Uniformities allow for a certain discipline to be consistent in providing a rigid basis that allows for the production of knowledge. Thus, without this essential foundation there inherently can be no knowledge. As more of these integral uniformities come into play in religious knowledge systems and the human sciences, more knowledge about that certain subject develops. Through this process we can deduce that uniformities and the production of knowledge are, in essence, a cyclic never ending process. Yet some questions arise such as to what extent do religious uniformities play in our understanding of religious knowledge? And to what extent do civil uniformities play in our understanding of the human sciences or civil law? However, what happens …show more content…
These uniformities create knowledge because religious scholars and adherents have a model to follow to understand the world in a religious connotation. For Example, in Sikhism, it is these religious laws or uniformities that have allowed for the production of Sikh knowledge and for its numbers to grow. The uniformities make people want to seek more knowledge to fully understand the religion they follow because the adherents will ask questions that will create more uniformities to produce knowledge. In the Guru Granth Sahib, the holy book of the Sikhs, it says to not follow any superstitions and or baseless rituals that have no impact on a person’s character. So I thought of this concepts origin and historical context. And I found through my own experience as a Sikh that this was meant to develop a person’s character without having to tie a thread or having to fast on a certain day. When I see a Sikh with one of these threads or doing some baseless ritual I try to explain to them that a simple piece of thread will not have any impact on a person’s character. Thus I am glad Guru Nanak, the first Sikh teacher, emphasized this same concept to the Hindus and Muslims to not go about always trying to do a ritual that had no place in their religion and …show more content…
Some Sikhs today have removed their turbans, started to wear threads around their hands, and much more that has had a devastating impact on Sikhism. They choose to be ignorant of their religious teachings which could have enlightened them on why Sikhs are the way they are. And today when I see myself as one of these Sikhs I become saddened because I see that I have left the path to acquire more Sikh knowledge, even though the whole basis of Sikhism is to try and learn, hence the name Sikh which means a disciple. I strayed away from the path of Sikhism because I was not comfortable with trying to understand and learn the identity of the Sikhs, the turban, and I wanted to fit into society without wanting to stand out from the crowd. And I wrongly connected the thread and the turban as equivalents which caused me to remove it. So these uniformities that were made, in essence, have gone to waste because people like me stop thinking for themselves and become willingly ignorant to achieve their own standards. This disrupts the purpose of the Sikh lifestyle and makes the once religiously tout adherents start to doubt Sikh knowledge and the Sikh uniformities that were made for people to acquire more knowledge. Therefore, even though uniformities exist people choose to ignore them and reject the process of knowledge all because
As the world becomes increasingly more interconnected, differences among the many religions prove to be obstacles to the global society. In an effort to overcome these obstacles, religious authorities propose the essential sameness of all religions (that all religions point towards the same goal); however, this hypothesis oversimplifies all religions to an arbitrary base. On the other hand, Stephen Prothero’s, the author of God Is Not One, proposal for the acknowledgment of the differences preserves the multidimensional aspects of religions. By rejecting the hypothesis of a basic and similar structure of religion, Prothero allows for them to exist as complete entities; however, Prothero also creates false barriers that over differentiate religions.
As we all know, many philosophers and theologians have their own views and opinions on the idea of religious pluralism. One particular philosopher of interest is the famous John Hick. According to Hick, “The fact that there is a plurality of religious traditions, each with its own distinctive beliefs, spiritual practices, ethical outlook, art forms, and cultural ethos, creates an obvious problem for those of us who see them, not simply as human phenomena, but as responses to the Divine.” (Hick, p.54) While John Hick describes what he believes is religious pluralism, he also explains the problem of religious diversity. While some similarities exist among certain religions, there are also many differences between the spiritual beliefs and practices
Violence like this is very common. Also, they have had their fare share of discrimination. According to The Sikh Coalition many have reported employment discrimination. Sikh Awareness.(2010). Retrieved from http://www.sikhcoalition.org/ .Most recently, Frank Singh was called a terrorist and fired by an AutoZone ...
“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 can be described as a social institution built up around the idea of a supernatural being or beings, and the relation of human beings to them. In addition, religion provides individuals a belief to which they understand their existence as well network of emotional support during times of distress. Moreover, religious institutions provide individuals a proper perspective of life and establish values. Religion involves three major aspects: A conception of the nature and character of divinity (2) A set of principles concerning the duties and obligations between divinity and humanity. (3) A set of behavior patterns designed to conform to God’s will (Thorman, 154). The theme of panopticisim is to assert and maintain power by being unseen. In Christianity, God, unable to be to seen, is a supernatural being with infinite power. In addition, the Holy Bible reaffirms this power and establishes accordance among civilians. The social institution of religion is a form of a panoptic system where individuals are compelled to act accordingly.
