Religion is one of the most powerful forces on the human race. It influences billions of people all over the world. “84 percent of the world has faith” (Jennifer Harper). It is mind boggling that 5.8 billion people have faith in a higher power, considering this requires giving complete, blind allegiance to something that has no factually based evidence to back it up. To believe something that is told without proof, and not having any doubt or questions about said thing, is simply preposterous. Oblivious adherence is detrimental to the intelligence of the masses.
One piece of literature that demonstrates thoughtless obedience is “By the Waters of Babylon”. The story states “it is forbidden to go east. “These are the rules and the laws; they are well made. It is forbidden to cross the great river and look upon the place that was the
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His curiosity got that best of him, and he decided to make a journey to the “Land of the Gods”. He soon found that although it was preached that he would die if he went to the “Land of the Gods”, He was just fine. The quote, “It is absurd to take things on faith, without doubting or testing them in any way, and go on preaching that you really do have the answers,” (The Importance…) is relevant in the story because John believed what was fed to him as fact even though it was inaccurate. Once he started asking questions and having doubt, he was able to find out the truth. This is applicable to modern religion because sometimes individuals start to ask questions and do research about their religion. When a question is unanswerable, elders claim that “you just have to leave it up to faith.” Nevertheless, these people will continue to search and realize that there is no proof that any religion is true other than biased books and people. These individuals are now free to live their life without the threats and guilt of doing something that goes against their religion’s