Redemption, Religion 's Refuge, And A Hunger For Happiness

"'God isn't compatible with machinery and scientific medicine and universal happiness.'" So says Mustapha Mond, the World Controller for Western Europe in Aldous Huxley's novel Brave New World. In doing so, he highlights a major theme in this story of a Utopian society. Although the people in this modernized world enjoy no disease, effects of old age, war, poverty, social unrest, or any other infirmities or discomforts, Huxley asks 'is the price they pay really worth the benefits?' This novel shows that when you must give up religion, high art, true science, and other foundations of modern life in place of a sort of unending happiness, it is not worth the sacrifice.

Throughout history, literature has served as a prominent tool in the examination of social values, ideas, and dreams. In addition, literature has provided a vital connection between historical, social, and political events. Through the incorporation of religious principles and philosophies, writers have discovered a way to portray different time periods, characters, feelings, and most importantly God.

In Barbara Fredrickson’s Selections from “Love 2.0: How our Supreme Emotion Affects Everything We Feel, Think, Do and Become”, our conventional viewpoint on love is changed so that it can lead to a happier and healthier life. Similarly, in Karen Armstrong’s “Homo Religiosus”, she talks about religion and culture to explain the meaning of life and help people reach internal happiness. Both of these authors make sure that people forget about their previous beliefs so that they can reach Fredrickson’s system of “positivity resonance”, or Armstrong’s idea of internal happiness, or antta.

“But I don’t want comfort. I want God, I want poetry, I want real danger, I want freedom, I want goodness. I want sin.” “In fact,” said Mustapha Mond, “you’re claiming the right to be unhappy.” “All right then,” said the Savage defiantly, “I’m claiming the right to be unhappy,” This significant quote from Brave New World had moved innumerable readers’ heart, so do I. Exaggeration? No. It’s the satire to the false meaning of the universal happiness, and it’s this quote which made me had rethink what do I really want and the way of living I want to choose. Because the deep influence and rumination brought by the book, I would like to say

Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, like most satires, addresses several issues within society. Huxley accomplishes this by using satirical tools such as parody, irony, allusion. He does this in order to address issues such as human impulses, drugs, and religion. These issues contribute to the meaning of the work as a whole by pointing out the disadvantages of having too much control within society.

This theme pertains to the possibility that the world may fall into the hands of the government in the name of a “utopian” society, resulting in a robot-like world without any feelings or imaginative thought if the world becomes too technologically dependent. Huxley portrays this theme through many occurrences, such as when the main character, John the Savage, is arguing with the head of the society, Mustapha Mond. John, in response to Mustapha saying that society should be based on efficiency and comfort, states “But I don't want comfort. I want God, I want poetry, I want real danger, I want freedom, I want goodness. I want sin” (Huxley 240). The theme of oppression and restraint of emotion is characterized by Huxley’s decision to give the characters of the novel insight as to what is actually going with this “utopian” society. The absence of diversity among people and the social barriers caused by technology asserts Huxley’s overall theme of the falling of society due to technological advancements. In the society that the characters of the novel are living in, technology has made it so that people are designed to work to create more people, all in a thoughtless, monotonous manner. All in all, Huxley is able to convey a theme of Brave New World which portrays a new world run by technology in which all that

Although Huxley starts the story by introducing Bernard and his disapproval with the way society works, he suggests that individuals can be prevented from pursuing personal desires, if they are kept content with giving them small pleasures over short periods of time. The way which Bernard’s society keeps its people happy is by encouraging them to take soma regularly and to have sexual relationships with multiple partners. Drugs and sex, only keeps people happy for a short period of time and that is while it is happening. As soon as it is over they return to the misery they were in before, but the society encourages more, thus individuals who comply with the society are always kept content. Bernard is similarly kept satisfied by soma, even though he doesn’t take it too often; it’s his way of escaping reality when he is deeply unhappy with how his life is going. Intimacy with the other sex doesn’t keep him content because he questions this belief, but instead going on a date with Lenina or visiting the reservation does. The protagonist appreciates spending quality time, for instance when he suggest that for his date with Lenina, they “land on top of the Skiddaw and walk for a couple of hours in the heather”(77) or when he wishes to “look at the sea in peace”(78). In

In the Sci-fi futuristic novel “Brave New World”, published in 1932, Aldous Huxley introduces the idea of the utopian society, achieved through technological advancement in biology and chemistry, such as cloning and the use of controlled substances. In his novel, the government succeeds in attaining stability using extreme forms of control, such as sleep teaching, known as conditioning, antidepressant drugs – soma and a strict social caste system. This paper will analyze the relevance of control of society versus individual freedom and happiness to our society through examining how Huxley uses character development and conflict. In the “Brave New World”, Control of society is used to enforce

