Organized Religions have some benefits such as, leadership, accountability, and oversight. Some organized religions lack these benefits, so they turn to other things such as practices, cults, and other groups. An organized religion is a institution where people with the same beliefs are arranged into groups, although organized religions have their benefits, some groups use their organized religion to abuse their members when they should really be helping them; when the organized religion begins to pull away from the lord, the group can start to become harmful; organized religion has taken religion, and twisted it for humans, so the leaders can feel powerful, religions control most of our life, so people use these organized religions to manipulate the members for some kind of goal.
When two people who have the same beliefs join together to pray, or worship the lord, it is well thought-out to be an organized religion which outrageous because there is no point in doing
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If failed to follow these rules the members will be punished. “Most religions are necessarily totalitarian, insisting that their followers obey the rules that govern from cradle to grave. Failure to obey results in “shunning” or excommunication.” (Kreyche Paragraph 6-8). You must follow these rules if you are involved in an organized religion if not it reflects on you when death comes. “You will be judged when death comes, to hell or heaven all things you do wrong, it comes back to you and only God will judge you.” (Rules of Religion Paragraph 1-7) The churches have rules that actually divide people instead of bringing them together. Organized religions also have procedures that remove the members they don’t want, and those who don’t meet the standards they are looking for, some examples of things that do not meet the standards are financial impropriety, and behavioral
It is incredibly uncommon in this day and age for an individual to hold their own personal religion and line of beliefs. In most cases it wouldn 't even be categorized as a religion. Religion requires multiple persons. It is the breeding of individuals who see community as a defining factor in advancing their religious beliefs and immersing such beliefs into their lives. The aspect of community works differently amongst various religions, but one thing that seems to hold true across the board is that religion functions as a “social glue”. It can serve to hold individuals together, as well as an entire group of people. The counter-argument to this would certainly be that religion instead serves to rip communities apart. The latter to this is prominent in religious communities whose sole function is to impound intense religiosity into individuals in an atmosphere where the extensive nature and uniform of their beliefs are the highest priority. Jesus Camp, is a documentary that makes light of how religious communities function
Throughout the course of history, man has looked to religion for answers. Curiosity as to how we got here and why we are have driven people to seek out answers to these somewhat unanswerable questions. Over the past few thousand years, several varying religions have been established, some more prominent than others. Many of them share a similar story of a divine creator who has always been and will always be. In the case of Christianity, whether true or not, it has proven to be beneficial to society as a whole. The Bible set the standard for the moral compass that humans live their lives by to this day. The key fundamental problem with religion, although not the fault of religion, is that man has often used it as a gateway to power and prominence. In the case of the 18th century Gallican church, the French were abusing their religious powers, thus creating vast inequality throughout France, which eventually led to a rebellion against the church, and the eventual destruction of the church within France.
I believe organized religion may look good on paper but when humans get involved then manipulation is used to satisfy their religious leaders’ lust for greed and power which contradicts the very beliefs the religion was founded on. Many religious founders seemed to practice what they preached, however, once they die, the leadership that follows seems to travel the road of corruption in order to maintain or gain additional power (Armstrong, 2002). Historically, wars have been fought, assignations committed, persecution of other religions, land conquered, and even beliefs changed over time to fit the needs and wants of the current leader over the common good of that same leader’s own people (Esposito, 2011). These corruptions are not isolated to solely the Old Testament era; even current religious leaders abuse power. I can recall the headlines I have read in Yahoo News over the years about Christian televangelists who have stolen money from church donations or committed adultery, to Catholic priests sexually assa...
The members in a cult most usually follow the leader and not the ideas of the leader. They are there to make the leader happy and to make them happy they become a follower and practice the same beliefs as the leader. “Cults often originate with a charismatic leader, an individual who inspires people because he or she seems to have extraordinary gifts, qualities, or abilities.” (Henslin 2013:405) The leader of the group is usually seen as something more than human to the followers, such as a God or that they are connected to God in some way. The leader possesses the ability to give them salvation and save them from damnation. “People feel drawn to both the person and the message because they find something highly appealing about the individual-in some instances, almost a magnetic charm.” (Henslin 2013:405) Without the leader the members feel like there is no way they can be saved. They use conflict theory ...
For instance, Voltaire said, “EVERY sect, in whatever sphere, is the rallying-point of doubt and error. Scotish, Thomist, realist, Nominalist, Papist, Calvinist, Molinist, Jasenist are only pseudonyms.” (23). As a people, it is acceptable to claim an organization, but it seems to be a way to hide behind the philosophy and teaching of man than to stand behind our faith. Kings used this to their advantage and followed the established a religion for their state, but religion was used to create uniformity. Kings needed the people to have the same experiences to keep diversity at a minim and limit curiosity in fear they would be challenged, or
Religion has many effects in any society. It can either destroy it by proving customs wrong or it can guide it like it guides converts to believe in the religion. Religion creates two different societies and while it guides one to become stronger it will destroy another at the same time. Religion guides societies and destroys them.
