Isn't religion just a crutch?

Eli: Is faith just a crutch for people who can't cope?

Eli: There's truth in it. Karl Marx argued that religion eases real suffering.

Eli: He called religion the opium of the people, and Wikipedia says that in context he meant a balm for real suffering.

Eli: Sigmund Freud, who founded psychoanalysis, developed a wide-ranging critique of religion in his later work.

Eli: Those explain why people believe, not whether it's true.

Eli: Honestly, everyone leans on something. What matters is whether it holds.

Eli: I can't prove it holds. If faith only numbed pain, that part of Marx's critique would have force.

Eli: Here's what Jesus said to the weary and burdened.

Eli: Come to me, all you who labor and are heavily burdened, and I will give you rest.

Eli: That's an invitation to a person.

Eli: So test it: read one Gospel, a book about Jesus, with an open mind.

Eli: Or ask a friend who goes to church what they lean on.