I recently had the pleasure of attending a non-denominational church service. The 10am research trip ended up being more enjoyable than I had originally envisioned. Everything got underway with the weekly announcements and some good, clean humor. After brief introductions, everyone in the room began singing along to worship songs that conveniently came with lyrics on the projector.
One particular man seated near me was an incredibly talented singer. But, what captivated me the most about this 60 something senior was the way he sang the words with his entire body, not just his lips. It wasn’t hysterical or overt, just a beautiful depiction of passion. I could tell, without a shadow of a doubt, that he was irrevocably sold to the same ideologies I emphatically oppose.
It made me think about how many people the world over are completely and utterly devoted to something. However, this actuality isn’t exclusive to the fervently religious. Everyone, whether a devout Muslim or unwavering atheist, believes in something.
We are all living the same life; embarking on the same journey. The only difference is our means of transportation. How we get to wherever we are going couldn’t be more diverse.
There are a vast number of possible explanations to consider when contemplating why people believe what they do. Undoubtedly, things such as geographical location, family beliefs and social pressure are immediately considered as culprits. And there is much debate to be had over which are the most prominent and influential factors. But, one thing we can be very sure of is that they are all remarkably subjective.
For example, someone whose entire family has died or been killed could find it near impossible to believe in and submit to a higher power. It would be utterly absurd. They would be plagued with questions as to why they should accept any god who could allow, or even commit, such an atrocity.
However, the exact same person could also transform into an ardent believer as a response to the very same circumstances. They could rationalize the loss they have suffered by choosing to believe in any of the religions which promise to reunite them with the deceased in a place commonly known as heaven. It is truly amazing how a simple alteration in thinking could be responsible for such a drastic change in belief.
Another great example of how people come to their world views is the classic notion of bargaining with God. It’s a fact that life can, and usually does, throw some very challenging curve-balls. And in those unsavory circumstances, humans are typically powerless. But, being proactive and trying to solve a problem is infinitely better than sitting around and waiting for an outcome. So, we resort to negotiating with the bearded guy-in-the-sky.
We offer to make any array of changes to our lifestyle’s (ones that should have been made a very long time ago but) in exchange for his help. It provides a sense of hope and, if the particular situation is sufficiently serious, even serves as a compelling factor towards what we believe.
If he comes through, we will continue to bargain with him and slowly come to the severely subjective conclusion that he’s looking out for us. From that point on, a strong belief in the divine manifests itself.
But, as with the previous example of the unfortunate person whose family is taken away, the outcome could be very different if one small thing is modified in the series of events. If God should happen to have the audacity to ignore or refuse our offers and doesn’t come through for us, we will naturally respond with skepticism to his power, significance and even existence.
Like all the other contributing factors that produce the incredibly diverse beliefs we posses, this one is equally subjective.
Another of these contributing factors that I cannot help but mention is the indoctrination of children. Unlike the others, it is anything but subjective. Indoctrination is a ruthless and concise technique that molds a child’s mind. However, that is a completely different animal that this post cannot address.
While this notion of severe subjectivity serves as ample evidence for uncertainty and skepticism, it is far from the point I am trying to highlight. There is a colossal danger in believing something with unquestionable assurance and blind faith. Such a brand of conviction naturally leads its constituents to believe that they are unquestionably correct and are obligated to inform everyone else of their mistaken ways.
Far from the beauty of acceptance and co-existence, it promotes and fosters the audacious notion of superiority and indirectly encourages patronization.
Our main goal in life shouldn’t be to do whatever we can to get into heaven. Our aspirations should be to create that atmosphere in the world we live in today. Constantly asserting that we, as individuals, possess the ultimate truth and everyone else would be deprived if left unchanged creates the exact opposite of this.
And part of creating a heaven on Earth is accepting that we are all different but equally prone to the subjective factors that we encounter in life. Maybe the final solution to overcoming our differences is learning to cherish them. It is somewhat like the guy in church who sang his heart out to a god I believe couldn’t be further from divinity.
Both he and I entered that church hall, meeting for the first time, from vastly different directions and influences. The only thing that brought us together was a mutual susceptibility to subjectivity.
This essay is based on Alduous Huxley's book "Brave New World." It tells a story of how the world has become many years into the future and focuses on social issues like power of government, morality and, my personal favorite, religion. It really is a great read and I highly recommend it.
