AN APPRAISAL OF BERTRAND RUSSELL'S NOTION OF RELIGION AS AN ANTI-HUMAN DEVELOPMENT PHENOMENON

Abstract

One thinker, in his philosophy, that never hid his disgust for religion as an anti social, antihuman, anti development phenomenon is Bertrand Russell. Russell saw religion as antihuman development from moral and intellectual perspectives just as he is not convinced of the major arguments for God's existence. This paper critically examines Russell's negative views, weighing the different sides of his contentious arguments on the role of religion in development process within the human society. The method of the paper is expository and critical analysis. The work found out that even though religion is a strong instrument of meaning and of discipline yet its general overbearing influence, untamed can become a disservice to human development.