Mature Religion In Gordon Allport's The Individual And His Religion

Individuality and Religion

All muslims are terrorists, all catholic priests are child molesters, all Jews are greedy, money-crunchers. Sickening stereotypes like these are examples of why, in today’s society, religion is such a touchy subject. There is an atmosphere of emotion surrounding religion because many people believe that religion and conflict are often associated with each other. Most of the time, the debate about religion is whether or not it is violent and oppressive or peaceful and stimulates equity. In some cases, extremists use religion as an excuse to terrorize others and gain power. Author Gordon Allport discusses in his book, The Individual and his Religion, many major types of religion. In addition, Allport investigates the

Mature religion is defined by different characteristics such as mature religion being well differentiated, dynamic, comprehensive, integral and heuristic. (Allport 64) Mature religion is defined as having an open-minded outlook on religion. People use religion in a mature sense to have a better understanding of their spiritual selves and to reflect on the person that they are, or are becoming. Being well-differentiated can mean being reflective, critical and being able to recognize what is important and what is not. (Allport 65) This aspect of mature religion grows and becomes free of childish insights and egocentric concerns, where religion was associated. Another characteristic of mature religion, is it being dynamic. This means that the belief system runs so deep in a follower, that it affects their direct lives, and behaviour. It is balanced and has realistics views for life and humanity. It is comprehensive in the sense that it fulfills all of life’s motives with a purpose and reason. Mature religion is integral in the way that a mature religious person should integrate all aspects of human life with their belief system. (Allport 78) They must find a way to integrate their beliefs and acknowledge the existence of evil without letting it affect their personal lives. Finally, mature religion is heuristic, because this means that beliefs should be held tentatively until they can be proved. This means being open to growth, new ideas, and progress. It is not mature to think that the followers religion is the one and only religion. Mature followers should be aware that it is possible for there to be another possible