Tradition Is Not A Valid Argument

This is one of the rarer arguments that emerges in debates. The general idea is that because a certain country has always been tied to a particular religion, or was founded on certain religious principles, that its people should therefore continue to do things according to that religion.

There are two obvious examples of when this argument is made. In the United Kingdom, the argument is made that because the country has an official religion handed down from centuries ago, that its citizens should continue to support it. In the United States, some claim that the country was founded on religious principles with intent. This claim is contended by many, however for the purposes of this article it doesn’t really matter whether it is actually true or not, we will pretend that it is.

This is possibly the easiest argument to counter in all religious debates. The reason that anyone debates religion in the first place, is because we think that it’s a problem and we need to get rid of it, or part of it. These debates only happen because people see the need for change. And so when someone suggests that we should be religious because of tradition, they completely misunderstand the purpose of the debate, which is that we don’t like the way it has always been.

Even then, the suggestion is ludicrous. Within any one religion, there are disagreements, so to suggest that a country should follow the doctrine of any one religion is flippant, because there is inherent ambiguity in religion.