“Nearly everyone has some conception of religion. In fact, sometimes it appears that there are as many definitions of it as there are people” (Schmidt 9). Not only does each person have his or her own way of defining religion; each person has his or her own way of practicing religion. Studying these different practices can be difficult. There have been many people who have studied religion and through many different methods. While some people share similar findings, each person has his or her own interpretation of religion. Michael Malloy found three major patterns in his studies of religion. These patterns can be seen in many religions, especially Hinduism. The first pattern Malloy describes is the way each religion contacts the sacred. There are two ways that Hindus contact the sacred. One is through the Vedic Hinduism sacrifice, and the other appears in Upanishadic Hinduism, which is through mystical orientation, where a person “seeks union with a reality greater than ones self” (Burke 11). The sacrifice follows a scheduled routine in which many priests are present to ensure the event’s accuracy. The sacrifice is used to contact the gods in an attempt to please them so that they improve relations with the gods. This will help the sacrificer receive things from the gods that he asks for. “Usually the sacrificers praised the god for deeds they wanted the gods to repeat, such as the release of rain on the earth” (Srauta Sacrifice 76). Often sacrifices dealt with the natural aspects in life, the things the people could not control on their own. In The Katha Upanishad, Nachtketa asks the King of Death for the secret of morality. “Ask for cattle, elephants, horses, gold,” says the King of Death (Burke 39). Nachtketa declines these offerings so that he may obtain the knowledge of immortality. The King of Death tells him to know Brahman. Brahman is sacred to the Hindus. Through mystical orientation Hindu’s try to reach this knowledge of Brahman. “Often techniques for lessening the sense of one’s individual identity (such as seated meditation) help the individual experience a greater unity” (Malloy 11). Hindu’s use seated meditation, yoga, to control the body, senses, breath and mind to reach a state where they can find Brahman. The second pattern Malloy describes is the importance of worldviews in a religion. Each religion has a different way of seeing the worl... ... middle of paper ... ...d people…the abolition of religion as the illusory happiness of the people is required for their real happiness” (Marx 41). For all people religion provides something different. To some, living by way of religious practices is the only way they see fit to live. Religion is an explanation that comforts them. Other people find religion as a paralyzing element in the world, which holds back the cognitive development of people and the development of society. There are no certainties, except that there are no right or wrong views in terms of religious opinions, because every person has his or her own opinion. Works Cited Burke, T. Patrick. The Major Religions. Massachusetts: Blackwell Publishers Inc, 1996. Freud, Sigmund. “Religion As a Wishful Fulfillment.” Issues in Religion. 2nd ed. Ed. Allie M. Franzier. New York: D. Van Nastrand Co, 1975. Malloy, Michael. Experiencing the World’s Religions. California: Mayfield Publishing Co, 1999. Marx, Karl. “Contribution to the Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right.” On Religion. Moscow: Foreign Languages Publishing House, 1955. Schmidt, Roger. Exploring Religion. California: Wadsworth Publishing Co, 1988.
Many people believe that there is one definition of religion. However, not every religion has the same beliefs. People have developed their own interpretation of religion. According to four philosophers: Otto, Marx, Freud, and Tillich, each theory is different from the other.
Mental illnesses are common today and the stigmas that follow behind it. Stigmas can be created anybody including families, friends, co-workers, or even someone you don 't know. A stigma that is created usually sets a person apart from everybody else such as sexual orientation, gender or physical disabilities. A person with a mental illness is frequently labeled as a stereotype which can create negative attitudes.
Religion, “part of the human experience that has to do with a god or gods, a higher power, or the ultimate values of life” (Cason & Tillman 6-7), is one of the most controversial and interesting subjects for humanity. It has been around for as long as anyone can recall and they have difference and similarities in their founders, beliefs, and history. Religion has served to give some sort of a meaning to life and everything around it. In modern society, some religions have grown and expanded significantly. These larger religions have been classified as world religions. In addition, these world religions have been split into two categories known as Eastern and Western religion.
Oxtoby, Willard G., and Alan F. Segal. A Concise Introduction to World Religions. Oxford, Canada: Oxford University Press, 2007.
According to Patrick Corrigan’s article “How stigma Interferes With Mental Health Care” Many people who would benefit from mental health care services do not seek it or fail to complete the treatment. One of the main reasons for avoiding help is a stigma; to prevent the label of mental illness that occurs when people are associated with mental health care. In the article “Wearing the Label of Mental Illness: Community-Based Participatory Action Research of Mental Illness Stigma”, by Jean Theuer,Nicole Jean-Paul, Kristi Cheyney, Mirka Koro-Ljungberg, and Bruce Stevens, the authors explains that once an individual is labeled as mental illness, he or she is viewed as a host that contain undesirable characteristics for human being.Including begin dangerous, undependable, weak and abnormal. For example, an individual who suffers from Schizopathic may be stereotyped as being “Crazy” and “Lunatic”. Wearing the social as well as the diagnostic lower’s an individual self-esteem and abilities. Not wanting to be ostracized by fellow peers and society, and an individual may avoid seeking health care and continue to ignore his or her symptoms. Many blame the individual for the illness they suffer and do not show empathy toward the individual. Even when an individual decides to seek help mental health care he or she may experience deep stigma from healthcare professionals. Mental illness stereotypic embeds
A person that internalizes it can experience a loss of socioeconomic status, restricted social networks, lowered self-esteem, and lower quality of life (Markowitz, Angell, & Greenberg, 2011). This is because those that believe that their illness makes them more dangerous and believe they may not be in control become so focused on the illness they are not trying to have some parts of their lives back to normal. This is better illustrated by Labeling theory that states people performs roles in society and the responses they get from others in these roles helps them form a concept of themselves and how they are viewed by others. Those with a diagnosis may be cast into the role of mentally ill by family or society and the negative influences they get from that role can affect how they see themselves in any role. This can cause those with mental illness to stop seeking out social roles, because they feel they may not meet others expectations. They often will then fill roles that they are socialized are normal for them as depressed or delinquent. This was another issue our interviewee discussed when she said sometimes her loved ones would continue to view her as depressed even when she was no longer in a dark place(B. Pollock, personal communication, March 17,
America is a melting pot of culture and race. Thus, bringing many different types of religious faiths to today’s society. Whether the beliefs are ancient, new, reconstructed or if people have no faith at all, it is all in America. It is difficult to scrutinize one religion without it concerning another. All religions have diverse beliefs ranging from; the belief of...