There are many reasons people do the things they do. As humans, we are influences by a vast number of factors. Some of these could include family, social pressure, revenge, love and even fear. But, while all these worldly things are very prominent, there is one idea that trumps them all: God.
Whether we acknowledge his existence or not, God influences many things people do. From grieving for the loss of a loved one to asking why we are even in this world; our creator is a big factor. Religion is historically the main way humans have responded to his possible existence.
This institution, conceived many years ago, has been almost as great an influence as God himself. It has sometimes played a positive role but, unfortunately, has also been very detrimental to humanity. Even in “Brave New World,” a civilization supposedly devoid from all aspects of traditional religion, we can see this phenomenon in action.
As we analyze Religion and the immense role it has played in human history, we first come across the inherently good things it has done. The first thing that always comes to mind is charity. Current news Medias never cease to report stories of astonishing generosity around the globe by religious organizations. The next positive effect of religion on our current world is the ability it grants us to be moral beings. The many rules and laws that most religions adhere to certainly make sure its followers stay in line.
However, quite possibly the most powerful thing the institution of religion offers is a sense of comfort. Whether that is a false sense, based on lies and deceit, or the one and only truth is up for debate, but no one can deny the reassurance that is felt when we ‘know’ everything about our universe and where we will go after we die.
Nevertheless, all of these things (and the other smaller pieces of evidence for the good religion does) can be achieved without the existence of an institutionalized creed that is believed by the masses.
On the surface of the story “Brave New World,” we believe we are dealing with a society without any religion at all. But, while that is true as far as traditional religion is concerned, the reality is slightly different. In their pursuit of a pure world without varying beliefs and religions, the people of the World State ended up creating a ‘faith’ of their own. At the head of this idea was Henry Ford, commonly thought of as a God by the people of “Brave New World.”
Some of the negatives of ‘religion’ in the World State are very easy to notice. The first is the obvious lack of morality. This notion is highlighted by their sexual promiscuity and many drug induced orgies. The next noticeable negative of the world religion is how the idea of family is perceived. The people of the World State are utterly disgusted by the mere mention of words such as ‘mother’ or ‘father.’
However, a less noticeable but arguably far more harmful aspect of religion in the Brave New World is the fact that it promotes a sheer lack of thinking, questioning, doubting and searching. Constituents of the World State are to believe what they are told and, if they should question the ludicrous way they live, they are exiled to islands with other deviants who dared to actually think for themselves. This idea paints an ominous picture of how we behave today with regard to religion, despite it being far less apparent.
The benefits of religion in the “Brave New World” are also apparent, despite coming at a hefty price. They include the sense of security that comes from a complete dominance from governing bodies. This could consist of not having to worry about getting an education, paying for food, getting a job or even finding a companion to share you’re life with. The World State takes care of these things for its citizens so they need not worry about the pursuit of happiness because the system provides it for them.
Religion in our world today has been the culprit of many evils. Many apologists argue that it is the faulty humans that adhere to these religions that are to blame, but that is too easy of an explanation for the crimes that blind faith has committed to humanity. A quick perusal of the history of the world in relation to the institution of religion summons up countless images and stories.
Immediately, such atrocities like the Crusades, the Inquisition, the Apartheid and the rivalry in Ireland between different sects of Christianity that has caused so much bloodshed come to mind. More recently, about 3000 thousand American citizens felt the full force of religious extremism on September 11th, 2001. A number of terrorists, armed with planes and a treacherous belief that they were doing God’s work, took it upon themselves to launch an attack on America.
The rest, as they say, is history. But if we do not finally learn from it, we will continually be doomed to fall victim to the evils that only organized religion can instigate.
People do many things for many reasons. God has, unfortunately, fallen victim to our need for an excuse to take action. Religion, in whatever form it presents itself, is responsible for the acts of terrorism in our world to the creation of an intrusive and cold system in the “Brave New World.” But, its dangers reach further than the reckless disregard for human life.
The idea, bread by religion, that we should believe something without question and on faith alone is equally as dangerous as the Crusades or the Inquisition. It cultivates and promotes a notion of ignorance that will only slow humanity down, both in areas of scientific discovery and social stability. Anyone or anything that tells you it is acceptable to shut off the voice of reason in your head so that you can retain a certain belief is inherently wrong and hazardous.
