Religious Belief is Groundless - Essay Example

What does Norman Malcolm mean by the claim that the religious belief is groundless? 25/10 INTRODUCTION Religion is said to be a practice where people believe and worship supernatural being that is believed to be powerful and has the capability of controlling all of the human aspects of human (Harrison, 2007). It is not easy to elaborate the whole concept of religion as it is quite diverse and complicated. Therefore, it is only possible to explain in briefs why religion is groundless. The essay seeks to explain why Christianity is groundless and focusing on the Malcolm essay Why say religion is groundless. A grounded belief is a practice that people do in their day to day activities. On the other hand, a groundless belief is an unpractical belief as a result of lack of understanding or as a result of set out high standards. Why say religion is groundless Malcolm start by arguing the he not a Christian. However, he states that he might be closer to being Christian than people who say they are Christians. Malcolm says this is arguing that not many people who say they are Christian practice it (Malcolm, 2000). He argues that the religion is an exercise that people demonstrates throughout their life. He depicts Christianity because they do not follow the teaching of the Bible. For example, he says that there is none among Christian that have done what Christ tough about in his gospel. According to the teaching Jesus, argued that people should sell all their belonging and follow him. This is central to what Christian practice. Malcolm argues that a grounded Christianity is whom that just like Christ would live his life working for the good of mankind (Malcolm, 2000). This according to Malcolm would require that persons are owing nothing or possessing properties and even having a family (Malcolm, 2000). Moreover, Malcolm says that practicing Christianity would be more than being good to other people (Malcolm, 2000). He says that if Christianity and another religious were all about living a good life, then all people and group would be Christian. Nevertheless, Christianity is more than living a good life, and this make it a groundless religion (Malcolm, 2000). Malcolm also questions on the existent of God. He spend a lot of time disproving the various theories that explain the existence of a supernatural being. He argues that all these theory does not provide concrete evidence and thus Christianity might be a groundless belief. Malcolm says that the First-cause argument and the Natural-law Argument are void in their explanations. Moreover, the explanation that everything is designed so that people can live in the world is also a waiting theory. Malcolm argues that there is no such thing as design to support the belief among Christians (Malcolm, 2000). According to Ayer, the mere statement that ‘God Exist’ is sufficient and does not need to be verified empirically as Malcolm suggest (Davies, 2000). For this reason during the time that positivism existed the philosophy of religion ceased to be the important subjects in most of the Universities. Scholar regards the question of God and Christianity belief as unknowledgeable. For them, religion was a grounded belief in the Supernatural Being. There are many questions that Malcolm says are devoid and which Christianity belief fails to explain. For instance can people believe in something they cannot justify? According to Malcolm religion, makes people follow aspects blindly. It is very hard to explain this because certainly majority of the religious aspects are handed over from one generation to the other. Therefore, anyone who tries to question them is regarded as a non-believer (Norman & Winch, 1997). Another question that Malcolm ponder is whether Christianity belief in things that they are sure of them. Toward this Malcolm says that Christianity lacks roots, and people practice beliefs blindly not knowing what they are expected to achieve. Take, for example, certain religions teach that doing good deeds rewards people with good things. But we know of very many people who have been good, but have suffered throughout their lives. Then one wonders whether all that religion teaches correct? Malcolm argues that it is construed to suit men in the modern world, and this make Christianity a groundless belief. According to Ludwig, the answer to the misfortune among may have negative responses (Ludwig, 1958). People who practice Christianity are a mirror in society, and they are often judged for their action, beliefs and even their uncertainty and misfortunes. This does not mean that people who do not belief do not suffer, but all that happen to those who also believe happen to the non-believers. However, true Christian navigate well in time of difficult than non-believers. Therefore, Malcolm theories may not be true, and Christianity is a grounded religion as far as positivists are concerned. For positivists, they believed that knowledge can be found in rationality. We also need to ask ourselves; are religious beliefs different from other beliefs? Is religion a certain system on its own? Or do we necessarily have to follow