Does religion prevent people from seeing the world clearly as it is?

Question

Why or why not?

Answer 1

yes.

Because Faith = the opposite of reason

Answer 2

If you want to ask such a question, you might want to ask what the world really is. Is there a God? Isn't there one? Are we supposed to find peace or are we supposed to repent from our sins? No matter what you believe, it is your belief. There isn't really a way of telling what is true and what isn't....even if some people may be arrogant and argue what they think is real...there isn't a way of being completely sure. My point is, that religion can't prevent people from seeing the world clearly as it is be cause we aren't sure what the world really is. And also, religion can't keep people from seeing the world clearly because religion is the search for the truth. So, unless you are a 12-year-old child living in a house with strict religious parents who shove their beliefs down your throat, religion can't prevent people from seeing the world clearly.

Answer 3

Yes, I believe so. This may be a bit stereotypical but theists (from my experience) tend to rely too much on their faith to pay attention to actual facts and experiences to really understand what is going on around them. There are also agnostics and atheists who are the same, but I feel the theists are most likely to be this way. Oh, and as an atheist, I still have similar morals than theists (of many religions) and I know right from wrong.

Answer 4

You might want to define 'clear' first.
In my oppinion, there's nothing clear in this world. The world is not meant to be a clear place. Everthing's almost grey. I truly believe that the world we're living in is a masterpiece of illusion. I believe that someday, I will be awake and finds out that I had a short dream and everything there was almost very real.

Answer 5

No, I don't think so. In fact, since becoming a Christian about three years ago, I am much more aware of what is going on in the world. Before, I was part of the world so nothing that I saw came as much of a shock to me as it does now. I sometimes get discouraged (briefly) because of the hurt and torment that I see. I am much more attuned to peoples feelings now.

Answer 6

When religious lies become truths and religion-based opinions are interchangeable with fact then it's not possible for people to see the world as it is.

Answer 7

Very much so. What people don't fully understand is: if you take away every thing that clutters the earth world we were blessed with all will never truly find with in them selves their Spirituality.

Answer 8

Unless it's that kinda religion where you can't watch t.v. than No. Because every horrible thing that is going on today is right there. Ya know the news?

Answer 9

100% absolutely!! Because people believe that they have found the truth in a 2000+ year old myth, and stop seeking for the truth in reality.

Answer 10

Yes . Sometimes people let their faith isolate them and end up hating others because of the lack of knowledge of other faiths.

Answer 11

Actually it is the other way around. A rational person would always come to the conclusion that a higher moral authority exists. Such a person would then seek out this authority's revelation and find that the bible is a reliable revelation of this authority's divine will.

Person who have not heeded the revelation of God in their underlying concept of morality, in nature, and in his written words have had their judgment clouded by the evil that befell the world at the Fall in Eden.

The scriptures speak of such persons:

2Ti 3:1 But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty.
2Ti 3:2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy,
2Ti 3:3 heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good,
2Ti 3:4 treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,
2Ti 3:5 having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.

For these reasons "...God gave them up to dishonorable passions." (Rom 1:26)

If you were to seek reliable information about any topic you would go to journals and other publications by agreed upon experts to form your own opinions, no?

Thank you for your question. Once I accept the notion that a higher moral authority exists, investigation in some of the purported revelations of this being's words to mankind is in order. For me, I considered many holy texts, but ended with the bible because it proved to be the most reliable and valid.

Have you considered the reliability of the bible? Ignore for the moment the whole notion of God and just think about the book's content.

Some have claimed that the bible is no more accurate that Homer's Iliad. I respectfully disagree and the table shown at the link below clearly demonstrates my argument that the Bible is one of the most accurate sources for the events described in it.

Investigation will also reveal that there exists NO SINGLE SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY that has been shown to prove error, factually or doctrinally, in the Bible. There is plenty of speculation and hypotheses, but not a single verifiable fact. To make this claim alone is quite a feat for ancient texts, but when you add to it the fact that the Bible was written over more than 1,500 years by forty vastly different writers, yet every book in the Bible is consistent in its message. These 66 books talk about history, prophecy, poetry, and theology.

No human beings could have planned such an intricate combination of books over a 1,500-year time span. Bible manuscripts (remember, there were no printing presses until 1455) have survived despite weather, persecution and time. Most ancient writings written on weak materials like papyrus have vanished all together. Yet many copies of the Old Testament scriptures survived. For instance, the Dead Sea Scrolls contain all books of the Old Testament, except Esther, and have been dated to before the time of Christ. Consider Julius Caesar’s Gallic Wars. Only ten copies written about 1,000 years after the event are in existence. In comparison, there are over 24,000+ New Testament manuscripts, the earliest one dating to within 24 years after Christ.

The Bible also validates its divine authorship through fulfilled prophecies. An astonishing 668 prophecies have been fulfilled and none have ever been proven false (three are unconfirmed).

An honest study of biblical prophecy will compellingly show the divine authorship of the Bible. Further, archeology confirms (or in some cases supports) accounts in the biblical record. No other holy book comes close to the Bible in the amount of evidence supporting its divine authorship.

Few fail to realize this and show their lack of knowledge in the historicity of the Bible by objecting when folks use the bible to support their own positions. While no one objects when a journal article or some popular book or media piece is quoted, there is always lots of flippant commentary when Christians use the bible as a reference.

When I examine the evidence on both sides, I can only rationally conclude that given the bible's accuracy on so many issues, I have no reason to doubt its validity on all issues it contains, especially when it speaks to God's divine revelations.

To learn how the books of the bible came to be assembled as such see: http://gbgm-umc.org/umw/bible/canons.stm

Many versions of the bible existed before the King James and the advent of mass printing. See: http://www.greatsite.com/timeline-english-bible-history/

If you run across what you think is a biblical contradiction, please study the two sites' content below for a comprehensive list of so-called biblical contradictions.

http://kingdavid8.com/Contradictions/Home.html
http://www.bringyou.to/apologetics/bible.htm

If and when you are prepared, emotionally and educationally, to discuss the issues rationally, I am sure I will be around here to respond to your questions.

Accuracy of bible:
http://www.carm.org/questions/trustbible.htm
http://www.carm.org/demo2/bible/reliable.htm