How We Can Preserve Secular Religion

Karen Armstrong, author of “Homo Religiosus,” claimed that without the physical rituals and traditions, religion morphed into a belief. Simply put, Armstrong argued that religion requires not only blind faith but also customs and practices that affect one’s physical and mental behaviors. It is through these rituals and taboos that the religions grows and forms, and yet also changes when deemed necessary. Additionally, Armstrong constantly compares religion to different art forms. She does this to convey the message that much like art, one must focus and study religion for lengthy periods of time to be properly understood. However, this connection also suggests that art and religion can perform an analogous role to humankind when required, as they both evolve and change when a society 's infrastructure does. Throughout her essay “Homo Religiosus,” Armstrong focuses on the similar role that both art and religion play in society to discuss her claim that religion is not just a belief, but rather has to do with changes in physical and mental behaviors that in return create change in society and the religion one needs.

Through the Investiture Conflict in 1076, it can be seen that the Church had wanted to dominate the secular authority. The Investiture Conflict had marked a change in the relationship between the Church and secular authority in which the Church wanted to establish its right to rule over the secular rulers. The disputes between the Church and secular authority were a continuation of an ongoing tension over who had ultimate authority to rule over Christendom and within kingdoms. These disputes also dealt with the rights and privileges the Church had acquired within kingdoms especially the elevation of the clergy above the laity by putting the clergy above the law with separate church courts. By the mid-eleventh century, it can be seen that the Church had gained strength to challenge the secular ruler for authority in their own kingdoms and establishing special rights and privileges for its clergy. These special rights and privileges had put clergy members on top of the rest of the population. The two most important disputes between the Church and secular authority over these issues were between King Henry II of England (1154 – 1189) and Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury from 1162 to 1170, and that between King Philip IV of France (1285 – 1314) and Pope Boniface VIII (1294 – 1303). Both Henry II and Philip IV wanted to be able to better control crime in their kingdoms due to the separate church courts for clergy that led to issues of criminous clerks. While Becket and

The act of defining religion has been a contentious issue in a wide variety of situations, particularly in the United States. The US is a nation that prides itself on religious inclusivity and freedom. There are consequences to this belief and tenant. Through the social, legal and moral structures of the United States, defining religion has become imperative. In The Impossibility of Religious Freedom, Winifred Sullivan outlines the legal implications of defining religion in the United States. In order for religious freedom to be protected by the American state, religion must be clearly defined. As a result, religious theory must be used to maintain some semblance of religious freedom in the United States. Likewise, Josh Dubler’s Down in

As citizens of the United States, we have certain unalienable rights that were set by the framers of our country back when our nation’s government was just forming. Among these is the First Amendment to the Constitution that includes the freedom of religion for all who reside in and call this country their own. The First Amendment is meant to give rights to the people that the government cannot limit or take away. These rights serve to protect and help us in times of need, and the freedom of religion that the United States provides has given security to members of all religious backgrounds coming from other countries where this freedom is not among the rights given to their people. People all over the world have sought refuge in

The authors seek to elucidate to the masses the concepts of God’s hope, amazing love and the power that emanates from god 's sake to his children. Through the entire work the writers seek to demonstrate through years of experience how people can be in possession of their thought patterns, enhance their decision-making skills to promote the physical and relational self. The book brings out very hefty discussions on life and the various engagements that people make every day of their lives. The book contains concepts like relationships and their dynamics where the authors assert that relationships ought to include God in them because he exists in them (Hawkins & Clinton, 2015 p.112).

Xelus is worshipped as the main God because he is the one who brought everything into being. However, since Xelus combusted and made up everything, Xelics (worshippers of Xelus) believe that everything has some divine power because Xelus literally in everyone and everything. This religion does not necessarily worship everything though. They believe that life is the most holy aspect of Xelus, not the other forms that came from him such as rocks. This belief leads to the value of nature and other human beings. Xelics believe that we must do everything in our power to try to preserve the Earth and protect the living creatures. The connection to nature also influences Xelics to go out to a place where nature hasn’t been disturbed every week. Simply

The Bill for Establishing Freedom of Religion was written in 1779 by Thomas Jefferson it’s goal to keep the country from implementing a national established church. In 1786, the Virginia Assembly passed the bill, making Virginia the example of religious liberty. This bill was a precursor to the First Amendment of the Constitution, which discusses the freedom of religion, and the separation of the church and state. At the time this Bill was written, the country had just won the Revolutionary War, and was in the process of establishing a government. Patrick Henry wanted to make Christianity the established religion of the country. Thomas Jefferson wrote the Bill to reason why the separation of church and state would be better for the country,

Throughout America history, especially when comparing the periods prior and after the World 's Fair in 1893, the progress for religious pluralism is too much and not enough. To certain groups of people, religious pluralism is an obstacle for religious development as it can cause the lost of distinctiveness and challenge the 'only one true way '; while other groups welcome religious pluralism as the mean to religious freedom, where everyone can practice their religion without being judged. Religious pluralism can be understood as the manyness of religions, where there is a "free existence of many faiths"(Albanese 2013:11), coexists of different religion where everyone respect others ' ways of life. Whereas the World 's Parliament and the World 's Fair did showed a faint sign of religious pluralism, it was not suitable to describe it with religious pluralism, as it was built upon the basis of Christianity 's superiority.