Religion in our world and the notion of religion in the “Brave New World” are two different things. But, despite their variations, they are ominously similar too. Alduous Huxley was trying to warn us of this in what he wrote. In one quote, found in chapter 17 where Mustapha Mond and John the savage are debating, the substance known as soma is brought up. This drug is used to regulate the unfortunate people of the World State by restoring their ‘happiness’ whenever needed. It reads as follows:
“Christianity without tears-that’s what soma is.”
A lot of people the world over celebrate Christmas on December 25th every year. Approximately 400 million humans take part in the festivities, making it one of the largest social, commercial and economic events of the year. It all generally begins a day earlier, however, on the 24th with Christmas Eve and continues the following morning with traditional gift opening rituals.
One of the things that makes Christmas special is its power of bringing people, family in particular, together again. Cousins, aunts, grandfathers and even the creepy uncle we all seem to have collectively make the effort to reunite during this time and rekindle the wonder that is extended family.
Christmas is derived from the old English word “Cristes maesse”, which literally translates as Christ's Mass. So, on this day, Christians the world over celebrate the birth of their God, Jesus Christ. However, like most rituals and traditions in Christianity, this is only his symbolic birthday. No one actually knows what day he is said to have entered the Earth.
With that lack of information, early church fathers did what they always have; filled in the blanks as they saw fit. In the early parts of the Fourth century, they gathered and chose the 25th day of December. They fixed the day around the old Roman Saturnalia festival (17 - 21 December), a traditional pagan festivity.
From 354 A.D, nearly all Christians accepted the day chosen for them and have honored the birth of Christ accordingly every since. The only sects to diverge from this norm are the Armenian ones who celebrate this day on January 6th.
While this fact is not really much to fret over, it is further sign of how much of what is believed today has been determined by mere humans. This troubling pattern plagues Christianity; when you don't have the answer, just make up something that sounds right and move on.
From the trinity, a word that cannot be found in scripture, to the very books that are in the Bible; this phenomenon is very prevalent. Being the pattern-seeking creatures that we are, humans finished off the things Jesus didn't tell us but really 'wanted to.'
It saddens me that we could not be satisfied with merely doing what was commanded of us and being Christ-like, living a life of love, forgiveness and the golden rule, but had to go one step further and become an army of Christians. The need for institutionalization may forever be the plight of humanity.
Hey everyone! This is an essay I submitted to a Christian college where I was asked to explain my interest in the religious emphasis at the school. Enjoy!
The first time I held a Bible in my hand was just over a year ago. I opened it up, not knowing quite what to expect, and found myself immersed in the book of Proverbs. Feeling the rough pages of the aged book on my fingers, I flicked through its contents. The first verse I found was: “Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend” (Proverbs 27: 17). Even thought I had heard it said that much of the Bible is written metaphorically and in parables, I had no idea what it meant or what context to digest it in.
With the hopes of better understanding the verse, I decided to get together with a group of my Christian friends later that week. As we were socializing, the topic shifted toward religion and the Bible. I soon began questioning them about their individual beliefs and how they had come to them. Then, a close friend of mine asked me what had piqued my curiosity. In answering her query, I informed everyone that I had recently read the Bible but had trouble wrestling with the many words and hidden meanings. I subsequently brought up the verse in Proverbs.
My friends chuckled among themselves. Eventually, they said that the verse was discussing the exact thing we were currently doing; talking about God, giving our different opinions on his nature and discussing the meaning of life. They went on to explain that it tells us we can gain wisdom, a word I had noticed repeated a great deal in Proverbs, from communicating with friends and companions.
From that moment on, something drove me to read more of this book and about this book. The librarian, also another Christian at my school, was very helpful the vast number of times I sought out books about God and religion. The year went on and I attended my first church gathering on a freezing cold December morning in Peja, Kosovo. The sermon was directed, in Albanian, by the father of a missionary friend that attended my school. I listened intently as he discussed a character called Paul from another book in the Bible called Acts. I went home and re-read the verses he cited in English, hoping to get a better understanding of the message within them.
My life from that point on has not changed much. If anything, the fervor I have for understanding God and religion has only been amplified. Mounting to a burning passion, it has also driven me to write a blog about my understanding of various religious and biblical concepts. I hope it will one day be the online version of the first discussions about God I had with my friends.
