wrongdoers may get off scot-free. This is very difficult for Christians to accept and so they’d rather stick to their beliefs.

Indoctrination

The other main reason for Christians being so resistant to abandoning their faith is the indoctrination that many of us go through as children. Our parents raised us to be good Christ followers and go to church regularly. It is drilled in us from a very early age to believe in God. This was something I hadn’t given any thought to until I read Richard Dawkins’ The God Delusion. Here is what he writes on page 295:

“Children are described as ‘Catholic children’ or ‘Protestant children’ etc. from an early age, and certainly far too early for them to have made up their own minds on what they think about religion… Children are educated, again often from a very early age, with members of a religious in-group and separately from children whose families adhere to other religions.”

Mr. Dawkins is absolutely right that this happens constantly. He gives a scathing rebuttal of the practice on page 354:

“Even without physical abduction, isn’t it always a form of child abuse to label children as possessors of beliefs that they are too young to have thought about? Yet the practice persists to this day, almost entirely unquestioned. To question it is my main purpose in this chapter.”

This practice should be abandoned, and children should be able to make up their own minds when they are old enough.

Hope

But all is not lost. If I broke the shackles of religion, anyone can. After all, I was a devout Christian myself. And there are definite upsides to it. If you don’t believe in God, then you don’t believe in Hell, either, and that should give us all comfort as to what might happen to us when we die.

Also, your life won’t be nearly as restrictive. You can eat pork without worrying about some psychopath deity sending you to eternal torment for it. You can engage in pre-marital sex; you can get divorced; you can work on Sunday; all of these things, banned under the Bible, can be done without guilt if one embraces reason instead of superstition.

The way to freedom is to start asking questions such as “Why is there no mention of Christ in ancient texts until three centuries after he supposedly died?” “How could Noah’s ark possibly hold two of every animal on Earth?” “Why is there no record of Herod’s census that required Jesus’ parents to travel to Nazareth?” “Why are there no Egyptian records of the Exodus?” Ask questions and don’t stop. In time, you’ll see the facade for what it truly is.