A Rhetorical Analysis Of Richard Dawkins Viruses Of The Mind

Richard Dawkins’ assertion in his essay “Viruses of the Mind” claims that religion is a viral ideology that can be extremely harmful to people across the world. This claim is unfounded. Although many religions claim to be for the benefit of humanity, the so-called benefits provided by religions are incomparable to the atrocities taught and enacted in the name of religion. Religious followers and leaders argue that the comfort provided by religion is incomparable to any comfort, explanation, or purpose you could find outside of religion. However, this is not the case. There was a large surge in religious engagement during the Covid-19 Pandemic, as shown in the article ‘Searching for Comfort in Religion,” highlighting the role religion played

Finding purpose in life and comfort within one’s community is entirely achievable outside the realm of religion. Dealing with life’s changes independently of religious beliefs is fully possible. In Michael Ungar’s article, “Community Resilience for Youth and Families,” the concept of community resilience aligns with the argument that seeking purpose, comfort, and addressing hardships in life is not only achievable within religion. The article's statement, “the resilience of individuals is linked to the resilience of the community in which they live” (Ungar, 2011), expresses the interdependence of personal resilience to hardship when the support of the community or family is available. In addition, the idea that “Individual resilience is 'intertwined' with the coping capacity of others within a context of a multi-layered'social resilience'" (Ungar, 2011) suggests that resilience thrives through a group's social support and community strength. This is an extremely important factor for individuals dealing with distress or times of hardship by seeking support from within their

The authors further elucidate the consequences of raising children under such religious influences, stating that "heavy-handed, compulsory family worship may be more detrimental for children than no family worship at all" (Marks et al., 2017). Experiences like these are frequently observed in families with children subjected to intense religious upbringing, and individuals in such situations often renounce their faith after leaving home due to judgments or discrimination imposed by their religion. The impact of religion on children varies significantly from one individual to another, with particularly serious effects observed among children or individuals identifying within the LGBTQ+ community. A comprehensive analysis conducted by the Pew Research Center, titled "Religious Groups’ Official Positions on Same-Sex Marriage," reveals that numerous religions, such as American Baptist, Catholicism, Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints, certain Hindu sects, Islam, Orthodox Judaism, Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, National Association of Evangelicals, and the Southern Baptist Convention, condemn same-sex marriages and