looking at the definitions of these concepts provided by Berger it is easy to see why Harvey would argue these are less empirical.
Darrel Ray, in his book: The God Virus: How Religion Infects Our Lives and Cultures, offers a different perspective on religion and why it is so deeply engrained in human society. Rather than treating it as something that helped formulate our world as Berger does, Ray argues that religion is actually a virus that forms and mutates the human mind (Ray “Religion as a Virus”). Ray takes his religion-as-virus metaphor further by detailing five abilities religion has in common with viruses: the ability to infect people; to create antibodies and defenses against other viruses; to take over certain mental and physical
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Another good example of this was the father who walked the hallway surrounding the interior of the temple guiding his son by the hand. Within the Hindu faith there is an expectation that you go into the temple with a mind that is clear of anger, preoccupation, and other emotions that would prevent you from obtaining inner peace. In order to do so, members may walk a hallway that runs in a circle around the main chamber of the temple as many times as they feel necessary. While the purpose of this exercise was most likely lost on the young boy (who appeared to be about four-years-old), it was obvious the boy’s father wanted him to learn the practice whether he understood the reasoning or not. This illustrates the idea of indoctrination, which is the teaching of religious practices and ideas at a young age whether children are capable of understanding them so that as they grow older, those practices and ideas are second nature, accepted without question (Ray “Religion as a Virus”). The hope is that the religion and its practices become integral to the child, something that feels like an important part of their childhood and their self-perception. The process of indoctrination and imprinting is obviously a long and very personal process, and one that religions seem to prefer to be permanent (Ray “Religion as a Virus”). This is again where the metaphor of antibodies comes into
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
In 1994, a stable in Hendra, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia broke out with an unknown respiratory disease that resulted in thirteen horses and one horse trainer severely ill, resulting in death. [7, 8] This disease was isolated by scientists and later classified as the Hendra virus. The Hendra virus (HeV), previously unknown, is now classified under the family Paramyxoviridae, genus Henipavirus along with its sister viruses the Nipah Virus and Cedar virus.[7, 9] HeV has the capability of causing fatal diseases in several animal species including humans.[1] The primary host of the Hendra virus was identified as the flying fox species from the genus Pteropus[1,2,3] that resides and migrates through Northeastern Australia[8] or more specifically, the East coast of Australia to Melbourne and west across Northern Australia to Darwin[7].
Patel introduces the concept of a “faith line” and its importance by describing two cases of young people’s education relating to religion. In the first, a young man was taught religious totalitarianism, a destructive and hateful
The Panic Virus: A True Story of Medicine, Science, and Fear written by Seth Mnookin offers something for all potential readers. For those who are anti-vaccine, Mnookin offers valid science, testimony, history, and excerpts that demonstrate that vaccinating a child can be more beneficial than not. Instead of simply dismissing those who do not vaccinate their children, Mnookin offers valid points to counter argue in this debate. Mnookin offers thought, logic, reasoning, and research into his arguments, showing that his opinion is rooted in fact, rather than opinion or belief. Those who are on the fence about vaccination may find this book useful in that Mnookin not only offers plenty valid points about pro-vaccination, however, he also provides
...derneath. Relgious beliefs plays a very important in the creation and moulding of one's character and personality. One's destiny and fate can be determined with one's current living habits and ways, however with determination and hard workd, a hard life can be changed. Caring for the young physically can also represent the love transfer emotionally for the innocent. Sometimes desire and dedication can't change one to something they aren't meant to be, to something they aren't for there are many natural obstacles that exsist for a reason. These concepts play a valuable role not only in one's adventure in self-discovery, but also a trip around to discover and to live life. No matter what conditions and obstacles one face, one should always believe in themself for with hard work and determination, one should be and would be rewarded with valuables beyond this universe.
