ELIZABETH NORDSTROM
INTRO TO PHILOSOPHY
DR. CRAGG
FEBURARY 18, 2015
GOD
What does it mean to be religious? Does it mean to go to church every Sunday? What happens if you go to church and don’t truly believe in what everyone else is praising? Are you truly religious? The answer is no. According to “The Big Questions” by Robert Solomon and Kathleen Higgins, to be religious is to make a passionate, individual choice against all evidence, even against reason itself. The book refers to religion as a “leap of faith”, meaning that it takes quite a bit of faith to allow someone to be fully considered religious. It means that one would have to look against all odds and channel that faith into their own hands and into Him. Being religious is a decision that only the individual can make. It is not something that anyone else can decide for someone. One needs to truly believe in God all on their own, no exceptions. It is also true that one can believe in God and still not be considered religious. For example, Isaac Newton believed that God was, in fact real, however he did not believe that he played a role in his life. This would then conclude that Isaac Newton was still a theist, however he was still not religious. Being a theist means that one believes in God. This doesn’t mean that they have to be completely religious and go to church every week, but still believes. On the other hand, there are people that are known as atheists. These people do not believe in God what-so-ever. In fact, most atheists believe that anything that hasn’t been scientifically proven