Meaning and End of Religion Essay

　　Compared to other textbooks, Smith seems to be going based off his own experiences and research while the writers from textbooks are less personable about their approach to the subject. He even states that the book would not be a history on religions but more so on the ideas there based off on( Smith 10). Also, there sometimes tend to be biases toward a certain religion, or they focus their attention on things like noticeable faults. Smith’s way of doing this textbook is more towards keeping the reader’s attention and giving them an unbiased viewpoint.

Smith tells us in three ways in which most people see the relationships between religions. The first way Smith explains this is by stating that the book does not favor one religion over the other. It is written this way to show that no religion is better than the other and that every religion should have a fair chance of belief by every reader. The second point is that all religion are alike in some fashion. However, this is the most problematic of the three because the book shows the differences that each religion considers important and their own beliefs. Smith uses the suggestion, “There are people who want to have their own followers” stating that even if there were to be a single religion that was practiced all around the world that eventually a group would stand up and create their own religion. We are a world of leaders not followers and therefore means that there will never be any one religion like another one. Lastly, there is the symbolism of showing the differences of the religions without voicing on their assets. This is stating that in order for the reader and/or believer to understand and hear God they must have an open mind and learn to condemn with the language and symbolism that is being spread across that religion. Smith explains the relations of the religion, “a stained glass windowed whose sections dived the light of sun into different colors” (386). Smith uses this strong metaphor to show the how religions together make up the world but each of them a different in their own unique way through the eyes of the believers. In my opinion the third and final relation of religions is what I believe that Smith favors mostly because in the beginning he stated that in order to understand his book the reader must have a detached without mind. This mind set allows the reader to see things through a new perspective and allow the new

Society in all cultures share a common trait: Religion. Studying religion in any society reveals many of their traits and explains the actions of the individual. For example, Jewish people live their lives according to what was written in the Talmud and the Torah. They respect the Sabbath and also eat Kosher meat. Even when looking at Huxley's A Brave New World, analyzing religion still helps us understand the actions of the societies and characters within the book.

Defining Religion "Religion is only the illusory sun which revolves round man as long as

Huston Smith brought up a thought that had never crossed my mind before, “What did Jesus think of himself?” Huston Smith said that it was impossible to find out or ever to know Jesus’ thoughts or personal feelings about himself. Then Smith also brought up the fact that Jesus may not have ever found out what he was, who he was, or what to think about himself. Huston Smith revealed that the importance of Jesus’ human needs should be defined as well as his divine needs. He stated that by considering both human and divine needs one can better understand who Jesus really was and what he was meant to do. Some things in this world could have also been a mystery to Jesus during his life though, just as it is in our lifetime. Huston Smith believed that when Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist and he saw the angel that it could have been the first time he came to the realization of who he was and what his significance to the world was. This idea was supported when Huston Smith went on to explain that the forty days and nights Jesus spent in the woods were spent to discover who he really was. This part of the video really made me think of my opinion of Jesus and whether I thought he knew who he was and who he was going to be.

Young employs a descriptive framework in his book The World’s Religions that is used to understand religion and the ways in which religion plays various roles in human life (Young 12). The framework was developed from the definition of religion he describes in his book. Young defines religion as being, “human transformation in response to perceived ultimacy” (4). This framework developed by Young was a tool of analysis he employed to compare religions through seven questions that formulate a basic understanding of a particular religion’s worldview. The seven questions that make up Young’s framework are as follows: what does it mean to be human, what is the basic human problem, what is the cause of the problem, what is the end or goal of transformation, what are the means of transformation, what is the nature of reality, and what

Defining Religion The most fundamental question when examining a religion is "what is religion?" That is a distinctly hard question to answer considering that what is ordinarily considered to be religion is not all it is, and what many consider not to be religion may be near religious (i.e. sports). The truth is that there are no genuine answers to the question of "what is religion".

Nye discusses the term “religion” twice as a noun, once as an adjective, and once as a verb. One noun represents religion as a “universal” aspect of humanity, the other noun signifies a specific religion, the adjective form describes a behavior or experience, and the verb is the act of practicing, itself. The various meanings of the term “religion” as demonstrated by these parts of speech set up the basis for the fact that religion has a multitude of implications. Nye focuses on these complexities, and, in particular, draws attention to religion’s variations cross-culturally. He writes how even within the same religion, religious practices and beliefs can differ greatly. He also explains how the word “religion” itself is difficult to translate into other languages, and some cultures do not even have a word for it. Nevertheless, Nye argues that, rather than the as a term, religion can be translated globally in terms of the kind of life it prescribes.