According to Merriam-Webster, religion is based on “an organized system of beliefs, ceremonies, and rules used to worship a god or a group of gods” (“Religion”). In every part of the world there is a struggle between individual religions that are trying to institutionalize their “system of beliefs” on each other, and within those individual religions there is also a struggle of sects that claims that their teaching should be the basis for that religion, not the teachings that is presented by other believers of the same religion. These religious sect later go on to create religious organizations. The first thing these religious organizations try to propagate to their followers is that anyone that are not a follower of their doctrines is corrupt and needs a divine deliverance from themselves. This deliverance cannot be given to the individual in another religious organization, it has to come from them. One of the biggest organization that has openly declared themselves as the divine judgers of men from God is th...
Although cults have become a very common practice in our society, not many people actually know what a cult is. A cult is a group that demonstrates an excessive dedication to an idea, person or thing. Cults will conduct manipulative and persuasive behavior to advance the goals of the leader (Langone). There are many different types of cults, but they usually fall into four categories: Religious, Commercial, Self Help and Counselling or Political. Many people mistake religions as cults, but that is not the case. Religious cults are cults that center around a belief system as many common religions do, but they are categorized as a cult because of their practices and mind control. Common religions do not practice these techniques. Commercial cults are those that are interested in gaining money. These cults use their scare tactics and mind control techniques to get members to give them money and even work for them. Self Help and Counselling cults are centered around a business that has programs designed to help people by counselling them. By taking their courses, members are told they will become better people. This of course is not the case and these cults are inte...
“Religion is an institution established by man for various reasons. Exert control; instill morality, stroke egos, or whatever it does. Organized, structured religions all but remove god from the equation. You confess your sins to a clergy member, go to elaborate churches to worship, and told what to pray and when to pray it. All those factors remove you from god.”
...and have the purpose of indoctrinating the teachings of the church into the new members’ mind. They are encouraged to show complete devotion to the UC by contributing to the group as much as they can. As full-time moonies, the members are expected to: offer all possessions to the church, become a full time cash raiser for the group, remain celibate, remove all doubts and criticisms or Moon, follow your local leader without question, be told when and who to marry, be told when to have sex with the spouse, be told when you can have children, Only step into rooms using the right foot first, only clean yourself with the left hand after using the bathroom, follow the rule that states a wife may only walk or stand on a husband’s left side, donate up to 50 percent of your salary to the church (if you are a leader), and relocate to whichever location you are assigned to.
Religion itself can mean many different things and is interpreted differently by each group of people. The literal meaning of the word “religion” is “a specific fundamental set of beliefs and practices generally agreed upon by a number of persons or sects.” Religion is divided into different secs such as Christians, Muslims, Jews, etc. Although religion is aimed to unite people and bring them together, I believe there are certain aspects that divide people or make them “different” from everyone else. The factors that have caused religion to divide are war and violence, the caste system, and rituals.
A religion is a system of beliefs usually involving the worship of supernatural forces or beings. Religious beliefs provide shape and meaning to one's perception of the universe. In other words, they provide a sense of order in what might otherwise be seen as a chaotic existence. Religions also provide understanding and meaning for inexplicable events such as a loved one being killed in an earthquake or some other unpredictable force of nature. For most religious people, their beliefs about the supernatural are at the very core of their world views.
Religion is the one element of life that has connected the races and societies of the world for hundreds of years. It has given meaning to lives that may seem otherwise hopeless. Religion has provided for a universal language and culture among those who believe in a higher power. The spirit or being receiving the worship and praise may not be the same, but the practices are usually similar and serve the same purpose--to give direction, insight, courage, and a divine connection.
Religion provides order within people and gives the individual some clarity to the unknown “life after death”. Religion gives and individual to something to look forward to after death. The common belief in most religions is that life after death depends on how we live life on earth which, greatly contributes to the order in society. Through the participation of religion one is exposed to divine motivation which contribute to the individual’s perspective of social norms as well as how they live life while alive. As per an educational website boundless.com “Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions, and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to explain the origin of life or the universe.” This clearly indicates the theory that religion socializes an individual in a manner that contributes to the order of society. Religion has contributed to my socialization greatly. I am a very religious individual and I do have the belief that the way I live life on earth will determine my life after death. My religion keeps me sane and instill obedience in me and affects how I carry myself in
So what is religion? Religion is more than an institution of rituals and beliefs, its more than just going to church on Sunday, its more than just praying 5 times day facing mecca. Religion is a powerful tool for governments. Religion creates a sense of unity that unites all peoples with-in that religion, but also can have the opposite effect. It can cause wars between two opposite religions. Religion is also an inhibitor according to Karl Marx. It stunts progression of many social classes or slows the progression of rights for women. Even though all of these peoples were Atheists, they all could still see the huge impact religion has had on our society, and how it has made us the people as whole we are today.