religion is a crutch for the weak

I’ve often heard the phrase ‘religion is a crutch for the weak’. Is it? In particular, is the Christian religion a crutch for the weak?

In a sense sure. We believe that humans need God; only God can save us. God’s omnipotent, we are not.  We’re weak, we need God to help us. And it is true that many people who are in difficult circumstances, financial problems, marriage problems, sickness, and the like turn to religion for comfort and solace. So, yeah, I guess one can perceive it as religion being a crutch for the weak.

But when did asking for help or rather, admitting one needs help become seen as weak? Is the cancer patient who seeks out medical attention weak for doing so? Is the drug or alcohol addict weak for going into rehab? Is the couple who seeks out counseling to save their marriage weak for doing so? I suppose it’s how you look at it. If you come from a position of ‘Well I don’t need it. They’re weak and so they need help from others’, then I suppose asking for help can be seen as weak. But from another perspective, I’d say realizing and actually admitting you have a problem and seeking help for it takes courage. Our society emphasizes too much on being successful, independent, and ‘strong’ when if we’re really honest with ourselves, no one is like that. Everyone has troubles, everyone has things they have to face (or avoid), everyone has issues in which they need to work out or bury, and more often than not, those problems can’t be solved on their own. And it becomes a matter of whether or not they’re willing to look for a solution. More often than not, I’d say it comes down to whether people will be honest with themselves about their own problems and issues and admitting that they can’t solve those things on their own. Sadly, most people are either blind  or only vaguely aware of their own weaknesses and problems. They either do nothing about it, or their own methods of solving those issues don’t work but make things worse for themselves in the long run. 

So if the premise of one’s thinking is that humans are independent and strong, then I can see how one would perceive religion as a crutch for the weak. If you don’t believe you’re sick or if you believe you can get well on your own, then you’re going to believe only the weak need medicine. 
But if the premise of one’s thinking is that all humans are completely depraved and helplessly entangled in their emotional, relational, psychological, and spiritual problems, then the ones who look for answers and find it in religion are no longer the weak ones, but the courageous ones willing to face the reality of who they are.  Sometimes, being able to admit that you’re weak, is the strongest thing you can do. 
Now, which premise is true? I’d say the condition of our society and world can tell us a bit about that. 

There’s another angle to approach this phrase which relates more to me when I consider the question of whether or not religion is a crutch for the weak. 
From my personal experience, my family’s experience, and my general readings, I’d say this statement could not be farther from the truth. No, religion, or rather Christianity, is not a crutch for the weak.  Honestly, I’ve realized that making the decision to be a Christian is the most difficult decision a person can ever make in their life.

Are those martyrs who willingly made the decision to follow Christ and then refused to renounce their faith resulting in them being burned to death, fed alive to lions, stoned, etc. weak? Was my great grandfather who died in prison for not only choosing to be a Christian but giving his life to be a pastor in China weak? What about those who refuse to renounce their faith even when their families disown them and throw them out of their homes? Or those people in China who decide to be Christian despite knowing that their lives would actually be made more difficult because of the threat of persecutions and being arrested & jailed for an indefinite amount of time — if religion were their crutch, then they just found the most useless crutch ever.  

Maybe our view of Christianity has been skewed because we live in America. But in most places, deciding to become a Christian means deciding to place your life in danger and difficulty. It’s not exactly a pleasant decision. And what weak-minded person would do that? What right-minded person would do that? I suppose you’d have to be crazy, or you’d have to be really convinced you’ve found the truth, truth worthwhile enough for you to be willing not only to live but die for. 

The Christian life itself is not for the weak. It goes against everything we humans naturally hold dear – our selves. Christianity says we must die to ourselves, give control of our lives to God, and well, not live by our way. I’d say that’s pretty difficult, because we are naturally selfish people who trust ourselves, pride ourselves over anyone else. 

Choosing to be a Christian is not a easy decision. Living a Christian life is even more difficult. And I suppose there’s the beautiful contradiction as well — to decide to be a Christian and to live a Christian life is the most difficult decision one can make, but it is one in which we are too weak to do so on our own, so ultimately it is God who makes that happen within us. So we are both strong and weak depending at which angle you perceive it. 

On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. … For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” (Matthew 9:12-13)

So, is religion a crutch for the weak? I guess it’ll depend on what perspective one approaches it from. But from my experiences and from what I’ve seen, it certainly is not so.