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What is importance of religion in life
Religions role in identity
What is importance of religion in life
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“Religion Gives Meaning to Life” outlines how life is given meaning through theistic religion in Louis Pojman’s opinion. In this short reading, autonomy is described as in the meaning of freedom or self-governing and argues how it is necessary for ideal existence. By being honest and faithful with ourselves shows how we can increase our autonomy. “I think most of us would be willing to give up a few autonotoms for an enormous increase in happiness” (553) shows our willingness to practice good purpose. In order to understand the truth, people must have solid justified beliefs to prevent diminished autonomy. As humans, we are motivated to practice morally good actions since God provides love. His act of caring is compelling and promotes gratitude.
One problem that comes up is the question about if theism is true or not. As a result, if people do not deeply believe theism is false, they should live their lives as if it is true. In my opinion, I agree with Louis Pojman to some extent. I think it is unfair to encourage people to believe in a religion if they chose to be atheist. Some people do not believe in God, and it can be a waste of time trying to sway or change their preexisting opinions, “we are equally free to choose the good or the evil whether or not God exists” but at the same time “it seems clear that the world of the theist is far better and more satisfying to us than one in which God does not exist” (556) is a mere opinion of the author. Pojman regards theism as good and true as opposed to living without God. When Louis Pojman claims that religion gives people a purpose to life is where I start disagreeing. It may give people a purpose of life or a great meaning, but does that mean people that do not practice a religion have less meaning to their lives.
Taylor begins the book by discussing three worries of modern society. The first is individualism which is selfish and self-centered. The modern concept is bothersome because people see freedom as loosening the chains of traditional notions of hierarchy. We have become a society where we are breaking away from “older moral horizons.” Everything in creation is connected in some way and when there is a loose hierarchy there follows a loose meaning of life. The “dark side of individualism” the focuses on the self in such a way that it flattens and narrows the framework which give significance and meaning to human life.
The primary purpose of this essay is stated in the title. It is to consider whether certain principles presented in the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence and commonly referred to as human rights are supported by the authority of God 's word. A secondary goal is to consider how society might be influenced to establish and maintain laws which agree with God 's moral authority. Yet a third goal is to consider how free exercise of human rights might be impacted by obedience and disobedience to God 's moral authority.
Jean-Paul Sartre claims that there can be no human nature, or essence, without a God to conceive of it. This claim leads Sartre to formulate the idea of radical freedom, which is the idea that man exists before he can be defined by any concept and is afterwards solely defined by his choices. Sartre presupposes this radical freedom as a fact but fails to address what is necessary to possess the type of freedom which would allow man to define himself. If it can be established that this freedom and the ability to make choices is contingent upon something else, then freedom cannot be the starting point from which man defines himself. This leaves open the possibility of an essence that is not necessarily dependent upon a God to conceive it. Several inconsistencies in Sartre’s philosophy undermine the plausibility of his concept of human nature. The type of freedom essential for the ability to define oneself is in fact contingent upon something else. It is contingent upon community, and the capacity for empathy, autonomy, rationality, and responsibility.
Religion is an organized collection of beliefs and cultural systems that entail the worship of a supernatural and metaphysical being. “Religion just like other belief systems, when held onto so much, can stop one from making significant progress in life”. Together with religion come traditions that provide the people with ways to tackle life’s complexities. A subscription to the school of thought of great scholars
“We are left alone, without excuse. This is what I mean when I say that man is condemned to be free” (Sartre 32). Radical freedom and responsibility is the central notion of Jean-Paul Sartre’s philosophy. However, Sartre himself raises objections about his philosophy, but he overcomes these obvious objections. In this paper I will argue that man creates their own essence through their choices and that our values and choices are important because they allow man to be free and create their own existence. I will first do this by explaining Jean-Paul Sartre’s quote, then by thoroughly stating Sartre’s theory, and then by opposing objections raised against Sartre’s theory.
