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Religion the cause of war
Religion the cause of war
Religion's impact on society
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Misuse of Religion
December 14th, 2006
"And an old priest said, Speak to us of Religion,
And he said:
Have I spoken this day of aught else?
Is not religion all deeds and all reflection,
And that which is neither deed nor reflection,
but a wonder and surprise ever springing in the
soul, even while the hands hew the stone of tend
the loom?
Who can separate his faith from his action,
or his belief from his occupations?
Who can spread his hours before him, saying,
'This for God and this for myself; This for my soul,
and this other for my body?'"
--Kahlil Gibran
As our civilization reaches its peak, it's obvious that it was created to destroy itself. Our past is the biggest proof of this theory. Through the centuries, mankind has been trying to destroy itself. World War I and II were just the manifestation of this destruction. Everything after these wars has been devoted to producing the most efficient weapons for so called "protection". Why put an end to life? Why destroy the only thing we have? What happened to God's Ten Commandments? Religion was created to help mankind overcome its fears and negative aspects. But man wouldn't be man if he didn't alter his course. Individual believes were merged to organize religion, which has been moved away from individuals whom it belongs. Politicization of organize religion has caused "eternal" struggle for separation church of state. However, separation has never happened despite persuasions; Church influence has been hidden inside of political systems. Despite its peaceful nature, organize religion has been modified through the centuries, and it has become one of the most dangerous reasons for killing, destruction and quarreling about the separation church of state and church's role in politics.
Artifacts found in the trash heaps of ancient groups of people or tribes, supports the hypothesis that most if not all of these tribes had some form of religion. Why is this? Clearly, they had a need for one. Life was very threatening and they felt that some of these treats came from some superior beings, some of whom dwelt in the sky. They therefore tried to figure out how to placate these Gods by performing rituals. Whenever a threat eased or disappeared after performing a ritual, they assumed that it was due to the ritual. Whenever a threat did not ease or disappear after a ritual was performed, they tried to modify it.
Church and State seem to be two words which are entirely inseparable from each other. Religion in politics and the government has been present since the federal government was first put into place. The issue of religion is present in such varied topics as the public school system, presidential elections, right down to the National Anthem. The fact of the matter is, Church and State are very far from being separate in the United States.
Religion is a symbolic representation of society. The sociological approach to religious belief looks at how society behaves on a whole, to answer the question, “Why are people religious?” We express our participation in religious events through plays, acts of confession, religious dances, etc. To begin to understand why we have such term, let’s understand the common elements of religion. There are different types in which people believe in or follow and that is: animatism, animism, ancestral spirits, god and goddesses, and minor supernatural beings. Beyond these different elements, such one is to have religious leaders to follow.
Religion comes from religare, which means have a reunion. Aneel Baquer says that humans have a need to connect with others, the ability of myths and thoughts of religion is a desire that humans need to bond. In most civilizations, religion is the reason why civilizations are successful. Religion give, people a motive to survive or do what they do. Sometimes the religions actually make their civilization expand and even more successful. not only does religion give us a motive to survive. Still today, religion is one of the biggest factors in modern civilizations. In several religion motives are used for example, christianity. In christianity to meet with god, you must do good. Religion can change a persons personality by aiding from stress, to giving hope. Religion can also reduce the fear of death. In ancient civilizations, egyptians did not fear death. In their religion they believed that living on earth was the beginning of life. Once dead it sends you to the beginning of happiness or horrible. Religion can also expand. If you have a strong connection to your religion, some people spread the word of their religion to other people. It also teaches manners and the difference between the good, and the evil. Vikings were such a significant civilization than any other because of their religion. Religion for the vikings have given them motivation to expand territories, learn between the good and the bad, and not to fear death but to welcome death; reasons why are from being taught was from viking mythology, heroic people and their warlike god.
Edward Burnett Tylor, who believed that religion will eventually die with science, did not consider the aspect of the power of religious pluralism. People can become more powerful as they are able to open their mind to religious pluralism, so shouldn’t the ultimate evolutionary stage of humans be ultimate religious openness instead of solely science? Although the courseware touches base on the causes of religious wars, it does not develop the reasons behind the violence or the essence of the human condition. The movie Gandhi revealed how religions must be interpreted in order for them to be effective for the entire human race, and not just those who deem themselves
Religion is an ever-growing idea that has no set date of origin. Throughout history religion has served as an answer to the questions that man could not resolve. The word religion is derived from the Latin word “religio” meaning restraint in collaboration with the Greek word “relegere” which means to repeat or to read again. Religion is currently defined as an organized system of beliefs and practices revolving around, or leading to, a transcendent spiritual experience. Throughout time, there has yet to be a culture that lacks a religion of some form, whether it is a branch of paganism, a mythological based religion or mono/polytheistic religion. Many religions have been forgotten due to the fact that they were ethnic religions and globalizing religions were fighting to be recognized, annihilating these ancient and ethnic religions. Some of these faiths include: Finnish Paganism, Atenism, Minoan Religion, Mithraism, Manichaeism, Vedism, Zoroastrianism, Asatru, and the Olmec Religion. Religion is an imperative part of our contemporary world but mod...
