Essay on The Evolution of Religion

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.

The riddle of the origin of man has been subject to many ponderings and theories for thousands of years. In America, two theories concerning this timeless question have driven a spike through the general populace. These two beliefs, Evolution and Christianity, have driven a riff through the American populace and fueled several debates and conflicts over which is the truer theory. Incidents such as the decision of the Kansas school board to ban schools from including the Evolution Theory from their curriculum are becoming a tragically frequent and threaten to escalate if not checked soon. However, there is a growing belief in America today in the possibility of believing that evolution is an inescapable fact while still

Faith, defined as a strong belief in something which cannot be proven, has been argued over countless generations. Still, even without proof, individuals worldwide hold true to their faith each day. After studying faith and religion in texts written by scholars with varying backgrounds, it is easy to see faith is something which is widely disputed. Comparison of Sigmund Freud’s The Future of an Illusion and Paul Tillich’s Dynamics of Faith, fully displays the discrepancies in points of view on the function of faith, as well as the necessity of faith, in society; while the comparison of Viktor E. Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning and Karl Marx’s “on the Future of Religion,” demonstrate both similarities and differences

Religion is one of the greatest creations of mankind. Human beings are different from any other animals because of their ability to think and to create. When man evolved to form societies or countries, when they need to understand better the world around them, religions were created naturally.

Religion is a necessity to life, as backed up by Thomas Paine’s “American Crisis.” Paine has had quite the history revolving around the American government, as he wrote “Common Sense,” a best seller that offered a rhetorical view about why the colonies should split from Britain. However, he then decided to write “American Crisis” in order to offer his unique but logical view on religion and how everyone should go about deciding what they worship. His idea was that religion is necessary in order to live and keep one’s morals straight, however widespread religion are corrupting and brainwashing everybody, so everyone should have their own religion in the church of their mind.

As technology, science, and medicine changes lives, history, and economics, has it drawn our minds in awe and wonder forcing us to forget what religion means in this world? To forget the morals and standards that came with it? With more societal advances we seem to always be furthering ourselves away from the topic of religion; Even after the fact that America was founded on the basis of Christianity.

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.

societies usually desire the perfect reflection of them .As time passes and life changes so do religions ,however the bases of the religion remain. Each religion has different dominations, each to fit certain societies . some of the reasons why one may be religious could include social and psychological aspects. Religion could help cope with stress, give hope and peace of mind .It could give a sense of community , along with a support group , It also gives a worldview , purpose , and a system of ethics . Because religion fulfills human needs it has not extinct

Through out history religion has played a major role in history. For many people who settled in Northern New England came for religious freedom and the colonies were spread because of that. Believing in religion is often the spiritual thing that they lead their life with. Robert Putnam, in his book, American Grace; How Religion Divides and Unites Us claims that religion, when taken in high doses is toxic to civil life, this is true to an extent. Although many people can agree with his claim he isn’t completely right because religion can still be beneficial for people who truly believe in it. Its true religion has set back society a few steps with the prosecution of many innocent people and the deaths of thousands of people but, religion has also helped many people get through hardships they face.

Religion has changed dramatically over the past few decades. Where years ago, it was limited to a few specific set of beliefs in which the majority of people conformed to and few people deviated. Nowadays, religion is immeasurable and varies depending on where you live. Despite all the changes, there are a few basic elements that every religion follows such as; a set of stories, sacredness, community, belief of a higher power, rules/ethics, offer hope and a way to connect with the divine. Although the building blocks are the same, each organizations, religious practices and beliefs are unique.

Imagine that you’ve been suffering through a time of immense hardship and you are economically disadvantaged. You haven’t eaten in days, you’re home is about to be foreclosed, and you are hopeless about finding employment. You take what little food you have left, scrounge together whatever possessions of yours that have value, and for good measure throw in your first-born son. Taking all of these items, you then light them on fire and utterly destroy them. If this happened today, no doubt would a person be arrested and deemed a risk to himself and others. But for centuries, people carried out these sacrificial rituals, wasting precious resources and time & energy, in hopes that things would get better. Religion is immensely costly both in

The problem of evil is widely considered as the most detrimental problem to the monotheist. It is also the primary objection to the overall existence of God. The problem is very easy to comprehend: If God is an all-perfect, all-knowing, all-powerful deity then why do we live in a world with any imperfection or negativity at all? Why do bad things happen at all? Especially to the good people in the world and the millions of innocent people who suffer on a daily basis. Gottfreid Leibniz was a philosopher, who took aim at the problem and wished to point out that the existence of evil and God are compatible of evil and and the typical logic is: (1) if God was an all-powerful, all-knowing and all-good being then this world would be the best

As long as humans have walked the Earth, we have sought out answers. Answers for questions like: "Why are we here? Where do we go when we die? Where did we come from? and What's that?" How different people answered these questions is important to study because it shows us the spiritual side of human nature. Especially now, a time of conflict between Islam and Western Civilization, it is important to look back and trace the evolution of religion. To see where we started and perhaps, gain some perspective into what is happening now and what may happen in the future.

Religious beliefs in conjunction with the necessary economic conditions led to the development of the a full blown capitalist society. However through time, the religious foundation that formed the capitalist society gave way and the yearn for material success became “a casing as hard as steel” (Weber PA: 170). Religion created capitalism, but once it was in full swing, religious convictions disappeared and human beings became trapped in an iron cage as prisoners to capitalism. Thus, it is possible to live in a society without religion, but it would be a society that is soulless with increased strive for technological efficiency, rational calculation, and control.

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the definition of religion is as follows: “the belief in a god or in a group of gods, an organized system of beliefs, ceremonies, and rules used to worship a god or a group of gods, or an interest, a belief, or an activity that is very important to a person or group” (Merriam-Webster.) My personal definition of religion is that it is a set of beliefs and practices that generally pertain the worship of one or more than one spiritual beings or representations of a spiritual power. Religion can be personal belief or an organization or group of people who have similar beliefs and values. There are many different types of religions in the world and have been since the