what we find another doing? Religion does not even give the freedom to the new generations to analyses what that exist or make any necessary amendments to prior concepts. Have we the young generation taken time to ask ourselves how justified is what we believe to be our religion? After analyzing various religions such as Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and even Athens, Malcolm concluded that the religion is groundless (Malcolm, 2000). He argues that people who do not believe in religions do not know what they do not believe (Malcolm, 2000). This is because non-believers too do not fully understand what religion is all about. The un-practicable beliefs bring controversies and uncertainty of religion and support Malcolm theory of groundless of Christianity (Norman, 2001). According to Malcolm rationality, is a negative idea that threaten the ability to think and the search for new knowledge. For instance, in antique Christianity believed that the earth was flat ad people who questioned the rationality were prosecuted. However, after Galileo was persecuted for claiming that the earth was a sphere it was proven that his claim was true. Thus, to this end, Malcolm says that there exist no fundamental belief in all religion (Malcolm, 2000). Different religions beliefs in different aspects, but have one belief in common that there exist supreme beings who control nature. Moreover, the Supreme Being is known to reward the good people with good things and to punish the wicked. The belief of heaven and hell comes from this argument that all those who do good will go to heaven while the wicked will be punished in hell. The Christianity dogma is so profound and makes the follower stick to the teaching. However, the dogma is so difficult to abide and for those who try they fall into many temptations. These are the characteristics of non-fundamental beliefs. A good religious practice needed to be well thought-out and understood by everybody who believes in it (Russel, 1957). Furthermore, there exist non-fundamental beliefs in another religion such as the Islamic faith. For them, they believe in the holy war and there are profound group who preach and practice this belief. They kill those who threaten their faith. Malcolm says that to this extent religious belief should not be taken as it is, but should be a question for the nationality of some negative acts. Moreover, Malcolm argues that the practice of these beliefs is a demonstration of how little people know about their beliefs and thus argue that religious belief are groundless (Mitchell, 1971). Malcolm, therefore, put religion to a higher standard that nobody can reach. When compared to positivist Malcolm bring the philosophical study of religion to the forefront, but fails to offer solutions for it groundlessness. On the other hand, positivists disregarded religious philosophy and left people to live on the masses of their beliefs. However, the debate by Malcolm had ignited a new approach to religious beliefs. The Christian reformation based their movement on the basis of Malcolm argument (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2005). There are many reasons that made Malcolm refer religious beliefs as groundless. He says that those who believe do not know why they believe. On the other hand, those who do not believe do not have a good reason for it. Therefore, the whole aspect becomes so complicated. Those who claim to understand it end up confused because it is so diverse. This makes Malcolm theory to be implausible. Conclusion It is, therefore, true to say that Malcolm’s claims have a basis. They are however neither saying that he was right since that idea of religious dogma still holds. Moreover, we can never be so sure to answer or rather justify all the claims that are raised by various individuals who embark on researching about it. However, religion makes sense and has a lot of wide histories. However, only a few who have taken chances to be critical and took no chances of making any barbarous assumptions and questioning what ought to be questioned (Wittgenstein, 1966). Therefore, despite the fact that I have highlighted earlier on it is quite delicate to analyze this concept so that we do not be foolish enough to follow things blindly. References Davies, B., 2000. Philosophy of religion: A Guide and Anthology. New York: Oxford University Press. Harrison, V. S., 2007. Religion and Modern Thought. London: SCM Press. Ludwig, W., 1958. Philosophical Investigations. New York: Macmillan. Malcolm, N., 2000. The groundless of religious belief. London: Royal Institute of Philosophy. Mitchell, B., 1971. Religious beliefs and language game. In: The Philosophy of Religion. New York: Oxford University Press. Norman, M., 2001. A Memoir. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Norman, M. & Winch, P., 1997. Wittgenstein: A Religious Point of View. London : Routledge. Russel, B., 1957. Why am not a Christian? [Online] Available at: http://www.users.drew.edu/~jlenz/whynot.html [Accessed 25 October 2014]. Wittgenstein, L., 1966. Lectures and Conversations on Atheists, Phschology and Religious Belief. Oxford: Blackwell. Read More