For me it would be easy to create an angry indictment of organized religion. Evidence of religious strife and abuse exist in almost every society throughout history. Modern examples include the pedophile priest scandal, the endless line of Islamists ready to blow themselves up in the market place, the machete wielding Nigerian who hacks up his neighbors, the junta beating monks in Myanmar, the countries which have or want nuclear weapons and are ready to use them against religions enemies. The list goes on and on. However, the point of this discussion is to get you to think about the nature of religion and our willingness to accept it as a major influence in our lives.
In case you believe your brand of religion is the only one anyone in their right mind should embrace please consider the fact that millions of people around the world subscribe to Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Atheism, Judaism, Bahia, Candomble, Jainism, Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons, Paganism, Rastafarian, Shinto, Sikhism, Taoism, Unitarianism and Zoroastrianism. Most of these folks are sure they have chosen the one true path. I personally prefer Unitarianism if I'm going to indulge but that is because they welcome all including the agnostic. When it come to matters of religion I'm big on the "faith is just another word for hope" school of thought. Faith by definition is a firm belief in something for which there is no proof. Put another way, just because you want to believe it doesn't make it true. So much religious rhetoric puts the needle on the crazy meter into the red zone it's often hard to believe in belief. Many people chose to ignore the rational or logical and instead accept the notion that ancient authors of various religious ideologies shou...
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...s as ridiculous as having a 1300 year old argument by people from the same religion about who their prophet favored for second in command. Most contemporary religions have more in common than they would ever be willing to admit.
If God exists is his ego so fragile he demands worship? Is God so petty that he holds grudges? In the whole universe would he only create one group of life forms and then obsess about their every thought and deed? My conclusion is it all seems an unlikely truth but if you really want some insurance try to behave well.
To me the amazing part is how pervasive religion in general is based on the fact that all the proponents have to offer is a word of mouth story whispered around the campfire a million, million times. I guess there is something in basic human nature that make us uncomfortable with unanswered questions and unknown futures.
Religion is a part of society that is so closely bound to the rest of one’s life it becomes hard to distinguish what part of religion is actually being portrayed through themselves, or what is being portrayed through their culture and the rest of their society. In Holy Terrors, Bruce Lincoln states that religion is used as a justifiable mean of supporting violence and war throughout time (Lincoln 2). This becomes truly visible in times such as the practice of Jihad, the Reformation, and 9/11. The purpose of this essay is to show that as long as religion is bound to a political and cultural aspect of a community, religious war and destruction will always occur throughout the world. A historical methodology will be deployed in order to gain
Free speech comes in many forms, some offensive and some non-offensive. One of the more offensive sites on the Internet is the homepage for the World Church of the Creator.
... is in our nature that these arguments will never end and never agree upon one commonality. As time passes people, prophets and believers in each specific faith or religion will continue to translate their own version and understanding of thousands upon thousands of written literature and history further from the truth.
The Change in Modern Religion “In modern society religious beliefs and religious behaviors are changing rather than declining” Assess the argument for and against this view. The term Modern Religion in this essay will refer to the religion in the 20th century (i.e. from the 1900’s). Also to reduce confusion I will focus mainly on religion within the UK I will term the phrase religious beliefs and religious behaviors to be related with the exclusive definition of religion. Which means a belief in god or a high being and participating in religious practice.
“In thinking about religion, it is easy to be confused about what it is.” (Smart, 1992) To combat this, Smart uses seven dimensions to define common characteristics of religion. Much of what will be explored will fit his dimensions. The practical and ritual dimension can been seen in all three religions through worship and rituals and patterns of behaviour. The latter are those acts that help the believer develop spiritual awareness or ethical insight, such as yoga or meditation in Buddhism and Hinduism. The experiential and emotional dimension of religion explains that religion feeds on human emotions and key events from history to illustrate this is, the enlightenment of the Buddha, or the visions of Muhammad. A person will not follow something without meaning or emotion driving it. The narrative or mythic dimension of religion refers to the use of story telling in religion. Typically, all faiths use stories to illustrate their beliefs or events in history, whether they might be of things to come, or like in this essay, stories of the Buddha, or Muhammad. The use of story telling is important as the stories are often based on accounts of history or documents that have been found. Story telling can enhance the believers faith and are often integrated into rituals. The doctrinal and philosophical dimension of religion talks about the importance of the holy books/ doctrines. Since the doctrines typically have an account of the leaders life, and the leaders are usually educated, believers read the doctrines to gain an insight into the leaders life; and thus strive to become more like them or abide by their teachings. The ethical and legal
Religion, which is meant to enhance the faith of it followers, has done the opposite. The practices of religion have become overwhelmingly factual that the faith component of religion has vanished. In order to be a genuine beliver one must comprise an authentic faith. Both religious leaders and followers must realize that their religion is not factual, but sustained through faith. The key to the gates of heaven is faith, not facts.
