What is religion?
I believe that religion provides answers to unsolvable questions. For example, many people have wracked their brains trying to find an explanation for how the first man ended up on earth. No matter what religion we are addressing, most have developed the same explanation or story of creation.
I believe that religion also unites people. This can happen between individuals of the same religion and also individuals with different beliefs because most religions are based on a common concept and so people can understand and relate to one another’s beliefs. However, since some religions do not fall under this category, the extreme differences cause controversy between the believers, raising the argument of “I’m right and you are wrong.”
However, to address this mentality that often strikes up in the minds of scholars and intellectuals, I believe that all religions are, technically, the same. One religion might believe in a sun-god and a water-god, while another believes in one God, that created both sun and water. They are the same idea, just expressed in a different way and, should, therefore, not be criticized.
In conclusion, I believe that religion is relative to the individual. Most people follow the religion they were brought up with and so when encountered with a new and foreign one, they often see it as wrong. This is just because it is a new and exciting concept and everyone should strive to accept it.
November 1, 2009 at 2:59 pm
Thanks for the comment! It is good to see that what I believed to be simple views are actualy what you thought as well, so maybe we are just not thinking hard enough as potential “scoholars” of this subject do. As you said, it is very sad when something supposedly good and uniting can turn into a war between religions, as it has over and over agin accross the centuries. After all, if if God/the gods say love everyone and accept everyone, why is so much destroyed in religions sake? It’s definetly a more complex question, and something that our simple definitions of a uniting force under a certain belief does not fully extend to.