Is it possible that belief
in God is dangerous?

Speaking of Religion
The Rev. Dr. Tim Griffin

In certain of his writings, the 18th-century philosopher, David Hume, challenged arguments for the existence of God. At the time, Hume’s attitude was regarded by some as "dangerous" because by challenging arguments for God’s existence he was, in effect, undermining the basis for morality.
Belief in God, according to Hume’s critics, is needed in order to keep the baser aspects of our human nature in check. For without belief in God, and in particular without belief in an all-powerful judge capable of consigning evildoers to eternal damnation, human beings may cease to act morally. Therefore, by challenging the arguments for God’s existence, Hume was challenging the basis of morality and the entire social order, or so his critics claimed.
Hume’s response to this argument was quick and to the point: a dangerous position may nonetheless be true. In other words, Hume insisted that his critique of religion was legitimate, whatever its impact on morality.
Who wins? I think most will concede that Hume is correct in distinguishing between the truth of a position and its implications for morality. Of course that does not mean that Hume’s objections of religious belief were sound; it only means that the potential impact of his arguments on morality is irrelevant to a determination of the truth of his position.
In any event, I was reminded of this controversy about Hume’s challenge to religion by some recent arguments coming from the opposite direction. There are currently some who argue that religious belief is dangerous.
Adherents of this position insist that the world is becoming increasingly violent and dangerous with scores of innocent people being killed daily. And sadly, this carnage is not the result of a loss of religious belief. On the contrary, it owes to religious belief and is being perpetrated by religious believers in the name of their religion.
So, in contrast to those who claim that religious belief upholds the moral order, there are now those who see religious belief as undermining the moral order and fomenting violence and social unrest.
There is considerable irony in the fact that many now see religious belief as dangerous in this way. And in response to this argument, I suppose one might follow Hume by noting that a dangerous belief is not necessarily a false belief.
In fact, as a Christian that was my first reaction, i.e., I thought "even if it is true that religious belief is spreading discord and violence, it does not follow that one’s religious convictions are false."
Or does it? I have come to think, in fact, that if my religious belief spreads discord and violence, then in an important sense it has been proven to be false. After all, at the center of religion — or at least the theistic religions most responsible for the blood being shed on religious grounds — is the conviction that God desires a relationship with humanity and God desires humanity to live in peace and harmony with one another.
But if this is at the center of our religion, how can we continue to kill one another in the name of this loving God? And in doing so, aren’t we giving the lie to the very things we claim to believe?
Isn’t it indisputable that the truth of our religious conviction has at least as much — and I think more — to do with how we live our lives and how we treat one another, as it does with what words we utter or what creeds we profess? And that being so, aren’t all who claim to have the exclusive truth, whether they are Christian, Muslim and Jewish, actually offending God?
I think we must conclude that the move to fanatical, intolerant fundamentalism in the theistic traditions is dangerous, and not merely to the moral order but to the very traditions they misrepresent. Clearly there are an intolerant few who are convinced that God is in their control.
It is up to the rest of us, who understand that God is love and demands love of us, to resist these tendencies, not through violence but through compassion, understanding and respecting the dignity of others.
True religion cannot be violent and dangerous without undermining the will of God. ••
Father Tim Griffin is priest-in-charge at the St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, at 1946 Welsh Road in Bustleton.