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Role of religion in english literature
The role of religion in modern society
Religion in society
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Many people rely heavily upon religion daily. They use it as a source of reasoning, as an explanation for hardships or struggles they may be facing. However, many people only seem to rely upon religion when they feel they need outside support. Hemingway addresses the idea of religion many times in his novel “A Farewell to Arms.” However, Hemingway’s examples contrast with each other, demonstrating his belief that the majority of people seem to use religion only when timely for them.
Religion can be used to explain events that one cannot find a way to rationalize or understand. Often, when one feels that he or she is being faced with great burdens, and cannot seem to find a way to understand why those burdens are being placed upon themselves’, one may turn to religion. When Fred’s companion Passini loses his legs to a trench-mortar, Hemingway describes his reaction: “He big his arm and moaned, ‘Oh mama mia, mama Mia,’ then, ‘Dio te salve, Maria. Dio te salve, Maria. Oh Jesus shoot me Christ shoot me…’” (55). Though Passini may be moaning these things subconsciously, he has turned to higher-powers for help when he is in great pain. It is much easier to explain unfair treatment by saying it is God’s intentions, or the intentions of some other higher-being, than to decide that one is merely unlucky or has done something to bring those burdens into place.
When people do not feel they need the support of religion, and of a higher-power, they often dismiss it as nonsense and as foolish. They do not feel the need to devote themselves to something that they realize may be fictional. Hemingway demonstrates this through the actions of the soldiers when Frederick is dining with them: “‘The Pope wants the Austrians to win the war,’ the major said. ‘He loves Franz Joseph. That’s where the money comes from. I am an atheist… All thinking men are atheists,’” (7 and 8). The major is poking fun at the priest, insulting both the priest and the pope and saying that there is no God. Later on in the story, Rinaldi has his own go at the priest, saying “‘To hell with you, priest... To hell with you… To hell with the whole damn business,’” (173). Rinaldi claims he is joking with the priest, and it appears as though he is at first. However, his ranting becomes serious and malicious.
Chastisement or punishment can be performed in various forms that can produce in a variety of consequences. In J.B., the sudden punishment of God on J.B has caused a commotion in his family physically and mentally. Nevertheless, J.B’s faith does not die and he also continues to fulfill his responsibility as a “puppet” in a play created by God. After the death of his five children, J.B is placid and not abhorring God for his punishment. “God will not punish without cause, God is just.”, said J.B (109). J.B knows that there must be a reason for God to punish him, because God always acts impartially. Ev...
As I continued to chat with my pastor that day, I really sensed the hurt in his eyes – the anger that comes from an unsolvable injustice, the tiredness of a problem. “What’s wrong?” I finally asked, “Having a bad day?” Sensing that I was truly concerned, he let the truth be told. “I talked with a woman today whose baby died suddenly of unknown causes. As we worked through her grief, she talked about how numerous friends and family, even a religious leader had patted her on the back, shook their heads and said, ‘It was God’s will.’ I find few things worse to say to a grieving parent. Saying nothing at all would be of more help.” It was obvious from our conversation that he had an understanding greater than I about God’s will, and his insight created in me a curiosity and desire to learn more.
The problem of evil is a difficult objection to contend with for theists. Indeed, major crises of faith can occur after observing or experiencing the wide variety and depths of suffering in the world. It also stands that these “evils” of suffering call into question the existence of an omnibenevolent and omnipotent God of the Judeo-Christian tradition. The “greater good defense” tries to account for some of the issues presented, but still has flaws of its own.
After reviewing the work of David Hume, the idea of a God existing in a world filled with so much pain and suffering is not so hard to understand. Humes’ work highlights some interesting points which allowed me to reach the conclusion that suffering is perhaps a part of God’s divine plan for humans. Our morals and values allow us to operate and live our daily lives in conjunction with a set of standards that help us to better understand our world around us and essentially allows us to better prepare for the potential life after life. For each and every day we get closer to our impending deaths and possibly closer to meeting the grand orchestrator of our universe.
To many people religion is a sanctuary. It helps them escape the chaos of their normal lives and become a part of something much bigger. For Jews during the Holocaust, religion helped them survive at first. They remained adamant that God would not allow the genocide of millions of his people. But as time went on, they began to question the existence of god. Elie witnesses the death of one of the inmates Akiba Drumer; recalling, "He just kept repeating that it was all over for him, that he could no longer fight, he had no more strength, no more faith" (76). Many people live for religion; they go on with their lives and no matter how horrific the situation may be, they remain resilient of the fact that god will pull them through any situation. But when this faith is lost, people begin to question their existence. Jewish people grow up knowing that God would always be at their side. The realization that God was not there for them took its toll. Elie loses his faith in God...
The two concepts of the problem of evil in the world have been a subject of much debate, with diverse views regarding the role of God in the occurrence of events and actions that causes human beings to suffer. Thus, while there is a total agreement between Malebranche and Leibniz regarding the role of God in creating the world, where both agrees that God did justice in creating the world, there has been a disparity in their view regarding the role of God in the occurrence of actions and events that causes human beings to suffer. Thus, Malebranche advances the theory of occasionalism, which holds that God is the only causal agent in the world, and is therefore responsible for all the evil that happens in the world, because God’s creatures do not have significant causal abilities upon which to act (Brown, 82). Therefore, according to Malebranche, the acts of h...
