“We are all atheists about most of the gods that humanity has ever believed in. Some of us just go one god further.” (Dawkins 6). This essay is not going to be about whether or not god is real, but instead it is going to focus on religion and its followers. Religion has existed for thousands and thousands of years. Likewise, there are thousands of very different religions all over the world. Religion has slowly attached itself like a parasite into societies everyday life. It has connected and comforted many people over the years, but is religion actually useful anymore? The answer to that is a definite no. Religions have fought for years attempting to establish their dominance over one another and mankind. If religion was to disappear forever, then the world would find itself in a state of bliss.
Arguments for
The first and most important point for curing the world of religion would be the massive decline in wars and pointless deaths. When someone turns on the television today the news is filled with talk about ISIS. Many Americans believe that they are a joke and are nothing to be feared, but in reality they are the biggest threat to modern society. As the New York Observer explains in one of their newspaper articles,
“The conquest of Iraq and Syria and of a few other countries in the Levant is a big deal as far as the West is concerned, but it pales in comparison to ISIS’ true objectives, which is no less than conquering the entire world and to converting it into an
In a forever evolving universe, it is not uncommon for human beings to experience apprehension when it comes to the idea of change. While some are passionately working towards the future, others are struggling to grasp onto the remnants of the past. New generations are being born and with every new generation comes an increasingly advanced perspective of the world. Traditional ideals and ways of life are continuously expanding and becoming something that may be unrecognizable to some and unheard of to others. With this being said, however, there is one thing that will never be completely new: the concept of religion.
However, there is another side to religion, one that is quite contrary to idea of unification and acceptance. When looking through the scope of history, we can also see religion as an exclusionary tool, often used to differentiate groups of people on an innate level. As many of these idealogies attempt to assert
Religions affect the lives of its followers greatly because if you're a Muslim you have to pray five times a day, if you're a Jew you can't have any other gods, and if you believe in Buddhism you have to follow the middle path to stop suffering. All these rules you have to follow can take away time from you and can make you give up stuff you have, even make you leave money behind.
Religion is important to most of the world's population. Throughout history, religion has played a key role in shaping events. While ignorance contributes to intolerance and hate, understanding how others believe fosters not only respect but also peaceful coexistence. Through the centuries, people have done much good in the name of religion (Haynes). Examples can be given to the Crusades.
Religion changed as well, as Christianity blended with and much of the time subsumed conventional convictions. Maybe the two greatest improvements to impact the lives of Indians were the presentations of the steed and of guns. As of now said, ailments from abroad additionally took an extraordinary toll on local populaces, as did, increasingly,warfare and in addition venereal infection and
Like the British philosopher and mathematician Bertrand Russell, who described himself as an atheist (the absence of belief in God), I have to say, like he did when he was alive, that religion is little more than superstition. Despite any positive effects that religion might have in societies, it is mostly harmful to people. Religions and religious outlook serve to impede human knowledge (science) and to foster fear and dependency on other (clerics) which are supposed to know. Religions are responsible for much of the human war, oppression, and misery that are besetting our world today. Our origin, our growth, our hopes and fears, our loves and beliefs, our purposes in life are but one thing: the outcome of accidental associations of
When people are asked how important religion is to them, the answer comes in a variety of different ways. Many would say that religion is vital factor to living a prosperous life. Others may say that religion is the one thing that divided the human race entirely. Religion can be seen as a powerful tool for many people, but it can also be seen as a weapon. Centuries ago, Europeans invaded Africa and used their own religions and beliefs as a weapon to control the African natives. When learned about this fact, one question could become apparent; how can religion be used as a weapon of mass control? To answer this question, we must first understand how religion is taught, and how it can powerful it really is.
Humanity is constantly searching for inclusion. Everyone has an innate and incurable desire to feel like, to feel wanted, to feel needed. For many people, religion is a tool to achieving that goal. Religion is like an open door to a group of peers who are often accepting and loving all all strangers who seek embrace. However, the problem of religion arises when it becomes too self serving and the original purpose of religion is forgotten, the morality and kindness that God embodies. Illuminating the undeniable similarities between all forms of religion, religious wars become insignificant, proving the human desire to achieve superiority and dominance with their social group.
Close to one hundred and fifty years apart, both Louis XIV Edict of Fontainebleau and Luther’s Address to the Christian Nobility of the German Nation had an immense impact on religion. Martin Luther’s document would pave the way for the Protestant Reformation, while Louis XIV would revoke all the freedoms that the Huguenots enjoyed in a Catholic France with the Edict of Nantes. This essay will compare and contrast these distinctions and their impact on religion. Therefore, although years apart, these two documents lead a paradigm shift, address what they believe to be “evils” plaguing their lands, and put power in the hands of the temporal authorities.
As religion persists, evolving as an ever the more integral part of society, further becoming an intrinsic part of society and humanity as they function overall, the implications of their stances and their methods of carrying out tasks, per those beliefs, need to be further examined to fully understand the shape the world was and will come to be. This examination will help us to better understand the course of history, because of our deeper knowledge of another of the factors that shaped it.
Everyone believes in something and most of the time not everyone believes in the same thing. Religion has been a part of history for as long as anyone can remember. There are so many different religions that people are born into or chose to be a part of. This essay will explore the history of religion beginning with Buddhism (500BCE-now), then examining Rome and Christianity (30ce-now), and ending with the Protestant Reformation (1450-1565). Each topic will be discussed by first introducing an important person involving the topic and then the topic will be discussed in more detail. After those three topics are discussed this essay will then compare and contrast the topics involving religion and history. Once the topics are compared and
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.
Religion: the best thing to ever happen to humanity or the one thing that is holding us back? While there are many arguments and testimonies that support either side, there is a clear answer. Religion, specifically judeo-christianity, in the western world has an array of disastrous issues ranging from bias teachings to abuse and hate crimes. There are countless examples of ways in which religion has, and is continuing to regress society’s views and morals. Ignorance and disdain from scientific fact, fear to act upon natural human impulse, innumerable human rights violations and of course wars on religion, are topics rarely discussed due to the concern of offending those who have a relationship with the creator. I will not be discussing the
Some social thinkers of the late 19th and early 20th century all thought that religion would either disappear or become progressively attenuated with the expansion of modern institutions. Religion has been with us before time, most religions not only teach us about spiritual things but also about a persons life decisions through encouraging ethical decisions and actions according to the moral principles of that religion. According to Christianity a monotheistic
Religion, for many is an aspect of our world that can bring people together, or in many cases, tear people apart. It can cause vast violence, or everlasting peace within civilizations. Religion defines the lives of many, governing how they live and the moral code that they choose to follow. However, Religion to em has always simply been what I was raised in. I grew up a cradle catholic, meaning from the day I took my first breathe, to the day I walked across my high school graduation stage, I had a firm grasp of what I believe in and why I believed in it. I have attended private catholic school my entire life, being taught over and over the importance of religion, but primarily, my religion: Catholicism. This semester was one of the first times in my nineteen years of life that I was exposed to the reality of what religion truly is to people, what i listed above. Religion became more of a lifestyle and a way of living than simply a Sunday morning or Thursday evening. Religion and The Human Quest has given me the chance to see many religions and how each of them have allowed my own religion to grow.