...en civilization and the individual. Living in a nation still recovering from a brutally violent war (Germany), Freud began to criticize organized religion as a collective neurosis, or mental disorder. Freud, a strong proponent of atheism, argued that religion tamed asocial instincts and created a sense of community because of the shared set of beliefs. This undoubtedly helped a civilization. However, at the same time organized religion also exacts an enormous psychological cost to the individual by making him or her perpetually subordinate to the primal figure embodied by God.
In the midst of his already successful career, Sigmund Freud decided to finally dedicate a book of his to religion, referring to the subject as a phenomena faced by the scientific community. This new work, Totem and Taboo, blew society off its feet, ultimately expanding the reaches of debates and intellectual studies. From the beginning, Freud argues that there exists a parallel between the archaic man and the contemporary compulsive. Both these types of people, he argues, exhibit neurotic behavior, and so the parallel between the two is sound. Freud argues that we should be able to determine the cause of religion the same way we determine the cause of neurosis. He believes, since all neuroses stem from childhood experiences, that the origins of this compulsive behavior we call religion should also be attributed to some childhood experiences of the human race, too. Freudian thought has been dominant since he became well known. In Cooper’s The Last of the Mohicans, religion becomes entirely evident as a major part of the novel, but the role it specifically plays is what we should question. Therefore, I argue that Freud’s approach to an inborn sense of religion and the role it plays exists in The Last of the Mohicans, in that the role religion plays in the wilderness manifests itself in the form of an untouchable truth, an innate sense of being, and most importantly, something that cannot and should not be tampered with.
Hitchens, Christopher. God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything. New York: Twelve, 2007. Print.
Religion is considered as a pervasive force in this world. It shapes people as to how they behave and interact with almost everything present in the society. Influencing behavior, character formations, ideals, policies, standards are just among the dimensions and societal perspectives affected and impacted by religion. Because of these applications and implications in human lives and existence, religion should be understood deeply, particularly, on how it affects the world. Looking at the American perspective of the term "religion," it could be simply
“What is it, this thing we call Religion? Whence did it come? And why? And how? What was it yesterday? What is it today? And what will it become tomorrow?” the writer, philosopher, and rabbi, Lewis Browne asked in his 1926 work, “This Believing World.”
In it's infancy, humanity relied on religion and it played a crucial role in the shaping of society. The organizing of people in front of one leader helped guide the unruly masses to collaborate and coexist. However, humanity no longer needs its hand held to get through the dark times. At some point we must take responsibility for our actions, both at a personal level and as a society. Religion has become the justification for countless murders, decades of war, and a plethora of other despicable deeds. In the United States of America, it's used as a way to generate untold amounts of unregulated money, spread ignorance, and encourage intolerance. Although it has helped to shape civilization as we know it today, religion is having a negative effect on society in the modern world and should discouraged by people everywhere.
Geertz defines religion as ‘(1) a system of symbols which acts to (2) establish powerful, pervasive, and long-lasting moods and motivations in men by (3) formulating conceptions of a general order of existence and (4) clothing these conceptions with such an aura of factuality that (5) the moods and motivations seem uniquely realistic.’ In this essay, I will focus on the Geertz’s idea, and Asad’s subsequent critique, of symbols. (Geertz, Clifford, and Michael Banton. "Religion as a cultural system." (1966).)
" Religion is not just a social, cultural, political, or ideological factor; instead it finds its power in the personal chambers of the soul of the individual. Within the soul we discover the source of the private motivation that forms perceptions and behavior ( pg 7, Rediscovering the Kingdom)."
With this information, of which is all theoretically possible, we now have a zombie that passes the principles of a zombie.The medical science involved has now proven that zombies are possible.Have fun and do not create this unless you want to be responsible for the mass genocide of the human race.
Indoctrination is essentially the act of teaching or inculcating a set of beliefs without questioning those beliefs. At the outset, indoctrination is a questionable practice if it prevents critical inquiry and reflection and it can be argued that it is morally wrong if it obstructs rational and independent thinking. Inculcating faith or beliefs can be seen as a worthwhile goal if learners are equipped with the necessary