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Religion and civilization influence
Religion and civilization influence
The effects of religion in the world
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Imagine a hand holding a gun which shoots out bullet the shape of a cross. The need to civilize a society in its entity has been influenced by one book, one word, one God. It isn’t a fortuitous event that for centuries, in the name of God, wars have been fought and nations have been conquered. Religion breaks down certain cohesion in society. The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingslover along with Things Fall Apart and Heart of Darkness by Ukem Akpan and Joseph Conrad respectively have depicted this notion of carrying out God’s will onto other areas. For this reason alone, mankind is incapable of achieving equality because in a world where religion exists will always create a schism in humanity.
Religion is responsible for manifesting a feeling of being unhomed. Characteristics may include feeling a part of more than one world which, during imperialism, is a very dangerous way of living. This kind of person may execute ideas or beliefs that are not fully their own. The unhomed natives of a land that is being “helped” by God’s missionaries lose their culture which is then replaced with a mixture of cultures. The exertion of colonists to spread their faith has resulted in. Being unhomed leaves negative effects on an individual because to be unhomed means that a part of that person was removed, and replaced with another. It is like an incomplete blending which results in a confused state of mind.
In Things Fall Apart, religion comes in the form of Christian missionaries in the town of Umuofia. Once it arrives, people begin to feel unsure of their self and ultimately their culture. What happened is this. Missionaries enter carrying with them the Bible and their demeanor that the people of Umuofia need to be saved by God. Okonkwo, a p...
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...'s obvious that civilization was created to destroy itself. Our past is the biggest proof of this theory. What happened to God's Ten Commandments? Religion was created to help mankind overcome its fears and negative aspects, but man wouldn't be man if he didn't alter his course. Through the centuries, mankind has been trying to destroy itself. Many people have been killed because their concept of God was different from someone else's. There are a thousand examples where religion was the main reason for fighting. Why put an end to life in the name of religion? It's just a simple question. If our civilization continues with this “saving”, we will destroy ourselves. Today's interpretation of religion is wrong, we should correct our ways before they grow into cancer that afflicts our civilization.
Works Cited
Things Fall Apart
Heart of Darkness
The Poisonwood Bible
Things Fall Apart - The Clan's Beliefs and Christian Beliefs. & nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp; There are many differences between the Clan's beliefs and Christian's beliefs. This is illustrated on pages 126-129, in the mention of the one true god.' Both the tribe and the missionaries have different perceptions of who this one true god is. The clan has trouble understanding the Christian beliefs as they have lived a tribal existence for so long. They have only ever been aware of their own culture, which makes it hard for them to adjust to the ways of the Christians.
As a result of our global society being manipulated by ancient doctrines Sam Harris argues in The End of Faith: Religion, Terror and the Future of Reason the ultimate thesis: religion is the basis for all of human conflict. Because faith bypasses all evidence, Harris feels “we are building a civilization of ignorance” and another direction should be taken lest we desire to meet our doom. It is incredible the amount of detail Harris delves into. Each reference to religion, he notes their various foibles and incorporates well-reasoned arguments, including others, that support his view. Though there are flaws, The End of Faith is a worthy read that explores the idiosyncrasies of all facets of religion.
“history is written by the victors”(Winston Churchill). Conflict has been deeply engrained into the history of mankind. For thousands of years all across the globe the prevalent aspect in which mass conflict has surrounded was that of differing religious practices. With all that is good that comes from religion, much evil is directly following. This conflict over religious views has caused hundreds of years of war in some parts of the world as well as problems that can range from day to day in your home. In the book Lame Deer, Seeker of visions religion can be seen at the base of all the struggle between the Native American people and the European Colonist that moved in to take over their land. Religion has been used for centuries to explain the surrounding world, but it only seems to pertain to the people practicing these beliefs. People through history have used their religions to justify their own personal desires even if they were not always the ideas of the religious institution.
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.
...those in need, it can also cause havoc and destruction upon a society. Religion is viewed as an ominous force that can cause both individual suffering and gruesome battles.
