This is the second part of a long essay that I wrote on the Separation of Church and State.2. A Religion Cannot be Removed, Only Substituted For Another
Religion is also something that can’t be removed; only substituted with another, since a person’s life and religion is intimately connected. Religion is more than merely believing in the existence of a higher being, but living the religion and making it the basis of one’s life. Many people tend to believe that the boundaries of religion should be limited to its association with life after death. They try to restrict religion to such boundaries and feel that such restricting is possible. Just like our body and our mind can’t be separated, the spiritual and practical components of religion must always go together. Religion affects people’s beliefs and mindsets, so people’s life and actions which are affected by their mindset are also controlled by religion. Thus, it isn’t possible for there to be a religion separate from realistic life. No matter how much one tries to separate the two, it’s not possible. This goes for false believers, pagans, and all religions and beliefs. For example, a person who goes to church but lives completely separately from the Bible or God’s will is not a true Christian but still living by his or her own religion. No matter what religion it is, it is impossible to remove or eliminate religion, and even if one religion is removed, another religion will replace it immediately. Replacing a religion with Atheism is no different, as Atheism is simply another form of religion. Even a simple philosophy or idea can very well turn into a religion. Atheism has stepped over the boundary of a philosophy and is now acting as a “religion” that believes in “no religion or higher being”. If Christianity is removed and Atheism is introduced, a government controlled by a religion named “Atheism” will be realized. Many religions we know as religions today have stemmed from a philosophy. Communism is one such example. Communism started out rejecting any form of higher being, and focusing on a utopia made of workers. However, what was the result? In place of Christianity, a religion advocating Communism was formed and gave rise to people such as Lenin and Stalin. A philosophy transformed into a religion. Buddhism also started off as a philosophy of one person named Buddha, who preached his way of thinking to others, but as more religious elements started seeping in and taking root, it transformed into the Buddhism we know today. Thus, adhering to a philosophy eventually gives the philosophy the role of a religion, and eventually it actually becomes a religion. A look into the scientific areas reveals the fact that theories such as evolution have also become a religion in many ways, because pure science should be ready to accept faults and mistakes, searching for the truth about the wonders of this Earth. However, that is certainly not the attitude of evolutionists. Scientists who believe in evolution think that evolution is the only scientific truth and that creation is a religion and shouldn’t even be considered as science. Whenever they don’t have an answer or an explanation, the only answer they give is “we don’t have an explanation now but perhaps we will know in a few million years.” Is this science or religion? Now, Evolution has evolved into a religion. As seen, religion doesn’t require an existence of a higher being. People may choose to make and believe their own gods even it is not proven, and such is idol worshipping. People can even choose to idolize trees, reason, fads, or a certain ideology. Thus, any efforts to remove religion will become a futile mission. In conclusion, removing Christianity won’t eliminate religion. Another religion will come to replace it, and in place of Christianity, idols, fads, philosophy and ideas will evolve into religion and take root. Today, there are many people who argue that religion and government must be separated, but if this truly happens, they will only be replacing Christianity with a religion called Atheism. If removing religion is what they want, they will fail and only succeed in founding a government controlled by a religion called Atheism. In this regard, there is a lot to learn from the process of Russia’s communization. Religion, the royalty, and the aristocracy became corrupted in Russia which was a Christian country. However, what was the result of throwing away Christianity and accepting Communism? The result was the blood of millions of Russian people in the process, and such bloodshed should be enough to show how imprudent and juvenile, trying to remove Christianity is. People must change their negative attitude about religion. Getting rid of religion is impossible anyways, so we should stop destructive and pessimistic religions, and not ignore religions that have proven to be positive and constructive, accepting the ideas, values, and views of such religions.
