Superstition Of Science, Religion, Harmful Superstition

Sometimes the question about spirituality, and why people believe in it swarms around the minds of today’s society. It never occurred to me about the importance of why people believed in religion or superstition until I entered high school. Growing up Catholic, it felt like a routine to attend mass every Friday and Sunday because that was what everyone I knew did. I was never that interested in any belief of God, let alone any interest in superstition. I always thought that my religious beliefs tied to my cultural background. Growing up as a second generation of Filipino heritage, life without Christ was looked upon as unbearable, and less motivating to do things in life. It is as if Filipinos needed to breathe with the motivation of God, and become heavily influenced by applying Catholicism to its culture. However, the question about why people believe in religion and superstition is still a mystery to this day.

Science and religion were based back in modern days to be the answer to everyone, and society as a whole to handle their issues through the church majority of the time, until science came along and changed the perspective of everyone’s outlook on how they were to solve their conflicts. Within the world today they both still exist and are still being put to use for its main purpose which is to create answers to things we face that need a solution.

Religion and Science has always been one of the biggest debates of all time, but I believe that Science determines all answers to our questions. Although as a Catholic my opinions will start to change from my religious point of view. As Bishop Robert Barron said in, The Myth of the War Between Science and Religion, he said, leaving aside the complexities of the Galileo story (and there are complexities to it), we can see that the vast majority of the founding figures of modern science—Copernicus, Newton, Kepler, Descartes, Pascal, Tycho Brahe—were devoutly religious. More to it, two of the most important physicists of the 19th century—Faraday and Maxwell—were extremely pious, and the formulator

Superstitions is the belief in the supernatural element, that one event causes another without any natural process linking the two events. Superstitions are linked to religion and its aspects like omen, prophecies and witchcraft. These superstition beliefs are mainly applied to beliefs and practices surrounding luck, certain spiritual beings or the unknown force of the Almighty. Superstitions probably have been present among us from the beginning of time, passed on from generation to generation, culturally transmitted and shared for centuries. These superstitious rituals and activities can have a positive or a negative impact on one’s life hence, may influence ones behaviour

  The relationship between religion and science has been a subject of study since classical antiquity, addressed by philosophers, theologians, scientists, and others. Different concept come from different geographical regions, cultures and history.

The conflicts between mothers and daughters in The Joy Luck Club reflect the great difference between both cultures. Therefore, there are many domestic and foreign scholars who studied Sino-US cultural differences presented in The Joy Luck Club.

    Throughout the novels The Kitchen God's Wife and The Joy Luck Club, author Amy Tan conveys the message of tradition and change. Each novel contains sections about mothers talking and relating their stories to their daughters. The daughters in The Joy Luck Club hear stories about loss and happiness, and joy and hate. Each of the four mothers tell these stories to their daughters as lessons, or offerings for their futures. They tell the stories to show how lucky their daughters have been, yet how their lives will never be the same as their own lives have been. They try to help their daughters on some level with these stories. Yet they comprehend the

fHave you ever saw a black cat and instantly thought you would have bad luck? Those beliefs are formed from a superstition- a universal belief in a supernatural source leading to certain repercussions. Margaret Mead analyzes what a superstition is and where they come from, and how new ones are formed. in her essay new superstitions for old (173). As a cultural anthropologist, Margaret studied many cultures and their beliefs. The essay in question in a sense gives a negative outlook on superstitions and makes the reader question, religion and if superstitions are some old folk tale or fact.

Throughout time, science has been intertwined with religion to comprehend the unexplainable. The basis of medical knowledge of the ancient Greek period included observation of disease and attributing it to religion. However, The Sacred Disease marks the victory of science and rationality over religion and superstition in medicine. The author address the issue of superstition and religion within the medical world. He comments on the absurdity of believing that the deities lay claim to the diseases of the world. The author continues to base his argument in the rationality of medical knowledge of that era. Although the medical knowledge of the ‘sacred disease’ is limited, the author’s argument is based in the medical knowledge that is known and not attributed to religion in any manner.

In times of uncontrollability, there is evidence to suggest that individuals tend to invoke superstious beliefs. Anecdotal evidence has also suggested that highly superstitious people believe that they have a level of control over situations where they objectively have none. For example, some people have lucky charms that they believe allow for a greater sense of perceived control of external factors.

It is logical to conclude that science and religion are concerned with different kinds of knowledge. Science deals with facts that can be observed and measured. It focuses on the aspects of life that are within the grasp of human reason. Religion, by contrast, deals with spiritual matters that cannot be observed with the physical senses. One can have feelings about the existence of God and heaven, but one cannot use scientific methods to prove that these things exist. Whereas science is related to the thought processes of the rational mind, religion is based on faith. By definition, faith is something that cannot be understood rationally.

“The superstition that I am going to tell you is a really common Malay’s superstition that has been passed down to me since I was a kid. I think you are already familiar with it because I always said this to you when you were a kid, to make sure you returned home before sunset after spending hours playing with your friends. ‘During Maghrib (after sunset), Muslim kids are not allowed to play outside their house, or a scary ghost will kidnap them’. Your grandparents introduced this to me when I was about 6 years old. They told this superstition to me every time before I went out and play with my friends. People who live in villages are great believers in ghost and spirits. I was raised in a village setting, so I grew up hearing a lot of stories about ghosts, spirits and black magic. This superstition is related to ghosts, so it makes me scared, as I believe that there were really a ghost that trying to kidnap me if I return home after sunset. Malays also believe that there are lots of spirits, Satan and ghosts wandering around after sunset. That is why many elders, including your grandparents, tell this superstition to make sure their kids return home early. They scared the ghosts will possess their kids. But when I grew up, I do not believe in those supernatural things anymore. I used and told you this superstition just to make sure you returned home early and performed your prayer on time. I do not think that many people believe in this superstition

Throughout history, many superstitions have grown ranging from not opening an umbrella inside, to seeing a black cat crosses in front of you. Some of these traditions we pass on today may seem crazy and we could wonder who came up with these insane ideas. Although the superstitions may not be completely sound they all have an explanation in history. One of the most well-known superstitions would be triskaidekaphobia, or a fear of the number 13. This might seem irrational, but it has a basis in religious history and in many cultures throughout the ancient world. I believe that this fear may have some basis in fact, however strange, and to prove this we will look at this superstitions basis in ancient history, its basis in religious history, and how it plays out in our culture today.

Beliefs in superstitions have persisted throughout the history of human being and have been transmitted from generation to generation until the present time (Vyse, 1997). Therefore, Subbotsky (2009) stated that superstitious belief or magical belief is a fundamental property of the human mind. What exactly are superstitions? Numerous definitions are formed based on different human society after many years of research in the field. Womack (1992) defined superstition as the repetitive, unusual and rigid behaviors which could bring desired positive effect to the believers without any causal relationship between the behavior and the outcome of an event. Another definition of superstition refers to individuals’

Culture is a universally accepted part of our humanity that allows us to engage in a form of communication necessary to use our brains and imagination simultaneously” (Miriam Webster). Thales of Miletus was one of the seven Sages of Greece. According to Aristotle, he was the first known Greek scientist and philosopher. Thales understood the law of cause and effect. He had a brilliant insight. He advocated that for every physical effect, there is a physical cause. Perhaps this concept, “Causality abolishes superstition” (Park 31), is what leads us to entertain the thought that there may be a scientific reason for what happens. Superstition and Science have created an interesting juxtaposition in life. Superstition is not based on