I'm not a tremendously religious person. I don't attend religious services, I don't say prayers before bedtime (or much of any other time), I don't read a section of my holy book on a regular schedule... you get the picture. The closest I'd come to claiming a personal faith is to call myself a sort of armchair Daoist.
The role of religion in politics is a topic that has long been argued, and has contributed to the start of wars, schisms (both political and religious), and other forms of inter and intra-state conflict. This topic, as a result of its checkered past, has become quite controversial, with many different viewpoints. One argument, put forth by many people throughout history, is that religion and the government should remain separate to avoid any conflicting interests. This view also typically suggests that there is one, or several, large and organized religions like the Roman Catholic Church, which would be able to use their “divine” authority to sway the politics of a given state by promising or threatening some form of godly approval or disapproval. By leveraging their divine power, individual figures within a religion, as well as the religion as a whole, could gain secular power for themselves, or over others. A second view, which was developed by many theologians through history, suggests that that without religion there would be a general lack of morality in the people and leaders of a given state, which would give way to poor political decisions that would not be in the interest of the people and perhaps even God (or the gods). This argument, however, does not address the fact that morality can exist without religion. In sociology, it is commonly accepted that social norms, which include morality, can result from any number of things. Religion, laws, or the basic desire of survival can all create these norms, so it suffices to say that as a society, our morals reflect our desire to live in relative peace through the creation of laws that serve to help us to survive. The argument of whether or not religion and politics should mix...
Throughout the ancient world, religions and ideologies have developed into forms and practices that influence the very essence of civilizations. Religions could pose as a form of foundation for the beliefs, ideas, social organizations, and economic structures of a certain group of people. They provided a means of justification and form of unity between people and they helped establish and infuse new ideas into a culture. Religions were used as source to explain the misconcepted beliefs in nature and science as well as natural phenomina and it was also used to provide a source of motivation, control, and stability in a civilization.
On multiple accounts people have chosen to face the adversity in their lives through religion. These religious acts can be as simple as saying a prayer for someone you love or someone you think needs it, or it can be as complicated as switching to a new religion that you feel connected to and more understanding. Most people in this world have a religion that they follow and are very devoted to. Many of those people feel like they are able to make hard times easier on themselves by praying or participating in religious acts. People have been facing their adversities with religious acts since the beginning of time. An example of such would be the ancient Indian tribes such as the Mayans and the Aztecs. They would do human sacrifices to their Go...
Throughout the course of history, man has looked to religion for answers. Curiosity as to how we got here and why we are have driven people to seek out answers to these somewhat unanswerable questions. Over the past few thousand years, several varying religions have been established, some more prominent than others. Many of them share a similar story of a divine creator who has always been and will always be. In the case of Christianity, whether true or not, it has proven to be beneficial to society as a whole. The Bible set the standard for the moral compass that humans live their lives by to this day. The key fundamental problem with religion, although not the fault of religion, is that man has often used it as a gateway to power and prominence. In the case of the 18th century Gallican church, the French were abusing their religious powers, thus creating vast inequality throughout France, which eventually led to a rebellion against the church, and the eventual destruction of the church within France.
...astrophic to the progression of humanity, because religion can never be a source of union, but only division; and a society divided against it-self, can never stand strong. The extremism and fanaticism embedded in religious principles only breeds ignorance, and this very ignorance leads to delusional mindsets which creates chaos and destruction within society. The history exemplifies the horrors of religion, it was an instrument of oppression, persecution and death; we should learn from these valuable lessons and never let history repeat it-self. As humanity progresses eradication of religion is longer an option, but a necessity; it hinders development by continual reinforcement of outdated ancient ideologies, thus it’s an antagonist of change, and only a religion free society can attain peace and unity which are necessary elements in advancing into a modern era.
With modern technology and the rapid advancement of science, it is easy to look back into history and point out the problems religion had created in the past (Violence, intolerance, ignorance etc.) However one must keep in mind that reli...
For thousands of years, religion has exerted a great influence over economic and political life. Even today religion is called upon to support rulers, contacts and other legal procedures.
Religion helps establish mankind’s place in the order of the universe. As civilization began to be established through the domestication of animals, the irrigation and cultivation of agricultural crops, and life became more complex (moving from mainly a hunter/gather existence to one that could settle down and have more time to consider advanced ideas) people began to consider questions such as, where life comes from, is there a creator or creators who helped make the world, and what happens after we die. Religion helped answer some of these questions. It gave people purpose, meaning, and perspective. Religion helped establish nations in the case of religious theocratic governments. In many of the ancient civilizations, such as the Egyptians, the Mayans, and even Mesopotamia, the priests and other religious leaders played prominent roles in help shaping the laws and government of these civilizations. As his...
For centuries, there’s always been debate of the cause of war and hatred in the world. Some blame human nature, others blame their own existence. Many people blame the government or the economy but those who generate the perspective of those around the globe are lead to blame religion due to the different issues it causes world-wide. Religion should be regulated due to its promotion of unattainable goals, war, hatred, fear, and rendering of scapegoats.