Religions plays a huge part of the world's culture and diversity. The idea of having several communities believing in a superior being(s) has played a huge role in our society.
Personally, I'm a Hindu - thus I follow Hinduism. But lately, I've gotten thinking about the value of religion and how it affects our lives. I've studied about other religions such as Islam, Christianity, Buddhism even.
The one common goal I find in religion is expression of morality. Religion poses the idea of "Heaven and Hell", then there's also the concept of "Karma" (What goes around, comes around). Many of such concepts have been embedded into the minds of religious people - by doing so, they've become conscious about everything they do.
This is probably one of the biggest plus points of religion - because otherwise, people would've taken all the advantages they had to do whatever they wanted to (bad and good). The world would've completely seen no purpose to be moral - not saying that everyone would want to.
In case we all haven't noticed, religion promotes positive vibes. Let's face it - Life isn't always going great for everyone, throughout. There are bad and good parts to life - the religious have the advantage of believing in a superior being to clear their doubts. Though this can sound crazy to some people - deep down, this thought is provoking positive vibes. Praying and hoping for good to come from something is helping people to get back on their feet and succeed later on.
Now comes the bad part about religion (I'm not targeting any community in particular - this is general). Religion at times tends to put off scientific progress and reality. In the past, as a child - I was told about gods who were looking after us. I was most fascinated by the philosophy the texts provided of the gods. Philosophy is also another good aspect in religion.
What about scientific progress and reality? Religion at times tends to put off our understanding of how the world works. Science tells us that the "Big Bang" created what's known as the universe - the religious will tell you it was god. Then I simply ask them, How?
Surely I can't explain the "Big Bang" but at least the evidence is there to prove such a thing has happened. There isn't much evidence to prove a superior being looking after us.
These were the many questions I asked myself, as well as my parents. Then only did I summarise, that an idea as such - it is as powerful as the forces of nature. It can bring peace and harmony, cause conflict, change the world and our perspectives.
At times, I begin to think that religion is a "thing" of yesterday - the times when science was a toddler, and people were vulnerable to any piece of information told to them.
To summarise my take on religion - it's an idea that promotes people to stay positive and have a sense of morality when in existence. However, just like everything else in this world, there are bad stuff too coming along. Religion at times (as mentioned before) goes against science and reality. It's a choice religious people have to make - whether to believe in god's miracles, or the functionality of the world.
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Hey, Aravind here to give a quick review on your essay.
This is a pretty balanced take on religion. It is neither cynical nor glorifying. The very fact that religion has been existing for centuries makes it a fundamentally important component of human life. I appreciate your neutral perspective.
I have to say though, that I didn't find anything specially different about your essay. Don't take it in wrong way but it followed a template pattern of introducing the topic, discussing about the positives-negatives and provide a summary that religion is sometimes good; sometimes bad. The topic is so over discussed that you need to come up with something that really fascinates your readers.
For example, can philosophy exist without God? Can there be a God which is totally different from what we think of it? Does religion really deserve all the hate it gets for 'dividing' people, since it also unites so many different people under one roof, etc.
When I think about religion, I think about 2 fundamental things that are undeniably important to humans. Sex [reproduction. Which produces more humans] and death [which reduces human population]. Religion takes a firm stand on both these topics since they 'really' matter to everyone. Religion thus takes a firm stand on topics like gender, abortion, pre-marital sex, while discussing issues like afterlife, reincarnation, heaven-hell, morality among others. A lot of these topics are explosively controversial since religion really tells you what is right or wrong. What you do in this essay is touch upon different topics [like karma, Big Bang, science Vs religion] but never delve deep into it. You need to pick one tiny string of a subtopic and discuss that in detail. Discussing religion as a whole is pretty daunting since you aren't even delving into a single religion.
Also, I find it a bit weird when you say religion can give positive vibes but it doesn't work with thefunctionality of the world. It is not always that straight. Like we Hindus who worship idols have started realizing that the 'Visarjaan' of idols [mainly during Ganpati festival] is polluting nature. We have started making eco-friendly Ganesh idols to prevent this. We have started playing waterless [only colours] Holi. This is what I call, maintaining belief without losing the sense of reality. We are adapting ourselves here without losing our identity.
I am sorry if I just deviated from the topic. What I want to say is, your essay is well structured and well intentional but you need to dig a bit deep to make the readers really introspect and think about the 'R' word. Keep writing!
Hi Aravind, it's Gymnast2801 here with a review for Team Jawbreaker!
First of all, I would like to say that I am a Catholic so because I've been raised as a Catholic, I'm afraid it could stain the way I look at this. I just wanted to let you know.
However, I am not one of those Catholics who only listens to church music, disses everyone who doesn't believe, and I most certainly do not believe that every other religion is worse or not worthy or whatever those over-the-top Catholics think.
Anyway, I think your little Artical/Essay is amazing! I really, really love it! I think it grasps everything perfectly and I agree with just about all of it. I too have wondered if all of this is true and I still do. I think it's just a question that hangs in curious minds and I'm not sure how to get a 100% true answer. I think you explained everything well and it all flowed amazingly. I only found two small things I would like to correct you on...
'- the religious will tell you it was god.'
'god' should be capitalized.
'Then I ask them, How?'
'How' should be lowercase to 'how'.
