...What social purpose does religion serve? When we look at religion and the affect it has on society we have to look at the fact that there are a lot of different types of religion and each one has a separate understanding of what they believe. When looking at the religion as a whole you will see where it affects everything from the person we vote for president to the way we celebrate holidays. I think that religion is just another way to judge someone for what they believe or what they believe in and in this way I think that it has a negative outcome on society. I know that a lot of people see it as a positive thing and can help a person find meaning in their lives and for some this may be true where as others it is what makes them a bad...
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...Study of Religion Most of the general population worldwide will almost always shy away from the conversation of religion. This topic is one that has been the source of many conflicts from war to simple differences in opinion. The study of religion is a course that a vast majority of the general population could benefit from and learn to understand. This understanding will be gained from learning to look at a religion from an academic outsiders view and from a predisposition insider’s view. Individual people will always have their own views when it comes to religion and like them my own opinion is different and it is that of fascination. The study of religion has captured my curiosity because it has given me an opportunity to fully grasp the unique religions throughout the world and to better understand another’s perspective without letting my own bias opinion show through. It's with this open-mindedness that any fear of the unknown can be resolved, and this resolution will only serve to strengthen my own religious views. Academically looking at a religion without a goal to either increase or decrease an individual’s religious faith is known as an “outsiders view”. People have the tendency to have negative perceptions on another’s faith due to the fear of the unknown and a lack of understanding. This educationally built view point allows a person to understand what is needed for them to grasp a new concept without being judgmental. Being able to step back and put your own...
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...planet with traveling to earth to study the religions of that world. On my planet, religion is a way for our government to control the citizens of our world. Our religion requires total submission to the government and leaders of the planet. We want to know if earth has a similar system in place and it is my responsibility to examine behaviors and beliefs there, determine the function of religion on the planet, and report back to those who have sent me. I am going to be looking for behaviors from the earthlings such as belief in a creator or creators of their race. The citizens of Planet X believe that our world was created by beings called Zenids. The story we have given our people says that the Zenids came from another world to Planet X when it was uninhabited and spawned life there. Our leaders beleive that life on our planet was a result of natural phenomena and evolution. I will be looking for a similar belief in higher power on earth. The citizens of Planet X pray to the Zenids and adhere to the scriptures handed down to them that detail the story of creation and the laws that the Zenids require our people to follow. To us, religion is the belief in higher power, prayer to this higher power, and belief in scriptures handed down by the higher power or through those inspired by the higher power. As I travel this blue planet at speeds that these fleshlings could never comprehend, these are the things I will be looking for. My first stop brought me to the country...
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...sssssssss religious — in other words, what does religion look like. The mean important point in the earth, people try to make meaning to their life. As result, they keep looking for the right way to allow them understand this meaning through many fields such as, religion, philosophy, arts. But the most famous one is religion. Religion is traditions practices and belief system that is based on the belief of a supernatural or higher power. According to David B. Barrett. There are twenty two major religions on Earth each of these religions represents people with especial view of life and set them with different beliefs and practices, however the bottom-line to considered societies are a religion ones; they need not only believe in supernatural, but they should participate in their own kind of tradition action sssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss aerfsdfsadfsfasddddddssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss religious — in other words, what does religion look like. The mean important point in the earth, people try to make meaning to their life. As result, they keep looking for the right way to allow them understand this meaning through many fields such as, religion, philosophy, arts. But the most famous one is religion. Religion is traditions practices and belief system that is...
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... races, beliefs, and ultimately, different religions, or none at all. The interesting aspect about these differences, however, has to do with the ‘religions’ part and whether individuals consider themselves to be ‘religious’ or not. This is because there are numerous religions worldwide, including Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism, to name a few. Though what makes looking at ‘religion’ problematic is that one cannot clearly define ‘religion’ and definitively say what constitutes ‘religion’. Considering this, how then can one say what a religion is and is not? In Arthur Greil’s “Defining Religion,” the issues regarding defining ‘religion’ and what constitutes a religion, is clearly discussed. Greil starts off by saying that religion is a “western folk concept” (Greil, 135), he continues to explain that this means that they believe in a supernatural, transcendent being,...
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...Religious Life of Planet Earth Madge L Smith Dr. Margaret Rinck World Religion January 29, 2012 In order for me to establish if people on earth are religious, I have to look at what criteria’s I will use to make that determination. It is complex in religious history; we will look at four-development points to religion; belief, practical, experiential, sociological. Once we have completed a study you will see how all four of these points factor into religion on the earth. You first have to believe and that is with anything that you do in life. Religion has expanded because people believe in what they are doing or ask to do. This is how you enter into any religion is by what you believe about what you are being told in regards to that religion. Next, there has to be a practical application to what you say you believe. In other words, you have to know and be willing to practice what you say you now believe in. Most people don’t just comply to a religion just because it has been past down to them by there parents. You have to have your own encounter to come into what they say you should do for a better life. What you are doing in your life have to make sense to you as an individual in order for you to pursue after it. This is where the sociological perspective comes into play. We can look at the behavior of the Muslims who by there behavior regarding prayer shows that they believe in the power of what they are doing. At a certain times...