Moreover, the World State explicitly harvests this “religious emotion” through requiring the citizens to prescribe to their own self-made religion, Fordism. As practitioners of Fordism, the citizens of the World State revere real world Henry Ford as their savior. Huxley utilizes satirical comparisons between Christianity and Fordism to illuminate that today’s government utilizes Christianity in a similar way, to quell the masses. Huxley uses obvious parodies such as switching “Our Lord” for “Our Ford” and cutting the tops off all crosses so they resemble T’s, a reference to Ford’s Model T car, to bring the truth to light without explicitly stating the fact. The followers of Ford also attend regular “Solidarity Services.” These services are comprised of twelve individuals sitting around a table while they sing hymns and ingest soma until the climax of an

As man has progressed through the ages, there has been, essentially, one purpose. That purpose is to arrive at a utopian society, where everyone is happy, disease is nonexistent, and strife, anger, or sadness is unheard of. Only happiness exists. But when confronted with Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, we come to realize that this is not, in fact, what the human soul really craves. In fact, Utopian societies are much worse than those of today. In a utopian society, the individual, who among others composes the society, is lost in the melting pot of semblance and world of uninterest. The theme of Huxley's Brave New World is community, identity, and stability. Each of these three themes represents what a Brave New World society needs

This novel suggests that there is more to life than just happiness; Brave New World insinuates that readers should seek freedom, knowledge and love in life. Huxley implies that without these fulfilling emotions and feelings, readers will be subject to a dreary and repetitive life.

“Community, Identity, Stability.” -- The motto that shapes and defines the entire civilized world. Civilians like Lenina believe that the motto has given them their individual freedom. “I am free. Free to have the most wonderful time. Everybody's happy nowadays.” (Page 79) Ironically, Huxley was trying to convey the exact opposite message. The motto really speaks of a heavy price paid -- freedom in exchange for collective happiness. Freedom to feel, freedom of identity, and the freedom to know and create. It is too heavy a price, perhaps, because freedom is never dear at any

In this paper, I examined the relationship between religion and happiness. Through the research, I found that the religiosity is playing a significant role for increasing happiness. Religiosity can classify into two categories: individual and social religiosity. A study found that social religiosity increases life satisfaction; meanwhile, individual religiosity barely affects or sometimes has negative influences on life satisfaction. Further, this study discovered that congregational close friends, meaning the strong social network, are the cause of happiness and not religion itself.

As humans, happiness and an over all high wellbeing is something we all desire. Some search for wellbeing and happiness through extravagant possessions, some through alcohol and drugs and some through religious belief. It seems that two out of the three groups I mentioned are missing the target. Those who are using possessions, drugs and alcohol, could learn from those who are seeking wellbeing and happiness through religious belief. It seems that those with some kind of faith or religious beliefs have an over all higher wellbeing and happiness than everyone else. Gallup scientists have conducted a worldwide study of wellbeing. Upon extensive research Gallup has named five universal factors of our overall wellbeing that are essential to all people: physical wellbeing, social wellbeing, career wellbeing, community wellbeing and financial wellbeing (Gallup). Each of the elements play a part in our over all wellbeing and in the end our happiness. Not one of these alone or even four out of the five of these elements will give you the highest overall wellbeing. Each of these elements plays a crucial and large roll in our wellbeing and happiness. People around the world who have religious faith, whether their practicing faith is Muslim, Catholic, Buddhist, Christian or any other faith, they reportedly have a higher overall wellbeing and happiness then those with no religious faith or beliefs.

Cur Deus Homo written in 1903 by Anselm of Canterbury has shown the clarity of Jesus Christ being the Son of God. This document presents the necessity of redemption, and how human beings cannot satisfy God. God can only take the price of sin. In a state of complete harmony with the character of God on behalf of humanity, only the Son of God has become sufficient atonement for God. Anselm has written as its “reason to matters of faith (faith seeking understanding)” 1 Jesus Christ cannot be comprehended by the father and son relationship. Because God did not have Jesus Christ by marrying someone, Jesus wasn’t born by the unity between God and Mary. Jesus is the son of God because he came as the human form(John 1:1,14), and He was bear through holy spirit through Mary. In Luke 1:35 says “The angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God.”(NRSV), as the scripture have said about the past days, “the son of man” was the definition of human being.“Nothing can be added to or taken from the honor of God”(342), the sins of humanity have afflicted wounds to God’s heart. Boso made a clear statement of how he has “nothing left to render to him for sin” 2. In fact, he made the closing argument of the sins that human beings have committed. Anselm on other side, explains that “The honor taken away must be repaid, or punishment must follow”3, and due to the