The fact is that no matter where you turn, religion is a major part of culture and influences everyone on some level. While I don’t agree on any particular religion, it is important about learning what types there are in the world.
This passage captures the essence of how the average religious person views atheism. Atheism is probably the least popular and least understood philosophical position in America today. It is often approached with fear and mistrust, as if one were about to investigate a doctrine that advocates a ...
Characteristics of a religion. One characteristics of a world religion is that the world religion is that it spreads through different geographical regions. Another thing that makes a world region is that the religion does not fade away or significantly change over time. Lastly a world religion appeals to many people. So these are what make a world religion.
Today, faith is the cornerstone of all major religious knowledge claims because there is no definitive way of...
Religion has screwed us up for a long time and we'd be better off without it. By "us" I mean Americans living in the 21st century. Without religions we would have fewer labels separating us from each other and we wouldn't hate Jews or Catholics or Muslims. If we didn't have religions, we wouldn't have to convert anyone or "save" anyone. If we didn't have religions, people could no longer get caught up in the fine lines of religious rightousness or be trapped in a double-standard morality. And most importantly, we would be truly free of religious engendered guilt that never quite goes away.
What is religion? My opinion, it is the individual’s source of essential security and purpose. A belief in God or Higher Power to provide insight and conscious to humanity. Religion is the reference book to our existence and purpose on earth. In the book of Genesis, also known as, beginnings, we are told that Word was with God and the Word was God. God created man in his image male and female. God’s plan for mankind in essence was for fellowship and worship. I am a born-again Christian of the Baptist faith and The Holy Bible is my instructional guide/doctrine trusted to provide principle and guidance in life. The Word teaches me how to pray, love and forgive. How to grow in faith, worship, and treatment my neighbor. The Word provide teaching on wisdom and understanding; the ways of man
Catholic-Protestant killings in N. Ireland, Hindu-Sikh-Muslim massacres in India, Orthodox-Catholic-Muslim horror in Yugoslavia. Branch Davidian cult tragedy in Waco, Texas. Nevertheless 9/11, WTC tragedy in N.Y. Thousands or shall I say millions have died over the years over such conflicts. All these conflicts were caused by one common factor: RELIGION. The website www.dictionary.com defines Religion as being norms, values, or a way of life to an individual or community. A spiritual guide that governs the way a person lives from day to day by giving that person hope, belief, and reason to exist in this world. As world renowned journalist James Haught said “Religion is supposed to be a source of kindness and brotherhood, but it has become one of the chief causes of hatred and war.” I couldn’t agree with him more, my position is simple and clear: Ban religion and live better! By banning religion we will be able to end the never ending wars and prevent others from starting.
We begin with religious knowledge. 86% percent of people in the world categorize themselves as religious1. This must imply that a very large proportion of the world’s population puts at least some trust in religious knowledge. The problem with discussing religious knowledge is that it is based completely on faith. There is no accepted “proof” of the existence of a god or gods, so when an individual chooses to believe in a higher power, he or she does so by possessing faith in the truthfulness and accuracy of the religious texts and/or oral tradition associated with that religion. Many religious people, especially those deeply religious, consider the existence of god simply as a given in life. “What truth so obvious, so certain, as the being of a God, which the most ignorant ages have acknowledged…what truth so important as this, which is the ground of all our hopes, the surest foundation of morality, the firmest support of society, and the only principle which ought never to be a moment absent from our thoughts and meditations.
All faith will do is force them into either another bubble of complete denial or one of rebellion! Obviously there has to be more to life that this. How can we truly believe that we are the be all and end all of life? Believing in that is as bad as blind faith.