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...there is a rarely a chance to get out of it, your life changes in order to revolve around the sect. 02 Using material from Item A and elsewhere, assess the view that the growth of religious and fundamentalism is a reaction to globalisation. Globalisation is the idea that the world is getting smaller, through interconnectedness, different societies are becoming a lot closer to each other through technology and the media as well as transport. Fundamentalism, according to some sociologists is the challenge to globalisation, returning to the roots of their religion where the core beliefs are still in practice. Some people associate fundamentalism with violence, as was the case with the 9/11 attack, but this view has been criticised because not all fundamentalist groups use violent methods. Anthony Giddens argues that fundamentalism is in fact a reaction to globalisation because with globalisation comes cosmopolitan religion which then provides choice in many different areas of life and because there is choice there is uncertainty. Globalisation provides the necessary to adapt to a postmodern world, and then the fundamentalism is to refuse the adaptation, and return to the roots of their faith. Fundamentalism provides certainty where there is none in a globalising world. Without globalisation, there wouldn’t be such an emphasis on fundamentalism as Giddens goes on to argue, it is a relatively new term, indicating that it’s use is largely used to describe the many movements...
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...arguments and evidence support functionalist views of the role and functions of religion in contemporary society. Functionalists see society as based upon consensus, where each institution functions to help society work together as a whole with shared ways of thinking and behaving. One example of this is the Ten Commandments which include a number of the principles highlighted in the U.K law system. As a result of this, functionalists such as Durkheim and Parsons see religion as a means of integration and social control within society. They believe that the shared rituals and collective worship of religion help reinforce the consensual values and norms of society, and that without these shared values society could not function. Sociologist Bellah believes that there is a much stronger sense of consensus values in the USA, where strong religious roots are very apparent through American’s worshipping of the flag, thus worshipping their country. Parsons however still believes that this can also be seen in Britain. Functionalists also see religion as a form of social control, providing religious backing and answers for society's rules, so people will abide by them. Functionalists such as Malinowski also believe that it is a way of coming to terms with life changing events like death, marriage and baptisms, helping individuals within society to work through the crises of life. The question of whether or not religion is still relevant in a postmodern society is dependent upon a number of...
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...Religion as a Behavioral Regulator One of the biggest roles religion plays in American society is behavioral regulation. For years there has been a continual debate about whether religion is necessary for behavioral regulation since there are societal laws intact. However, what most fail to recognize is that a majority of the laws followed today are based on religious teachings (Nahid, 2017). Moreover, religion plays a large role in American society by adding an extra layer to behavioral regulation that laws have a hard time regulating or can not regulate at all. Risky Behaviors. An example of this added layer of protection comes into play when looking at risky behaviors such as alcohol and drug consumption, amongst others. When looking at...
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...‘A Carnival of Equity’ by Pamela J Walker is looking at what role religion played in lives of the working class. She argues that religion played a bigger role in the lives of the working class than what had been previously believed. She illustrates her point by using the Salvation Army a sect of Christianity and the relationship it had with the working class. This has been divided into three different aspects. She looks at the significance of the Salvation Army’s beliefs and traditional beliefs about the spiritual world. This allowed the Salvation Army’s theology to be related to the working class. Another aspect she looks at is those of society who were opposed to the Salvation Army and especially when they were using the public areas, The this aspect she looks at how the Salvation Army incorporated the popular entertainment of the time to spread its messages. In the first section she is looking at the spiritual side of the Salvation Army. She argues that it ‘was a distinctly working-class, urban sect’. She describes the background of the sect and what its features are and how they differed from other sects. One of the more notable aspects of the Salvation that was not common in another Christian sects at the time was that woman were allowed to preach. The following was immense; thousand of people would pile into the halls on a weekly basis. The theology of the Salvation Army suited the beliefs and the past traditions of labors. It deviated from the more rational approach of...
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...of the textbook (Schaefer, 2011), the dimension of cultural diversity groups is: racial groups, ethnicity groups, religion groups, gender groups. The other dimensions of culture diversity that also categorize other groups are set apart on the basis of age, disability status, physical appearance, and sexual orientation. These groups share five characteristics, “unequal treatment, distinguishing physical or cultural traits, involuntary membership, awareness of subordination, and in-group marriage” (Schaefer, 2011) Race group, is the group known by obvious physical differences. In society today’s, people classified, and classify others by skin color, they either Black or White. Ethnicity group are” set apart from others because of its national origin or distinctive cultural patterns” (Schaefer, 2011) the culture traits such as language, strong belief, food, traditions, and habits make this a dominant group on the foundation of cultural. Religion and gender groups; Religion groups are associations set apart from the dominant religion and gender group, male and female are set apart on the basis of sex. “An ethnic group is a group of people whose members identify with each other, through a common heritage, common language, a common culture, religion and interest in a homeland connected with a specific geographical area, traditions, food preferences, and a common...