Emile Durkeim studied a great deal on religion. He wrote a book that identified the components of a religion. This task seems impossible in a religiously divers society. All religions separate the sacred from the profane or secular. This distinction was outlined by Durkeim in, The Eleme...
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimated that one in every four people suffer from a mental health issue at some point in their lives, yet only two thirds of those people seek help. Why? The answer is simple; these victims get stigmatized for admitting they have a problem. But what is stigma? Well, stigma is defined as: “a mark of disgrace associated with certain circumstances.” stigma is most notable for people going through mental health issues, like anxiety, depression and ADHD, among other disorders. The stigma associated with mental health is affecting societies and communities in negative ways and should be actively combated by governments, NGO’s, and people. However, this issue is controversial, as many skeptics claim that mental disorders do not exist. However, they have been proven wrong. Stigma is a barrier for treatment and is harmful to society, as well as being a sign of a toxic community.
Marx saw religion as a tool for class oppression because of the conflict it provided for societies. According to Marx, “religion is the opium of the people” and “religion promotes stratification because it supports a hierarchy of people in Earth and the subordination of humankind to divine authority.” Marx believes that man makes religion, and not vice versa. He argues that religion is a mere product of man and is for people who have not won himself or has lost himself again. He calls for the banishment of religion stating that religion is just an illusion of happiness and the abolition of it is a demand for real happiness. Religion highlights social conditions and causes people to think and act the way religion teaches instead of having individuals act based on their own agency.
“In thinking about religion, it is easy to be confused about what it is.” (Smart, 1992) To combat this, Smart uses seven dimensions to define common characteristics of religion. Much of what will be explored will fit his dimensions. The practical and ritual dimension can been seen in all three religions through worship and rituals and patterns of behaviour. The latter are those acts that help the believer develop spiritual awareness or ethical insight, such as yoga or meditation in Buddhism and Hinduism. The experiential and emotional dimension of religion explains that religion feeds on human emotions and key events from history to illustrate this is, the enlightenment of the Buddha, or the visions of Muhammad. A person will not follow something without meaning or emotion driving it. The narrative or mythic dimension of religion refers to the use of story telling in religion. Typically, all faiths use stories to illustrate their beliefs or events in history, whether they might be of things to come, or like in this essay, stories of the Buddha, or Muhammad. The use of story telling is important as the stories are often based on accounts of history or documents that have been found. Story telling can enhance the believers faith and are often integrated into rituals. The doctrinal and philosophical dimension of religion talks about the importance of the holy books/ doctrines. Since the doctrines typically have an account of the leaders life, and the leaders are usually educated, believers read the doctrines to gain an insight into the leaders life; and thus strive to become more like them or abide by their teachings. The ethical and legal
Mental health is defined, according to the Oxford Dictionary, as a person’s condition with regard to their psychological and emotional well-being. The idea of mental health is constantly subject to changes based on social values and beliefs of individual responsibility. Perceptions of the topic change more than any other category of clinically recognized issues. Many people believe mental illnesses are not as severe as individuals claim and can be fixed by just a change of mindset, forcing people affected to adapt without guidance or aid. Society cannot fully grasp what mental health and related illnesses are and the degree of their effects on the day to day life of individuals, which is why people affected face many stigmas. The lack of knowledge
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.?
Isolation has a very negative effect on mental health, because of the cycle of negative thoughts and emotions the person will experience without having someone to talk to about it. Social isolation is a major component of depression, not having someone to talk about your feelings of anxiety and negative thoughts can be very harmful to the person. The idea of being viewed differently from their family and friends because of the negative stigma surrounding their illness makes people less willing to talk about their mental health. The labeling theory negative effect on people is the reason why they are least likely to seek help and treatment and the reason why talking about mental health is something that is not normalized. Friends and family are people that you need by your side when you are battling a mental health issue because they help you cope and can be there when need someone to listen to if you allow them
Mental health in society today is still associated with a stigma that which people are made to feel afraid or embarrassed to tell a health care professional what they are feeling or thinking. Mental Health includes emotional psychological and social wellbeing. Although the fear of most people is not to speak about or act on the issues they may have, some people need too, there are many factors that play a part in mental health from biological factors, life experiences or even family history. Research studies show that,” a desire to avoid stigma may play a role in the under-coding of behavioral health issues, such as substance dependence or suicide attempts. As a further complication, the diagnostic criteria for some of