I do not know if the two are related, but in the same time my interest in psychology and counseling also grew. To my pleasant surprise, I found many books and an abundance of online sources that discussed the two themes interchangeably. I kept reading and, most importantly, kept discussing and sharing my opinions with whoever had the time and patience to listen to me.
That is probably the one thing that has made ****** University my number one choice for where I wish to spend the next four years of my life. The first sentence in the online page of the Psychology department at ****** says that it “integrates comprehensive study of the human mind with the Christian faith.” I was, and still am, immediately sold to the idea. I had finally found the place where my two passions could be intertwined. My mind raced to all the people I would meet; people like me yet at different places in their own spiritual journeys.
Everything I know today about Jesus and the Bible has come from my companions and a community that dedicates their lives to living a life like Christ. Despite my interest in learning about Christianity, I am very aware that there is so much I do not know. I feel that the strong religious emphasis that ****** provides can help answer some of the many questions I have. Immersing myself in a community devoted to Christ and his impact on humanity would greatly help me in my own journey through life while allowing me to contribute a slightly different perspective on the never ending discussion about God and how we, as mere humans, can inch closer to him.
I remember growing up and feeling bad for the people that tried to be perfect all the time. They would set immeasurable standards for themselves and, sub consciously, for others that happened to be around them. Needless to say, such demanding a criterion was never met. Whenever failure presented itself to these people, they would scold themselves for not being perfect. Their entire lives would be put on hold as they fell into pits of depression for not being the right dress size or not getting an A on every single test they took. Such individuals were quite the sights for sore eyes.
During my childhood, I was bombarded with the lovely concept that mistakes happen and that they are truly unavoidable (the analogy of death and taxes comes to mind). What really matters, my teachers and parents would incessantly remind me, is that you learn from your mistakes so as to not fall victim to them again.
Science is blessed in possessing such an ideology. Religion, however, is not.
In all the times I've come into contact with a form of science I've been intrigued and mesmerized at the wonders of the things that surround me. I could describe such experiences as enlightening, humbling and even jaw-droppingly awe-inspiring. But, I would have never attributed the word "beauty" as an adjective to science. It never really came to my mind and if it had, I would have most likely shrugged it off without too much attention.
But, this is where the true beauty of science lies. It is allowed to be wrong. I could even go as far as saying that at times it is even required to be wrong, leading us one step closer to what is inevitably right and true. There have been so many wonderful and imaginative theories that have come our way because of science. Most have been proven, by science, to be untrue. What I personally find amazing is that the most wonderful and the most imaginative and the most elaborate theories have been the ones that have withstood the rigor of proof and evidence on the road to being truthful.
Take our solar system, for example. Two thousand years ago, humans would have been astoundingly baffled by the "theory" that our planet is one of a group that circles this giant ball of gas that doesn't seem so giant or "gassy" in the sky. They would have surely laughed at this elaborate idea and deemed it to be the work dreams and imaginative thinking. Many theories explaining our Earth and its relation to the Sun and the Moon and the other planets have been suggested. They have all been slowly proven to be untrue until, with the furthering of science, we can be certain that what we believe to be correct today truly is. The undeniable, unfalsifiable and incomparable beauty of science at its best; always asking, always probing and always scrutinizing.
Then, on the other end of the spectrum, we have religion. Each, or at least most, comes with some sort of book that explains everything and abundantly supplies its adherers with all the knowledge of the world, heaven, hell and all the in-betweens. I honestly don't see why we can't title such holy books as "ultimate how-to's on...everything!"
Most of them, unfortunately, were written a long time before science could even have a say in the matter. And with the development of science, most of the stories told in such books have gone from being considered the "one and only ultimate truth" to highly suspect and, at times, downright absurd and clearly untrue. But religion, of course, cannot go back and instruct Moses to change the whole "six day theory" because the Earth most certainly is not merely 6,000 years old. Nay, they cannot travel back in time and tell the Middle Eastern men who wrote the Old Testament that dinosaurs existed and that they might want to include them when passing off their works as the "words of god."