Sikhism is the 5th largest religion in the world, but many people don’t know about Sikhism. Many people mistake Sikhs for terrorists due to their turbans. Sikhism is a monotheistic religion originating from Punjab, India. Sikhs do not cut their hair, and proudly wear turban as part of their religious and cultural heritage. It’s been about 13 years since 9/11 attack happened, but its affects can still be seen in modern USA. There are still many cases reported every year of killing of innocent people that are mistaken as terrorists. The Sikh Coalition, the group created after the ill-fated 9/11, said that almost 900 incidents have been reported in which American Sikhs are bullied and killed since 9/11. Just after an hour of 9/11 attack, Sikhs in New York were harassed, assaulted and beaten with bats. In fact, Muslims and Hindus were also tortured and killed after 9/11, and till today there are cases of bullying Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs in almost the whole America. During the weekend of ill-fated 9/11, Balbir Singh Sodhi, an Arizona Sikh, was gunned down wh...
Religion is a symbolic representation of society. The sociological approach to religious belief looks at how society behaves on a whole, to answer the question, “Why are people religious?” We express our participation in religious events through plays, acts of confession, religious dances, etc. To begin to understand why we have such term, let’s understand the common elements of religion. There are different types in which people believe in or follow and that is: animatism, animism, ancestral spirits, god and goddesses, and minor supernatural beings. Beyond these different elements, such one is to have religious leaders to follow.
Since the beginning of time, religion has played one of the most significant roles within human existence and has been believed to be the source whereby our governing laws have been derived. However, dating back to as early as the 3rd to 6th century, Greek philosophers inclusive of Diagoras of Melos, Euhemerus, alongside the schools of Hindu philosophy, Samkhya and the Greek Cyrenaic School were all amongst some of the first who did not accept the idea of God (Friedrich, 1942, 25). In the 7th century and during the Early Middle Ages, undergoing the Golden Age, the idea of knowledge was emphasised amongst the Muslim world, translating and collaborating knowledge from all over the world, giving rise to a group of people known as the Dahriyya who were the ‘holders of materialistic opinions of vari...
In Wilfred Cantwell Smith’s book The Faith of Other Men he starts by describing his challenge as a teacher in Lahore. He mentions that his colleagues were, like the great majority of the students, a mix of Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhns. As a Christian he and the rest of the community had to work toward the construction and maintenance of a religiously diverse community. The missionary college emphasized the message that faith was a serious and fundamental matter, that could neither be taken for granted nor dismissed. That message for Smith’s can be echoed in the oversimplified religious society of today. The religious life of humanity according to Smith is one that religiously plural, and this is true for all of us. Muslims, Hindus, Confucians, and Buddhists there no longer these far away peoples but rather they have become our neigh...
"God Willed that as a true Sikh I should look upon all religions with one eye".
Religion is a big part of our world, as it dictates our beliefs and how we act towards other people. Though all religions have different beliefs, it is the core values of that religion that shape the way we act as people towards other humans, plants and animals. This essay will be looking at Christianity and Sikhism and how the core values of each of these religions compare to each other. Firstly looking at a brief summary of Sikhism and Christianity and a look at their beliefs. Then looking at the core values as protrayed by Christianity and Sikhism. Finally then comparing the core values of Sikhism and the core values of Christianity.
Spiritual lifeways are passed down from generation to generation. Unlike traditional religion that use books and scriptures, the indigenous religion use riddles, legends, art, and music to information along. Indigenous religion mostly focuses on teaching handed down from their ancestors. Most indigenous religion lives “close to the earth in nonindustrial and small-scale cultures” (pg. 33). Global religion has adopted some indigenous ways but changed the teaching in order to keep up with the current time and events, however indigenous religion refused to change and adapt to modern time. Excellent example is Buddhism, this religion have adopted existing customs, “such as the recognition of local deities”, (pg. 34). Studies show that many indigenous scared ways have been blended with global
In placing all importance in religious symbols, Geertz does not account for any social, historical, political or economical factors which may influences one’s life, world-view and belief system. Geertz essentially argues that religious symbols create belief, but Asad denies this, arguing instead that religious symbols only serve as a catalyst for belief. Thus, because social conditions will differ from culture to culture, Asad believes it is pointless to try and find common ground between all religions. Instead he insists that looking at historical facts, which may gives us an insight into the kind of institutions and ideologies were present at the time to allow a certain way of belief to become prominent, is the preferable way of studying
When first looking at the relationship between philosophy and religion, I found it easier to explain the differences rather than the similarities. I began this paper the same way I do others. This generally involves a profound amount of research on the topic at hand. However, in contrast to the other papers I have done, the definitions of philosophy and religion only raised more questions for me. It was fascinating how the explanations differed dramatically from author to author.
McLeod, W. H. (2000). Exploring Sikhism: Aspects of Sikh identity, culture and thought. New Delhi: Oxford University Press.