A good life can be defined with continuous happiness, various accomplishments, and everlasting prosperity. The eternal desire for a good life has influenced philosophers and their reasoning throughout the years. Many have followed ancient religions; while others followed the modern belief of listening to your heart and therefore one’s self. Pascal, Luther, and Augustine are some of the philosophers who followed religion, and believed it to be the ultimate way of achieving a good life. Other preachers like Rousseau and Nietzsche believed in following one’s heart and conscious in order to achieve the desired goal. Rousseau presented the idea that humans are born good and society is what actually shapes humans into good or bad people. Furthermore, he expands on the subject of one’s self and the inward view rather than the outward view. With this, a modern and innovative perspective on the good life was developed as reason cannot only be used on an everyday basis, but can also present a more attainable way of achieving a good for all members of society.
Nash, Ronald H., (1999). Life‘s ultimate questions: an introduction to philosophy, Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49530, page 257, note 13 quoting Hume’s Natural History of Religion in The Philosophical Works of David Hume (London, 1874-1875), 4, 309.
Lonegran states that being human means having an unlimited number of questions regarding life and the universe; in order to answer these questions many turn to religion. Religion has traditionally been a major force in humanity’s search for meaning. Religi...
Functionalists believe religion is a conservative force that performs positive functions of promoting social integration and social solidarity through the reinforcement of value consensus. In this essay I will draw on ideas from Durkheim, Malinowski, Parsons and Bellah. I will then evaluate these theorists with Marxist, feminist and postmodernist perspectives in order to assess the extent functionalism helps us to understand religion today.
Scholars have been trying to come up with a well-founded, acceptable and universal definition of religion for years; however, none of these definitions so far are a perfect fit for all religions of the world. There are many things in our life that are well defined and well understood but, unfortunately, religion is not one of them. There is no common ground and understanding of what religion really means. Religion is what we make of it, so no one can truly define religion in a way that is meaningful across all borders as it is outside of the realm of reason and rationale and the definitions we give could be either too exclusive or inclusive.
We can define freedom in a positive or a negative manner. The former would be related to self-realization and being free from internal obstacles, while the latter definition concentrates on being free from external constraints, that is no one interfere with our freedom, at least not arbitrarily, since we need some rules to live in a society. In this essay, I will assume a negative concept. Philosophic value may be split into two types of value. Non-independent value, which is specific instrumental value. If something has non-independent value, it is valuable in re...
Augustine sees human beings having metaphysical freedom: “the freedom to make decisions and control what to choose with any determination that is outside one’s control.” He points out that with out our metaphysical freedom we would be en...
Religion can be defined as a system of beliefs and worships which includes a code of ethics and a philosophy of life. Well over 90% of the world 's population adheres to some form of religion. The problem is that there are so many different religions. What is the right religion? What is true religion? The two most common ingredients in religions are rules and rituals. Some religions are essentially nothing more than a list of rules, dos and don 'ts, which a person must observe in order to be considered a faithful adherent of that religion, and thereby, right with the God of that religion. Two examples of rules-based religions are Islam and Judaism. Islam has its five pillars that must be observed.
Modern society and its people have the ability to make a vast range of choice when it comes to anything in their lives. People to today have the ability and free will to choose their partners, their careers, their aspirations in life and their own religion. In the opinion of Peter L. Berger, written in his 1979 book ‘The Heretical Imperative’, modern times provide three fundamental options in relation to religion; the first being ‘The deductive option’, which reaffirms a certain religious tradition in spit of counter claims against it (e.g. Islamic fundamentalism); the second is the reductive option, which modernizes a religious tradition in term which make it sensible or understandable in todays most important modes of though. The final option is called the ‘inductive option’, which turns external forms of authority to individual experience (e.g. William James and the varieties of religious experience). By looking at these options deeper and look at opposing views to Berger’s theory and personal religious preference will give the reader a clearer view of Berger’s ‘The Heretical Imperative’.
The central idea presented in chapter one is about the understanding of secularism ethics and promoting virtue ethics. This idea does not suggest that religion is useless but rather intends to respect and create a middle ground amongst all religions as well as those who practice no religion. It also does not promote exclusion of religion from ethical systems, but rather promote integration for both. However the book implies that human can manage without religion but not without inner values. In our globalized and diverse world, people in all walks of life with different views, cultures, background and religions coexist in close proximity with one another. It is vital to honor and respec...