; Questions that can not be answered, even with modern day technology, the aid of science and the ever-growing knowledge of the world; but answers that nonetheless are needed to make sense of and give meaning and purpose to life. The origin of all religions is connected to the timeless search of our existence to humankind. One of the most significant ways in which religion creates meaning for its followers is through the understanding of the purpose of mankind. E.g. Death is understood as the end of mortality, but what people believe comes after varies with each religion.
Phenomenology is also geared towards creating a framework for understanding religious traditions. The authors of The Sacred Quest An Invitation to the Study of Religion give multiple outlines for different things in religion, such as what a cult is defined as and what it means for something to be sacred. The phenomenological approach’s function is to also put up a firewall against literalism. This means that we want to look at how things function in a religion and how things are interpreted but we do not want to make the mistake of believing some things actually happened in the physical world. We use the phenomenological approach as a way to interpret data that we observe from several different religions.
For religious believers, the Irenaean theodicy would solve the problem of evil as it explains how both evil and suffering co-exist with God. However, there may be too many underlying problems with the theodicy, making it hard to convince some religious believers. For example, if God is said to be omnibenevolent, then surely he couldn’t have made such moral spiritual virtues inbuilt in his creation. Even if the Irenaean theodicy is believable, it can’t justify why God would allow such suffering in his world, and surely, he would enable his creations to learn such lessons in a far easier way. Additionally, it’s never justifiable to hurt anyone in order to help them, and so the Irenaean theodicy fails to defend God in the presence of evil.
For the purposes of this paper I may to refer figuratively to “myth” as being the feet of the body. Symbolism will be representative allegorically of the heart, and “ritual” will be its soul. This paper will discuss how myth, symbol, and ritual are all equally important in religion. Some people may say that the foundation of religion is built on faith. When a religious person comes to a time in their life where there are some doubts or questions about their faith/belief, they oftentimes refer to the origination of religion.
The Moral Dilemma of Religion and Politics Tanya Forbes SOC 315 August 15, 2011 The Moral Dilemma of Religion and Politics Within every culture and civilization there is a distinct and purposeful effort to define, divide, and identify one group of people from another. The methods are as old as time; as throughout history the means used to define a civilization’s identity were wrought through religion, language, culture, and governance. Understanding the events that took place which enabled America to become what it is, and discerning the religious underpinnings of our nation, we may ask if religion and politics is really a problem? What does separation of church and state really mean, and to what extent does it apply? Regardless of the argument for or against religion’s role in politics, it is clear they cannot be truly separated.
In discussing this statement, we must first define the words resurrection and reincarnation to decipher what they mean. Resurrection is the act of rising from the dead or returning to life and reincarnation is the rebirth of a soul in a new body. There are many problems surrounding the two due to mainly religious beliefs. The religions that have focussed on the two are Hinduism as they believe in reincarnation, and Christianity which believes in resurrection. Reincarnation is a common belief in the eastern part of the world, with Buddhism as well as Hinduism, supporting the idea of rebirth.
A KoF can be the good guy or the bad guy, depending on how you view religion and the story of Abraham and Isaac for this purpose. A true KoF will be the individual or group of individuals who will defy the common worldly law of ethics in order to fulfill a religious duty. This duty may incorporate many different immoralities and negative actions. However, the immoral acts will be justified by the religion or religious figure that gives divine approval for it. This presents an issue with the moral and rational reasoning behind the deeds.
Christianity is a very religious group that follows their bible. The Judasim religion has a lot of different beliefs and religious celebrations. And in the Islamic religion the Qur'an is the highest authority. Out of the few similarities in these three religions, some of their biggest ones have to do with having their place of worship and similar symbols. Each one of these religions have their own religious celebrations.
Essay: Conformity and Rebellion 2/27/2012 Answering #7 (pg. 521): Many works in this section deal explicitly with the relationship between individuals and religion. What similarities do you find among them? What differences? Writing Topic: Compare and contrast the way that relationship is perceived in Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery,” J. D. McClatchy’s “Jihad,” and Salman Rushdie’s “Imagine There’s No Heaven.” It can be said that religion is a part of every person’s life.
Karl Marx and Emile Durkheim on Religion Religion plays a very interesting role in the world of Sociology because it is such a deep seeded and integral thread that holds many different parts of society together. A religion can be seen as a unified system of beliefs and practices which are relative to sacred things and beliefs (Giddens 1972, p.224). It can shape ones thoughts and feelings and gives people a sense of hope and something to believe in. However, although virtually no sociologist will deny the importance of religion in different societies, they differ greatly on their views on how it can fit into social and/or economic theory. Emile Durkheim and Karl Marx are two very well known sociologists whose opinions on religion differ a great deal.