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...RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE? By Peter Antes. This article looks at why people who have religious experiences never “...saw a person who was totally unknown in the respective religious context where the apparition took place.” (Antes 3). Why don’t people ever see the God(s) from other religions, why do some people “...see Kali or Durga, while in Christian contexts, if the vision is that of a woman, St. Mary is seen instead.” (Antes 3). This thesis is rather profound in the fact that almost every religion claims to have religious experiences and divine visions, but never of the God(s) from other religions. An interesting contrast shown in the body of the article is between Madeleine Le Bouc, and Ramakrishna. The former, was said to be quite mad by Doctor Pierre Janet while the ladder was considered a saint. Antes points out that “...they had similar types of experience which, according to their surrounding milieus, found very different explanations: a medical one in terms of mental illness in the secular context of France, and a religious one in the Indian context of Hindu spirituality.” (Antes 2). By using this approach, the findings will be more valid as this argument explores “...the field of Psychology of Religion.” (Antes 3). There is an example that uses Paul’s conversion to Christ as a kind of example that is supposed to possible falsify the thesis. The example states that Paul did not believe in Jesus but had a vision of him and was converted. In the conclusion Antes states that...
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...has a sense of unimportance, for he is unnamed. He is desperately searching for a sense of purpose, and change. The boy progresses from an innocent child, to an adult riddled with anguish as a result of his journey to the bazaar. His complications run anywhere from lost religion, and infatuation with a girl, to becoming ecstatic for a bazaar, only to experience his "first bitter taste of reality"(Coulthard97) when he arrives. The story begins by taking the character down a blind street, which foreshadows that the upcoming pursuit is doomed for an abrupt end that leads nowhere. Also, at the blind end of the street is an uninhabited house that was once occupied by a priest who has passed on to the grave, leaving his earthly possessions to the educational system. The priest is a representation of the church and religion, which is now deceased and, "detached from its neighbours in a square ground" (Joyce213). Behind the house is an overgrown, unmanaged garden that revolves around a lonely tree. Some could see that this represents the Garden of Eden, and it is obviously being neglected after it's caretaker (the priest) has died. Therefore, the boy starts the story with already questionable faith to religion before his encounters with Mangan's sister, meaning, and misfortune to darkness. The night that the boy meets Mangan's sister the sky is described as "an everchanging violet" (Joyce213). If light is symbolizing youth and childhood, and darkness symbolizes adulthood...
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...society should allow religion to control scientific and technological developments. The development of science and technology, comes hand in hand with the debate whether society should allow and use religion to control the research and development that is happening. Many see the involvement of religion in the development of science and technology as a positive thing, believing that it helps us to reach the most moral and safest outcome, however others would disagree with this and argue that allowing religion to control the development of both scientific and technology, will not allow people to think rationally and look at each situation independently and could lead to people making the wrong decision in life, but the right decision in the eyes of religion, which may not always be best. Those who would be in favour of society allowing religion to control scientific and technological developments, would argue that in history, religion has always had a great involvement in the development of science and technology and society used to turn to religion to help them make moral decisions. When considering embryo research, Doctor Jarmulowitz – 1999 said “it has always been accepted in British law that the earliest human embryo should be treated with respect and accorded a special status.” Although there is no law against embryonic research in the UK, each experimentation has to follow certain ethical guidelines, some say that this in a way is allowing religion to control scientific...
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...Contemporary Issues in Eastern Religion Faith Hill Rel/133 March 04, 2010 Hinduism Religions are bound to experience challenges and changes to current traditions and practices with the constant changes within the world that happen. For religions to survive changes, they must be open to adapting to the modern world while holding strong to ancient teachings and traditions. Hinduism is the major religion in India (Molloy, 2010) and focuses on the belief of the worship of many Gods. Hinduism has had a significant influence and has begun to spread into other areas of the world. Hinduism is an ancient religion that has survived the changes of the modern world and has influenced the traditions of other religions in the process. Hinduism has begun to influence the Western and modern world the religion does face some issues with ensuring their ancient traditions can sustain in this modern era. Common Characteristics Hinduism recognized as the oldest religion in the world has characteristics related to other religion. Some of these characteristics are similar to other religions such as Buddhism and Shinto. Some common characteristics of religion include belief system, rituals, and central myths. Hinduism does not have a uniformed belief system. Worshippers are allowed to worship any God of their choice. They can worship one God or many Gods. Hinduism is known for its diverse openness, and a system of thoughts that include monotheism, polytheism, panentheism...
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