Bonus: Religion as a Reliable Source by Bailey West

Personally I have never identified very much with religion. My parents aren't very religious but my mom does believe in God and identify as a Christian. My extended family, however, is extremely religious. Most of them live in a very small town that hasn't socially progressed since the 1950's- they still don't "believe in" mixed marriages. This makes up a large part of my family, so I get a fair share of uncomfortable holiday dinners and crazy Facebook posts. Although I realize that not all religious people fall into this category, these types of people do exist and I think it's important to think about their thought processes. Personally I think that their religion contributes a lot to their ignorance.

I believe that the lack of sources from religious leaders has impacted their thought process. They are used to accepting things at face value without much proof or explanation. I believe that this has affected the way they accept other "facts". Their whole lives are devoted to religion and God, so just using the Bible as a source is good enough proof for them. Regardless of your religious beliefs it should be common sense that there should be more than one viable source to prove a fact. Because their standard for sources and proof is so low, they are inclined to take almost anything as fact- as long as it involves God or caters to their interests. This means they get drawn into the broad propaganda scheme of extreme conservatism. They only watch Fox News and they are susceptible to inflammatory videos on Facebook that don't have any facts or sources. They have no standard of reference for facts and reliable sources.

Therefore, I think it is important for religious figures to provide sources. This is a touchy issue and I don't mean to offend anyone, but I think religious figures don't provide sources because it's hard for them to find some. It's all based on opinion and in the end that's what religion is- an opinion. Of course it doesn't always snowball like the situation with my family. I also believe that it's up to each individual to be well informed and critical of the belief systems around them.

In the end, it's up in the air. I think in order for religion to be considered valid they must include other valid sources and facts. However, I don't believe this is possible. I hope this doesn't sound like a rant against religion, because it's not. I personally don't identify with it but I can see the benefits. It's a good way to have hope and believe that everything happens for a reason. However, certain aspects of it do worry me- like the lack of sources and what that means for people's standard of a fact. All in all I think that everyone should learn to be critical of the environment around them, whether they're religious or not. It's important to look at where these ideas come from and why we think the way we do. We have to learn to assess sources for validity and determine what to take as truth.