The Value of Religion

I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It influences just about everything I do.

Shared truth

Religion agrees on truth being defined and right and wrong being clear. Moral relativism is an alternative paradigm where what is clear cut becomes more a matter of personal preferences/cultures/attitudes.

I've found that there is a pervasive attitude of religion being a more primitive way of thinking (for example, that one can't be both religious and scientific). I find that unsettling because of the dysfunction in a society that comes from rejecting shared truth.

CS Lewis summed it up like this:

In a sort of ghastly simplicity we remove the organ and demand the function. We make men without chests and expect of them virtue and enterprise. We laugh at honour and are shocked to find traitors in our midst. We castrate and bid the geldings be fruitful. -C.S. Lewis

If the only thing that matters is "your truth" (and truth becomes relative), it gets hard to discuss hard problems that relate to it. C.S. Lewis suggests removing that set of beliefs is like removing an organ that drives the body.

Religion has taught me to prioritize things in my life according to a set of higher laws, and that has made me significantly happier than when I fail to organize my life around what's most important to me.