“Good and Evil in Religion”

Week 10 Assignment 1: World View Chart Writing Assignment

REL212-World Religion V Ware Monday September 8, 2014
As we study the world religion, we can review many different concepts of each of them. We can look and compare the concept of human nature, salvation, views of after life if any, varies practices and rituals, even the celebration and festivals. One thing that I noticed over the last ten (10) weeks of studying religion is that every religion as a view towards Good and Evil. The views may not be exact but there are some form of concept with good and evil in them all.
We studied in details approximately eleven (11) different religions over the course of this class. Of the total religions, we found that only one of them had a witchcraft and healing view towards good and evil. This was the study of Indigenous people. The Indigenous people have a timeline of before 2000 BCE and ancient ways passed down and adapted over millennia. (Fisher, 2014)
There were three (3) religions which believed in the concept of Karma. Jainism and Hinduism had a view of Karma which means actions, and also the consequences of actions. It states that every act we make, even thought, desire will shape our future. (Fisher, 2014) However Buddhism believes in Karma which is defined slightly different because “it is the action of body, speech, and mind impressions of our virtuous and non virtuous action which experiences moment by moment.” (Fisher, 2014)
Daoism and Confucianism were both religions of the same timeline. Both around the c.551 to between 479 and they were formed from the lives of Life of Laozi, Zuangzi and Confucius. (Fisher, 2014) Daoism believe there is No evil, however; they believe people views to do good tings are through the prayer and if they are granted good will be upon them. Confucianism believes in suffering and evil. They believe that both suffering and evil are inevitable in human life and it can promote leaning and growth. “A mistake is not a sin, but an opportunity to learn and do better next time.” (http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2056.html) Suffering of others also provides motivation to grow morally, but not all humans are capable of empathy.
Shinto view of good and evil was a little different because they believe that all things are good and good by nature. However, evil (bad) comes from the outside, or by bad or evil spirits. Purification, prayers and offering to the Kami was the only way to protect and heal from this outside evil. (http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2056.html)
Judaism believes that there is good and there is evil in the world. They believe that if you do evil, then they have to pray for forgiveness to live a righteous life. Which is similar to Christianity who has faith in a good and loving creator who has a plan for creation that is also good and loving? If you do bad or evil you have to pray as well to seek forgiveness. “This tenet of faith has prompted Christians to seek explanations or justifications for suffering.” (Davies-Stofka, unk) She also noted that: “Human suffering takes many forms: emotional, natural, and moral. Loneliness, anxiety, and grief are examples of emotional suffering. Fires, tornados, earthquakes, hurricanes, tsunami, and physical illnesses (e.g., cancer) are examples of natural suffering. Moral suffering is brought on by the deliberate acts of fellow human beings to cause suffering, something Christians call a moral evil.” (Davies-Stofka, UNK)
In Islam, God created good things and bad things and made them known to man through successive revelations, but He left it for human free will to use its power of choice to make its way between the two paths, and be responsible for the choice. “Allah (God) says in the Quran, which Muslims believe is His word, in fact, Muslims understand the nature of what is "good" and what is "bad "only in the light of their constitution which was revealed to them in the noble Quran, in addition to what Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) taught them.” (Fisher, 2014) People should follow what they have known to be "good" and renounce what they have known to be "bad". “This importance of "good" and "bad" deeds makes God mention them in the Quran — in contexts of both inviting to the good and warning of the bad — more than 360 times, while the Prophet's sayings on it are beyond number.” (Fisher, 2014)
Sikhism teaches the sense of self. Self in the primary of all things will cause of suffering. This is because if you put self in the center of it all, you will lose reality of life and what it is to offer you. Sikh truth is that each individual is a part of something much larger. A universe where Katar is the Master. Master of all things. However, Gura Angad (1504-1552) (the second Guru) taught that self-agency is also where the cure to suffering lies, by directing the self to selfless acts: (Fisher, 2014)
The I-me (haumai) is a nasty disease But it also contains the elixir to cure
If He is so gracious To make us hear the Guru's word
Nanak says, listen people This is how pain is remedied. (GG 466)
In conclusion, we found that in all of the 11 religions we studied, faith, healing and karma was manifested from their good and evil. They all had one of the three to manifest in their religion. Which lead me to because that regardless of your chose of religion we accept that good and evil exist and we have to have some form of study to protect ourselves from our fears of our own religion.

Reference Page

1. Fisher, M., (2014) Living Religion 9th Edition Pearson Education

2. http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2056.html

3. Davies-Stofka, B (UNK) www.patheos.com/Library/Christianity/Beliefs/Suffering-and-the-Problem-of-Evil.html