Religious affairs have contended with the ways in which our government is run have long controverted one another. The debate has largely revolved around whether our government should practice secularity or hold theocratic ideals. Public education is one part of this debate that has produced both left-wing and right-wing opinions, and the audiences of this topic range from political leaders to children attending public schools, and the parents of said children. A recent recognition of the Islamic holidays Eid-Al-Adha and Eid-Al-Fitr by New York City public schools has re-ignited this ongoing debate (Mayor).

In this concluding section, I shall develop a Schellingian account of the purpose of interreligious dialogue, and thus why engaging in interreligious dialogue might serve the best interests of religious communities. As mentioned above, religious systems are linked to religious communities. Thus, each religious system develops in the complex social and physical environment in which its community is located. In other words, each religious tradition is a part of an environment and potentially in contact with other traditions inhabiting that environment. Moreover, religions are connected not just on the historical level, but also from a metaphysical and eternal point of view. As God, according to Schelling, is the deepest root of all religions, "actual religion cannot be [metaphysically] separated from actual religion" as to do so would create separation in God himself.

In order to maintain peace, pluralism must be a very realistic entity as individuals from diverse minority groups continuously immigrate to states that aren’t true to their ethnic and cultural backgrounds. For pluralistic states, acts of violence such as murder can be agreed upon as morally wrong to humanity whereas opinions regarding religious affairs can be pushed aside. One’s race, ethnicity or desired religion should be seen as equal compared to others in the attempt to keep states at par, although their role isn’t usually concerning the nation’s cultural affairs, but instead territorial matters such as: military services, the nation’s security, and currency allocation. Taking these statements into account, states are everlasting, despite

In this report I will be comparing and contrasting the similarities and differences between the religious tradition Christianity, with the world view of Secular Humanism.

Religion has been a powerful force in human history. Mankind has longed and searched for the answers to its purpose, the reason for being and the possibility of life after physical death. They reasoned that an afterlife would be a place of accounting and reckoning for the life they lived on earth. Religious belief systems seemed to give the answers as to how to prepare for the afterlife. Religion became the means of giving answers to those basic yet deep-seated questions of both life and death. Religion provided a format of rules and laws for conduct and treatment toward others based on the desires and wishes of a god or gods that people envisioned, imagined or invented. Religious belief systems have been a powerful force for good and bad...good in the sense that it provided a measure of individual behavior and order in society for the wellbeing of the whole, but bad in the sense that men of ambition who craved power and control over others would often use religion as a tool of manipulation and fear. A casual glance of history tells us that complete civilizations have been built, grown and maintained around elaborate religious systems, ancient Egypt being a prime example.

Rights which are believed to belong to every person can be known as Human Rights. According to the United Nations “Human rights are rights inherent to all human beings, regardless of race, sex, nationality, ethnicity, language, religion, or any other status.” Human rights which are recognized in a constitution of a particular state is known as the Fundamental Human Rights of that state. Therefore fundamental human rights differ from state to state. In the international context Human Rights can be recognized with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), International Covenant on Civil and Political rights (ICCPR) and International Covenant on Economic and Social Rights (ICESR). When we consider the Sri Lankan context in both the 1947

The catholic four common core questions, what is our relationship to God, How does one live a life of meaning and purpose, what is our relationship with the natural world and how can we form a more just society for the common good can be answered differently. However, the great books in the Catholic Intellectual tradition answered these questions in a broad distinctive way. This essay will examine the question, what is our relationship with God, from the view point of three writers, Dorothy Day, Thomas Merton and Pope Paul. What is our relationship with God was a better one answered by these writers. Most Christians refer a relationship with God to praying and communicating with him. As an explanation, many well-meaning Christians will explain that you can develop a personal relationship with God by “seeing Jesus. However, the great books in the Catholic Intellectual tradition such as Dorothy Day, The Long Loneliness, Thomas Merton, The Seven Storey Mountain, etc. have a broader explanation of our relationship with God. They say a relationship with God is being fully human, living a meaningful life and having a relationship with the triune God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.