Otherwise, I have nothing to complain about. I think you have a very different aproch on religion than most and I think that's good. Most people will just go with whatever their parents or friends tell them but you seem to have been curious about everything and I think you reflected that in this. I truly love this piece!
Please keep on writing!
-Gymnast2801 for Team Jawbreaker.
Great, well-thought out comments on the subject. I really like how you're polite and positive in showing both your positive and negative thoughts. I'm not good at being so positive on topics close to my heart like this
I think another positive aspect of religion that you didn't mention is community. In fact, I think that's one of the best and most attractive things about it: a sense of belonging, a group of strangers you can lean on in hard times, a safe place. I really envy that aspect of religion.
I totally agree with you that a major drawback is the rejection of science. They don't have to be mutually exclusive, but so many people have an automatic, gut reaction to science that makes them turn their nose up at it. I think this has a lot more to do with hearsay and propaganda than anything else, because IMO with critical thinking and an open mind, it's easy to understand that science is based on fact and reality, and religion fills in for the philosophical and personal questions. Science can tell you how life works, but not what your purpose in life should be. So I wish people wouldn't take it as so much of a threat. Denying science is usually denying reality -_-
Personally, I think religion causes a lot more harm, grief, and pain than it prevents, on a large scale. I understand that on an individual level it can provide a lot of healing and strength, and tons of people aren't extreme in their beliefs. It's not always religion's *fault*--a lot of the time, people are using it as an excuse for their own agendas, (for instance using Bible passages to complain about interracial or homosexual marriage), when they would have had that stance regardless and are simply using their religion to bolster their argument. However, it's a rampant problem, and a lot of people find themselves disowned by their families or victims of violent crime because of "religion." Even though most religions preach peace, love, and acceptance, there's a lot of room for interpretation (and conflicting passages), and plenty of people cherry pick the hateful and violent parts.
I find Buddhism to be the most peaceful, healing, and positive religion I've studied. If I were to say I follow anything, it's Buddhism. Many of the beliefs are beautiful, all about cherishing life in all its forms, appreciating others, and forgiveness. The history of Siddhartha Gautama is usually peaceful and open-minded (albeit often sexist, sadly), without the degree of violence, war, sexual assault, and genocide you find in texts like the Bible. Though I admit I've only read a fraction of the Buddhist teachings, as there are a LOT.
Hello there, Aravind.
I appreciate you for mentioning that it’s only “your take” on the matter rather than writing a very opinionated article and presuming that “this is how it is, universally.” That would have got you unnecessary attention, and because of that I think it’d be understandable if I tell you “my take” on “your take” on this very sensitive, easily controversial subject. Also, because we live in a democratic country where you are supposed to respect each other’s opinion, hopefully you’ll respect mine as I do yours.
The beginning of the article sounds like something we would mug-up for a two mark question. By which I mean it’s a very basic, and easy to remember. If something is easy to remember it means that it has been told many times. I have not written articles because I feel they come with a purpose unlike other art form. Generally, people don’t read novels to learn or to update their knowledge on the matter (no offence to those who read to stay up-to-date with a series) but articles serves a purpose, they are supposed to educate and/or be informative about the matter that it covers. Unfortunately, your article does not do that. Though it’s only ‘your take’ on the subject wouldn’t you want “your take” to serve a purpose? Enlighten bored/young minds? I acknowledge that you have tangentially tried to correlate religion and science but why be a tangent when you can bisect and intersect with these two? Hindu mythologies inherit science in each and every one of their stories. Muslims do not have a figure for their God and so they pray to the sky—the dark, vast sky where the Big Bang happened! Bible says that God said, “Let there be light!” Maybe that’s Big Bang?
You know there are many things that we can connect and potentially be right, but first we should be brave enough to make that connection. The very positive vibes that you conclude your article with is true, according to the South Indians December is said to be very auspicious month, you’d see women come out as early as four in the morning to put Kolam/ Rangoli (whatever you call it) it is believed that wishes will be granted in that particular month if you wake up early, draw kolam and just be AWAKE! Scientifically, December is when the cosmic shower is more apparent. The sky will be clearer during December which leads to more protons/positive vibes into our Troposphere and into us. So Yay to our forefathers, they are not entirely bad.
Religion can be understood with the help of science and vice versa. The problem lies in us humans—we just don’t seem to get the point that things usually come from something though not entirely.
So don’t shy away from stating what you really mean. Get down, get down to ground zero, understand and make a point before simply saying that there’s always right to wrong. It has been said a bijillion times and what if there really isn’t any right & wrong? (Philosophy! Maybe you can write an article on this.)
I hope that this was helpful, if not please feel free to tell me so that I can stop giving reviews like this. I do not like to fill my reviews with grammar corrections—I believe MS Word does it better.
Protip: Try to give out some examples, stories, and quotes. That way things get more interesting. But make sure you don’t overdo it.
Keep writing!
Cheers!
Great review of my work. No, I won't take away your freedom of speech - we all have the rights to express our thoughts to one another. Just so I don't sound like a jerk, I'll clarify that this was a quick piece I wrote for DukeOfWonderland's contest (Religious Perspective Subject). The word limit had been only some 600 words - but yes I would've gone all in like you said. I'll accept the information you've given to me (scientific evidence of our practices etc). I was simply just comparing the good and bad about religion - I'm not against it, I respect all (after all we are all humans, not matter what).
Apart from this, I will openly accept that this was not an article - it only served for my personal expression (not from informing).