Important Reasons To Study Religion: The Importance Of Religion

At the beginning of the semester I thought religion was defined as “having faith in or believing in a higher power greater than oneself.” This proved to be a more accurate definition than a few of my peers, but it was still not quite right. Throughout the semester I have learned that religion is something that even the most educated scholars finds difficult to define. I learned that religion is more so the practices and beliefs held by a people oriented around their idea of an ultimate reality. Religion is important to study because it gives insight into someone else’s beliefs and may make it easier to understand who that person is. Finally, religion can both benefit and harm society, if not directly, through the people who practice that religion.

I wanted to study religion to learn about different culture’s religions and to have a better understanding of those cultures, as a result. What I found was more so acclimated to how one should study religion, but I also found that there were many other important reasons to study religion. First of all, religion is something that most people have in their lives. This aspect of human existence creates a bond between different peoples and their cultures. It is important that one be both sensitive and understanding of other religions, especially when the basis for many wars comes down to an argument of religion (Deming 7). Beyond that, religion is something that many people hold above most other aspects of their lives, therefore, something that one should be educated and sensitive about. As Myhre states, “the study of religion is deeply rooted in a curiosity that is bolstered by acute observation, critical reflection, analytic investigation, and a willingness to ask the who, what, where, when, and why of a particular religion” (5), many of the people I have met in this class have expressed an interest in learning more about religions they are not familiar with and having an open mind to what that might

At the beginning of the semester I thought that this statement was true, and through this class I have found my initial understanding to hold true. Most religions in themselves speak of compassion; however, there are individuals that act out in the name of their particular religion (Myhre 103). In Buddhist Scriptures there is a story of a murderer who turns to the Buddha and becomes a monk. This story states, “When he saw the Buddha approaching, he thought he had found his final victim. However, the Buddha employed his magical powers to prevent Aṅgulimāla from approaching him, and admitted him to the order of monks, where he eventually became an arhat” (Lopez 253). Buddhist religion itself speaks of compassion, yet there was a monk who was a former murderer. The Buddhist religion itself did not cause him to be a murderer, but it did help him and society when the Buddha took him in. Further, psychological studies have shown that religious people are less stressed than those who do not practice any religion. Yet, religious beliefs do drive some to commit violent acts such as Al-Qaeda’s attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. More recently, ISIS has carried out attacks around the world in the name Islam, however Islam is not based in the hurting of other people. These examples only stand to exemplify that religions themselves are not violent, but individuals do harmful things because of their