Are critical thinking and religion inter-linked ?

Question:
I read your article about Richard Dawkins with interest. I have not read the book but several of his articles and find him an impressive writer. However perhaps because I'm intellectually lazy, I prefer to keep the faith. I admit, however, that were I to try and reason with his arguments, I would have to work really hard.

And that is the point I want to make with you. Why is it so difficult for people of faith to convincingly believe without seeming illogical, emotional or irrational, while the athiests can claim the intellectual high ground so easily.

You mention the debate on evolution for instance. Why is the gap between Darwin's theory and the religious one so wide. I know you try and bring the two closer, but your view is that of a scholar and of one who has thought deeply about the issue. What of the average believer? Recently my thirteen year old daughter had this debate with my brother which demonstrated the mind set of the young believer vs. that of the intellectual. She came out sounding zealous but as if she is closed to critical thinking. That really bothers me. ….. How does one convince young children that critical thinking and religion have to be absolutely inter-linked?

Response:
I suppose one of the reasons some of us find ourselves in a confused state of mind in regard to faith is the fact that we have acquired our religion through tradition and have not internalized it intellectually.

While traditional faith has no significance, intellectually discovered faith is the real one. When we try to internalize faith, we attempt to get answers to all sorts of perplexing questions that threaten to block the process of strengthening it.

It is only after one has gone through that process that one can realize how rubbish the idea of atheism is, which entails that this world was created and is being run by nobody.

The Quran is the fountainhead of Islamic faith. It answers all important questions about it. It gives an understanding of an evolutionary process of creation of man.

In order to be an atheist one has to be extremely rigid and one-eyed. An atheist must reject all claims of miraculous intervention of God in the lives of humans. When they are informed that a patient who had no hope of survival in the opinion of doctors was miraculously saved on the recitation of certain Qur'anic verses, they must ridicule and deny it without even verifying it.

It is good to know that our younger generation is debating issues of such important nature passionately. We must tell them be open-minded and fair. While they look at the positive aspects of a view they must also look at the negative side of it as well.

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