Compare And Contrast Definition Of Religion

733 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Karl Marx works on religion

Comparing and contrasting definitions of religion
The four thinkers that we have learned about in class are Karl Marx, Rudolf Otto, Sigmund Freud, and Paul Tillich. Each thinker has different views. I agree with some thinkers while I disagree with others, however, each thinker has given me a new outlook on religion and each thinker has given me their definition of religion and what religion means to mankind.
Each thinker has his own definition of religion. Karl Marx believed that “Man makes religion, religion does not make man”, (H/R, p. 12). Karl Marx views on religion came during the time of an industrial revolution. There were two societies during that time, the rich and the poor. Marx believed that religion was created to make the poor …show more content…

Freud believed that religion would die out. “Religion is not permanent but it is a counterpart to the neurosis which individual civilized men have to go through in their passage from childhood to maturity.” (H/R, p. 26) I believe that Freud is wrong about religion dying out if anything religion has gotten bigger. Look at all the countries in the Middle East and the wars that are going on. Most of the battles have to do with different religions. Christianity is growing in the United States. Religion has such an impact in the U.S that politics can’t seem to avoid the subject of religion. Freud believed that religion is childish and that it is needed in order to comfort us basically like a father figure. While I do believe that religion is very comforting I believe that religion is more than that. Religion should be more of a connection with one’s god. Religion is needed to answer prayers. When someone is suffering they ask their god to help them and when they are helped it is considered an answered prayer.
In my opinion religion is necessary in order to live a better life. If religion isn’t there for us then what is? Without a life after death then what are we living for? The idea of no religion is depressing. Religion is there to pick us up and to give us purpose in

Show More
Related

  • Freud's Attack On Christianity Essay

    782 Words  | 2 Pages

    First, I want to identify who Marx and Nietzsche are and their critiques on religion. Karl

    Read More

  • Religion In Sonny's Blues

    1429 Words  | 3 Pages

    Religion is a difficult thing to define – although the word implies a deep, spiritual connection with an entity, that is where the concrete label of religion ends. A person can possess religious feelings towards nearly anything, whether it is in the form of a bond with an omnipotent creator, an intense connection with music, or even an unbreakable addiction to a drug. This was a point of emphasis for Karl Marx in “A Contribution to the Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Right;” specifically, the critical presence of religion in our lives. Marx states that religion is “the opium of the people” – he classifies it as a lifeline to the oppressed, a human creation that offers indispensable hope and meaning. In “Sonny's Blues,” the titular character's

    Read More

  • Give a critical account of Freud’s understanding of religion.

    965 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...othing more than repressed contents, these contents being constellated around the figure of the father. (Palmer, 1997, 164). It would seem that Freud went above and beyond to dispel religion as a healthy essential practice for the growth of society but rather saw it as a weakness. That many of Freud’s theories have stood the test of time is tantamount to his title as the ‘Father of Psychoanalysis’ although many have been tweaked or adjusted to suit today’s conditions. It would be unwise to completely ignore Freud’s views on religion but I think we can conclude that they are somewhat flawed.

    Read More

  • Civilization and Its Discontents, by Sigmeund Freud

    851 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...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.

    Read More

  • A Critical Account of Freud’s Understanding of Religion

    923 Words  | 2 Pages

    Naturally, it can be said that Freud was a man of revolutionary intellect, but his tendency to take mere speculations and present them as facts is the net stop on the disassembly of his theories on religion. Freud used Darwins theo...

    Read More

  • What is Religion

    1335 Words  | 3 Pages

    According to the American College Dictionary, religion is a noun defined as the quest for the values of the ideal life. This definition is vast and general, allowing for a variety of interpretations by people from all cultures. There is no single path to follow in order to lead an ideal life, only personal beliefs and experiences. Religion is non-finite so there is no way of determining a boundary (Smart, 5). In my quest for a true understanding of what religion is I explored my own traditions and religious beliefs as well as life experiences. Slowly, with the added insight from the text and videos, my own definition of religion has begun to take shape.

    Read More

  • Difference Between Religion And Religion

    932 Words  | 2 Pages

    84% of the people on earth claim to be religious.(2) One third of the world claims to be Christians, 1.6 billion people in the world claim to be Islamic, (3) and one out of five people in the world claim to be spiritual but not religious. (1) Spirituality and religion are often thought to be synonymous, but it’s important to understand the differences between the two. The two have been around for ages, but even though they contrast; they are not the same. One could be described as an outer look on acts and laws, the other more as an internal look of oneself.