Religion, with all the lovely amounts of dogma that come along with it, is forced to reconcile scientific truth with their beliefs if they want to retain them. They aren't blessed with the notion that everyone makes mistakes and that they can be fixed and altered. These books and the believers peddling them are compelled to come up with fickle theories and absurd claims to explain the old age of our Earth, continental drift, the "theory" of evolution and so many more scientifically proven truths. My personal favorite of these irrational theories that attempt to reconcile the irreconcilable is the notion that dinosaurs did exist and lived happily with humans in same 6,000 year time span that the Earth has supposedly been around for (one cannot help but think of the Flintstones here)!
It is the job of science to question and scrutinize itself, constantly looking for possible errors and mistakes that may have gone untraced. Scientists the world over disagree on many things (such an idea may come as a wonderful thing to the apologist) and probe each other’s works. And when they are wrong, far from falling into depression like the perfectionists I grew up with, they get back up to the drawing board and start over again in seeking for the next, more elaborate theory that is surely to be the correct one. Unmistakably, this is the beauty of science at its most beautiful.
Corporations and business are nothing more than profit-seeking, money-making enterprises with a lust for green. The Nestle group is no different. Whatever decisions are pondered by the fat cats on the top floor are first pumped through many risk/reward programs. Recently, they have, together with their risk analyzing machines, decided that marketing powdered milk to famished pregnant women in Africa would be a wise business venture.
They first traveled to these countries offering free samples of the product to these women. So-called “scientists” informed the uneducated mothers-to-be that it would be a wise alternative for their babies to drink the powdered milk as it contained many nourishing entities that could be found naturally in the famished bodies they possessed. Naturally, they accepted without hesitation. What they weren't told was that they would eventually have to buy the product. There's no such thing as a free lunch, right!?
Of course, the women could not spend the little money they had in such a lavish way when it had to be used for food, water and/or medicine. Eventually, after becoming dependent on the free sample, their bodies gave out and no longer produced the natural milk, thereby providing quite the predicament for these women: buy the Nestle product or watch your babies slowly perish.
This was a story we analyzed in my Senior English class a few weeks ago. After reading and discussing this appalling report, our teacher posed a seemingly simple question for her students: what two things motivate people do the things they do?
Being somewhat aware of Freud and his theory, I answered that sex and survival are the two main contributing factors to our decisions. Being in high school, this statement was obviously met with a roar of laughter. I'm never one to turn down an opportunity to entertain my peers, but I was very serious with my hypothesis. The more I thought about it, in my admittedly angered state, the more it made sense to me.
How dare we judge Nestle for their actions!? They're a business. It's their job to think of ways to make more and more money. What they did was actually, however sadistic and cruel, quite a marvelous sales tactic. What better way to push your product than making your audience practically addicted to it. Ingenious! They were merely acting upon the instinct of survival. We all do it. We go to school, to go to college, to get a degree, to get a job and make money so we'll stay alive. Survival; and not too different from the kind we see in the animal kingdom.
Then there's sex. Have you ever wondered why we spend such elongated periods of time in front of a mirror? Sex is certainly the culprit. We get our hair done and buy clothes that accentuate our figures to attract the opposite gender in the hopes that we will stand out among other "competitors.” Hours are thrown away at bars as we woefully socialize with other humans hoping to make them want to mate with us. Like I stated before, the more and more I considered our society, the more the premise made sense to me.
Later that day, after the effects of the angering article had finally worn off, I remembered having once seen a man feeding a homeless person. At the time I didn't dedicate too much thought to the act. But this time around, it bothered me.
It just didn't...fit. He may have had an abundance of money, but just throwing it away to the "scrubs of civilization" didn't improve his chances of survival at all. In fact, that act only lessened his chances of surviving in today's world. And it certainly did nothing to help him get laid. Sure, many women would have considered him to be giving and generous and loving (all desirable traits in a mate), but no females were within sight. The simple act of taking money out of one's pocket to feed another man contradicted the entire theory.
As much as it pains me to say this most terrible of clichés, I think I "saw God" in that man. People have always sought him out; indeed, they will be forever searching for the divine. They will snoop around for Jesus at church. Other's will marvel at a Mosque when looking for Allah or sit in a synagogue seeking the wisdom of Yahweh. What these people do not seem to have realized is that they need not stare up into the heavens to find God. They aren't required to read words from pages within one of the many "holy" books that have unfortunately found their way into our hearts, minds and souls.
All they have to do is look within themselves and decide whether or not they have “found him.”