Erich Fromm in his psychoanalytical approach to religion is distinct from the earlier works of Sigmund Freud. Fromm defines religion as “any system of thought and action shared by a group which gives the individual a frame of orientation and an object of devotion.” Fromm argues that irreligious systems including all the different kinds of idealism and “private” religions deserve being defined as a “religion.” Based on Fromm’s theory, it is explained that there is no human being who does not have a “religious need,” almost every part of human life reflects religious need and its fulfillment, in fact he states it to be “inherent” in man.
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.
"RELIGION, A BRIDGE OF HOPE: Why Religion Is so Important." World around Us. Accessed May 29, 2014. http://aneelbaqar.wordpress.com/2010/11/11/religion-a-bridge-of-hope-why-religion-is-so-important/.
One of Ernest Hemingway’s greatest novels, “A Farewell to Arms”, has been surrounded by controversy among literary, as well as historical, scholars regarding Hemingway’s inspiration for the famous novel. Many feel that Ernest Hemingway created this fictional book solely from his imagination rather than his experiences, while others believe that Hemingway drew the inspiration for this book from his experience as a volunteer ambulance driver throughout the war. Even though there has been much controversy, there is documented historical proof that the experiences that Hemingway had experienced from his time in the war had influenced his creation of “A Farewell to Arms”.
It is perhaps one of the most frequently asked questions of all time: if there are gods who have control over humans’ lives, why do they allow good followers to suffer? How can there be any justice in that kind of world? Philosophers and thinkers like Seneca and authors of the Bible have debated and written about these questions since ancient times. Perhaps because hardships affect every person, many people continue to debate the same topics today. Seneca writes extensively about the topic of suffering in his essay “On Providence,” which is contained in The Stoic Philosophy of Seneca. Likewise, Paul writes about how to face hardships in his letters to the Romans and the Corinthians, and the book of Job in the Old Testament contains more thoughts and wisdom on the subject. Although the reasons that they provide for why gods allow humans to suffer differ, Seneca and writers in the Old and New Testaments of the Bible agree that in all cases hardships are beneficial to those who suffer.
Religion is a guiding light that shines into all factors of life. It builds one’s character and personality, and affects one’s perspective on his surroundings. Religion wears many hats, as it can range from a loosely set philosophy to a strict, taxing code of conduct. Ralph Waldo Emerson’s religion was a non-traditional one which emphasized self-reliance (Rowe 5), individuality (St. John 6), and the natural goodness of man (Jue 7). He saw religion as a relative, personal set of beliefs which can change and vary widely between practitioners, and even within one person over a period of time. In fact, Emerson began his religious journey as a Calvinist in Harvard’s School of Divinity, then held a career as a minister of a Unitarian church in Boston (Leude 1). His beliefs as a Unitarian were similar to his Transcendentalist philosophies (1), discovered soon after his resignation as a minister. When analyzed from a biblical perspective, Emerson’s literary works clearly reflect the influences of eastern religion and mysticism in their depiction of nature as well as God, the human spirit, and religion.
Often when the tables have turned out of our favor we are as quick to blame God for our lows as we are for our highs. My father has had an on and off relationship with God since the loss of his mother when he was 16 years old. He had trouble wrapping his mind around the concept that ‘bad things can happen to good people’. Having watched his mother die of breast cancer, he became a doctor to help others. He works alongside other doctors and nurses to carry out his own modern miracles, but there are cases which he cannot always explain. Almost 10 years ago he had a patient that entered cardiac arrest. Arriving in the Emergency Room unconscious, he remained so for the greater than 72 hours. Prolonged unconsciousness is generally a bad prognosticator. His unconscious state was caused by a 100 percent occlusion of his left anterior descending artery that led to ventricular fibrillation. The most optimistic of doctors believed that at best he would live the rest of his life brain dead. The patient walked out of the hospital 12 days later. Based on expected medical conditions, this patient should have died. My father could only reason that this situation was influenced by the hand of God. Similarly to the story of Pi, some occurrences are unexplainable, moving people to believe that God is
...sensible validation in catastrophic suffering, and we must not justify it as part of some divine purpose or for the greater good of humanity in the afterlife; humanity needs justice on earth. Such need to justify cruelty and agony eliminates the incentive for victims and their families to overcome sorrow, grief, and misery, especially if the explanation lies in the after-life. An appropriate response must present solutions to prevent suffering, and an initiative to spread human compassion, thereby overcome suffering. One response is to keep protesting against injustices on human beings, by alleviating poverty, violence, torture, child abuse, and any other sort of injustice. If we are to hold the argument that God suffers with those who suffer, it would be much more justifying to end the suffering rather than to vindicate it, and accept that suffering is God’s will.
The Christian tradition is haunted by a significant mark: Suffering. The question that arises from this suffering is if God is the omnipitous being that Christians believe Him to be, why would He let His people, whom he loves, suffer great pains and horrible deaths? According to premises derived from theologians and followers of the Bible, God is "all loving". If that is true, then God would not want His people to suffer, but by just looking around us we see that suffering, in fact, is happening. If there is suffering going on that God does not want, then He would be able to stop that suffering since He also believed to be "all powerful", yet suffering still goes on. Why? Hopefully by the end of this paper I will be able to answer that for myself.