In this essay we will discuss the importance of religion in society. We will attempt to explain why societies have religions and what functions their belief system has for them. We will also ask if these functions are now out-dated and if religions have any meaningful function in today's world or are they just stained glass windows into a bygone era? 'Religion' can be defined by two main groupings. 'The inclusive definition' covers all topics and subjects of a persons life including, not only, their belief in a deity but also their belief and belongingness to music, sport and any other interests the person may hold. 'The exclusive definition' refers to just their belief system regarding a 'supra-human' (Browne 2005, p. 311). It is mainly

In this essay I will be looking at the theories of Edward Burnett Tylor and Émile Durkheim, and comparing them to see which theory I think gives a better explanation about what religion is, or whether religion is actually definable. On the one hand we have Tylor’s theory that tells us that religion is belief in spiritual beings and that religion is just a step on the way to reaching full evolutionary potential. Durkheim’s theory, however, says that religion is very much a social aspect of life, and something can only be religious or “sacred” if it is something public (Durkheim 1965:52). Ultimately these theories do not give us an outright explanation about what ‘religion’ is, but there are aspects of the theory that can be used to gain an understanding or idea.

David panhandled on the street for enough money to send his real family to New York for Christmas. It was a long flight but his two kids didn't give a care. As soon as they saw their dad, they started barraging him with questions. They were always interested in maths because of their father’s occupation. The eldest son started first, “Why did we ditch the fifth axiom? Why did Tupper make an equation and not ware? How do you win a guessing game? Whats a hyperbolic sport? Why is 82,000 extraordinary? When is Cheryl’s birthday? How do you make a klein bottle? Have you ever hunted for the elusive fourth klein bottle? What’s your favorite number? Do numbers have free will?”

     According to the American College Dictionary, religion is a noun defined as the quest for the values of the ideal life. This definition is vast and general, allowing for a variety of interpretations by people from all cultures. There is no single path to follow in order to lead an ideal life, only personal beliefs and experiences. Religion is non-finite so there is no way of determining a boundary (Smart, 5). In my quest for a true understanding of what religion is I explored my own traditions and religious beliefs as well as life experiences. Slowly, with the added insight from the text and videos, my own definition of religion has begun to take shape.

The Problem of Definition of Religion The study of religion is problematic. There are so many dimensions to religion (belief, practice, experience, knowledge and consequences) that it is impossible to provide a conclusive definition. Most sociologists do not believe in God. Functionalist views on Religion -------------------------------

There are more than 4,200 religions in the world, major ones being Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, and Hinduism (CITE). Each one of these religions’ followers calls their own belief religion. Religion is Buddhism to Buddhist, Hinduism to Hindus so on and so forth. But how come religion can have multiple meanings? If religion is Islam to Muslims, then isn’t Christianity a religion? If Hindus call their belief religion and insist that their religion is the right one, then don’t they deny other people’s religions? Religion is a very broad term and its clear definition is yet to come. It is a critical problem that Smith also points out in his book The Meaning and End of Religion. Since it brings a lot of controversy to define religion, Smith comes up with a term called ‘reification’, which can simply defined as a concept that turns stuff –in this case religion- a thing (CITE). In this paper, I will do three things. First, I will analyze Confucius’s Analects to look at his way of reification from Smiths perspective. Second, I will go through The Negative Confession from the Egyptian Book of the Dead to understand how can one ‘create’ a religion around the ancient Egyptian beliefs. Third, I will apply this to Wicca and the celebration of the Goddess. Last but not least, after analyzing all three texts I will tie all of them to Tillich’s idea that is called ‘ultimate concern’.

Religion can be found almost everywhere around us, influencing ones lifestyle and surroundings much more than we are aware of. Often becoming a huge element of society in several areas of our lives. Though some argue one is born already knowing their religious faith, classifying religion as something that cannot be learned but more as an inner spirituality present at birth. Other would say there is no doubt religion is socially constructed and subconsciously learned plus spread through peers, family or close ones, strongly impacting societies and cultures. Some sort of hidden objective or purpose whether is it political, spiritual or other, motivates the creation of a religion through a "designated"