Through out the novel Thing Fall Apart, there are many situations have shown societal changes, and those changes always have influences to the characters. One of the specific societal change presented in the novel is the arrival of the white men and Christianity in Umuofia. White men and Christianity missionaries have arrived Umuofia and started to expand their religion. The arrival of Christianity and white men is consider as a societal change because the white men and the new religion have a lot of influence in Umuofia, they trade, built church, school and hospital, they also debates and discuss about religious with the local citizens. Many local citizens, like Okonkwo, rejected white man and Christianity at the first place, they even killed the white man who was the first one to arrive the clan. But slowly they
Things Fall Apart - White Missionaries Caused Umofia to Fall Apart Faith has always been a guiding force in man's life. Chinua Achebe's novel Things Fall Apart is a story that describes the effects of a new Christian religion in a tribal village in Africa. The tribe has their own language, known as Obi, a dignified culture and a value system that has continued for many years as they traced back into their ancestry. Yet, the snares are still there.
If people try to modify their religion to their own beliefs or ideas, the pushback can be severe. The lines in religion and faith as to what is acceptable and what is not acceptable are clear, and crossing them can bring serious consequences. In the novel Things Fall Apart, religion prevails over individual thinking and common sense, as people desperately rush to seize control. In Umofia, religion is not a personal belief, but a way of life. Religion is the way that life is run, and if someone goes against those principles, they will be exiled by their community.
In discussions of whether the world would be a more peaceful place without religions, one controversial issue has been placing blame on one’s own religion when wars or conflict ending in violence has occurred. The question is asked,. Does religion play a role in the violence going on around the world? On the one hand, many people may agree with this belief and argue that religion in a way has always played a role in the amount of violence in our society. On the other hand, the public contends that as humans we know what we are doing and our religion has nothing to do with the violence that we create.
Yet this discussion should not end by recalling the broad, if only tacit, role of religion in bringing about violence, but should recall the role of religious faith in promoting love between diverse peoples. Fundamental to the Church’s centuries-old teachings is the importance of humanity’s dignity a sons and daughters of the Creator. Violence, if even in part motivated by religion, contradicts what St. John taught us about God – “God is love” – a divine love that humanity is called to mirror and extend.
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.
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe tells the story of how one unified Umuofian community falls due to its own inner conflicts, as well as to the arrival of Christian missionaries. Achebe wrote Things Fall Apart to change the brutish image of Africa, for the Western world. The use of changing perspectives greatly aided Achebe in accurately portraying Africa as colorful, diverse and complex. For Westerners, viewing Africans as more than tribal and barbaric was a new concept, of which Achebe helped usher in. The story is told through the eyes of many Umuofians, which gives the reader a personal sense for the individuals within the tribe. When all the individual pieces of the story are brought together, the sifting perspectives creates a vast overview of the community, while also deepening the readers since for the tribe by allowing personal details to show through. Achebe captures the complexity of the Umuofia community by changing the perspective from which the story is being told frequently.
Religion creates diversities among people. It creates a gap among them. In the name of God and religion, loot, plundering, mass killing, rape and other cruel and inhuman treatments have been meted out to people.
There are many themes evident throughout Things Fall Apart, but one of the most prominent is the struggle between change and tradition, in the sense that some people change, but others don’t. Nwoye’s callow mind was greatly puzzled” (Achebe 89). Nwoye finds the missionaries hymn soothing, but it leaves him more confused about what he believes. Nwoye finally finds the courage to convert after a violent encounter with Okonkwo, “He went back to the church and told Mr. Kiaga that he had decided to go to Umuofia where the white missionary had set up a school to teach young Christians to read and write” (Achebe 93).
In a functionalistic view religion provides focus and purpose to a society and assists its leadership in controlling the society. In other words it helps society stay on course with the path that its leadership has deems important or suitable. Practicing, praying or preaching a religious belief contributes to the norms of a society, possibly mostly a societies’ mores (Schaefer, 2009). Since religion in itself usually instructs its followers to practice the ideologies of peace and to be submissive to their god and leaders, this helps society be passive on a global level. Many religions that are practiced today are embedded with customs, traditions, an...