    Read More

  • Marx's Quality In The Theory Of Karl Marx

    1272 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the years 1843 and 1844 Marx was influenced by the work of Ludwig Feuerbach a critic of Christianity. Feuerbach viewed religion as an alienated projection of humanity. In 1843, Marx wrote a piece called The Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right. In this essay, Marx openly expresses his sentiments towards religion. To Marx men creates religion and not the other way around. “Religion is indeed, the self-consciousness and self-esteem of man who has not either not yet won through himself, or has already lost himself again”. Because the man in his task of fulfilling himself created this supernatural fantasy that would help him justify and comfort himself. Because of the man’s physical limitations and powerlessness to overcome life events and inevitable situations, man came to the need to create religion, as Marx sees is the “expression of real suffering and a protest against real suffering. Religion is the sight of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions”. Religion was a chain oppressing men, and it was when they break free from those chain that he would think, act and fashion his reality To Marx religion itself was not evil, but he believed that religion blinds people and block them from seeing the truth about their struggles. In the Communist Manifesto, Marx argued that the ideologies and beliefs of religion and philosophies are created from the standpoint of the ruling

    Read More

  • Questions On Religion: The Definition Of Religion

    981 Words  | 2 Pages

    The best definition regarding religion came from Frederick Streng. “The central definition of religion is that it is a means of ultimate transformation”, (pg. 3). The definition is simple and nothing is left out of the definition. In my opinion, all religions have this belief of transformation; there is something better

    Read More

  • Differentiating Between Faith and Religion

    1209 Words  | 3 Pages

    What is the meaning of faith and why is it important? People believe faith is worth more to people then religion. The person may have the benefits of loving god and excepting him into that persons life without all the so called “work”. Many people believe that in order to accept God into the life of that person will need to have religion. But is that all wrong?

    Read More

  • Karl Marx and His View on Religion

    1190 Words  | 3 Pages

    Marx saw religion as an evil that existed in society and that it brought down all the people that believed in that religion. Marx said that, ?It [religion] is the opium of the people,?[1] and in saying this, Marx meant that religion was contagious on society. Once the society had a taste for the religion, they became totally engulfed it in, and then they do not want to get out of that way of live because they see it as a good way to live. Then even if people wanted to get out of the religion it was hard to get out because the whole society had already been infected by the ?opium.?

    Read More

  • Sigmund Freud Argument

    214 Words  | 1 Pages

    One name that almost everyone recognizes is Sigmund Freud, an atheist, that is an associate with psychology. He was best known in the development of modern psychology’s view of Mankind and has many theories of psychoanalysis to influence others about conscious and unconscious conflicts throughout their life. But how much do the people really know about him? Should we agree with what Freud is saying or should we disagree? No class in, business, economics, education, sociology, philosophy, and of course psychology, is complete until Freud's influence is considered(Freud Sigmund, p.g 16).

    Read More

  • Differences Between Spirituality And Religion

    929 Words  | 2 Pages

    This concept is true. The idea of being spiritual without the laws and rules. But, a religious system without spirituality doesn’t truly exist. Without the idea of the unknown and what lies behind it, spirituality and religion both would be irrelevant. The search for what comes next, that faith in the unknown, the search for something greater than this world, all come from a faith in an external force no one can scientifically explain. Spirituality can exist without religion but religion cannot truly exist without

    Read More

  • Religion Reflection Essay

    1358 Words  | 3 Pages

    So many of our principals and morals are based off of our religions that I’m not sure if people would be able to live without a religion. Going back to the idea I keep bringing up, people want an answer to those big questions and I am just not quite sure if people are just able to sit back and not give any thought to it. If there were no religions I believe the world would be sort of similar to today. It might be more violent and hostile with more differing views as there would be another thing that a person could not connect with others. There would be many disagreements, as every person believes their own thing. Religion just seems to be such an important part in lives today and factors into so many decisions that I just couldn’t see the world without

    Read More

  • The World Doesn’t Need Religion

    934 Words  | 2 Pages

    Religion has screwed us up for a long time and we'd be better off without it. By "us" I mean Americans living in the 21st century. Without religions we would have fewer labels separating us from each other and we wouldn't hate Jews or Catholics or Muslims. If we didn't have religions, we wouldn't have to convert anyone or "save" anyone. If we didn't have religions, people could no longer get caught up in the fine lines of religious rightousness or be trapped in a double-standard morality. And most importantly, we would be truly free of religious engendered guilt that never quite goes away.

    Read More

More about Compare And Contrast Definition Of Religion

Open Document