God isn’t dead, so we better believe

An argument for established religion

The modern world is wary of religion. But Believe:  Why Everyone Should be Religious by Ross Douthat makes an intellectual case for faith, and why we would be better off committing to the ritual and ethical practices of established religion. The instinct for the spiritual and supernatural has always been with us, the book says. It argues religion might still offer a reasonable perspective on reality and human destiny. Instead of the pick-and-choose spirituality, it advocates commitment to an established religious tradition.

Religion is a system of belief and practice that tries to connect humans to a supernatural order, offers moral guidance, and preparation for a possible hereafter. While written from a Christian believer point of view, the book offers examples from world’s major faith traditions, polytheistic and monotheistic.

The book offers specific reasons for belief. The intricate design of the world – science added new facts, but didn’t discredit the fine-tuned wonder of our world. Quantum physics only provides wider evidence for the religious worldview. We are not just matter in motion, human minds are not just biochemical arrangements, and AI only deepens the mystery of consciousness. Another reason for belief, according to the book, is empirical – widely documented miracles and mystical visions, in regular life or at the brink of death.

What of the eternal question: If god is all-powerful, why do terrible things happen in the world? The book says humans facing suffering have, paradoxically, less trouble reconciling their experience with a strong belief in God. Another question: why do religious institutions do so many wicked things? Douthat’s answer: Family, business and govt are all replete with abuse – but we don’t give up on them, we try to reform them. There is no evidence, he argues, that religious causes are a source of violence and persecution any more than motives like conquest or resource control. In fact, international law, human rights, and movements for progress and peace have also been religiously inspired.

While some object to traditional religion’s views on gender and sexual ethics, all mainstream religions offer more open-minded interpretations – though the book also suggests religion’s rules may be right, in some cases.

We often inherit our religious beliefs, rather than investigating the metaphysical truth of each faith. But the book says even if, for argument’s sake, the truest religion is Sunni Islam but you’re raised as a Protestant Christian, you’re still better off worshipping the same god through a mediating figure of Jesus. Christian practices of prayer tiptoe toward mediation, the Eightfold Path has ethical overlaps with the Ten Commandments, and so on.

Religious faiths have a common core, and those who believe in any one are better off than those of no faith at all. Just as there is no shame in returning to your parents’ faith, there is no shame in converting to a faith that calls out to you, for whatever reason. The act of questing, of following spiritual threads, might take us to unforeseen destinations, but what matters is the exploration, the book says.