Wednesday, April 11, 2007

The Idea of Religion


Do you feel that religion is an important part of faith?
Reminder:
Faith by Dictionary.com: "The trust in God and in His promises."
Religion: "The practice of religious beliefs; ritual observance of faith."
Please don't be discouraged if you don't believe in any God figure. Use what you know about faith, religion, and your own ideas to answer the questions.
Do you believe that being a good person is enough to the point that religion is not relevant?
Do you think the world would be a better place without the idea of religion but rather based solely on faith?
Ryan Bales, English 101, 9:00 a.m. spring 2007

6 comments:

English student said...

I am not a religious person myself but i do feel strongly about it nonetheless. I believe that religion and faith are based off of something so intangible that devoting any time or space or lives to it would be a waste. I respect religion, i believe that it is a building block for the rest of civilization but i also think that at this day in age it has become obsolete. far two many wars have been fought too many lives lost or destroyed to continue this madness, Religious extremists from all sides with thier constant hate rhetoric have led us into this current war. i believe that religion and faith have become so twisted and faceless that they have little meaning anymore. i believe that the world would be far better off without religion and its insidious seduction of capable people.

English student said...

the april 11 9:33 comment was by Jason Wilding . . .

English student said...

I am not a religous person, I never really have been. The idea of one almight being controlling EVERYTHING, it just doesn't work well for me.

Having said that, however, I think that being a good person, going out of your way to help people, for example, is a good way to become something more.

Personally, I think religion has a very small place in today's world. As a previous student said, far too many wars have been fought over religion, and every one of them have been very bloody, and very destructive.

Faith, however, has a huge part in today's world. Faith in yourself, faith in friends, in God (if you believe that), can help you live, help you keep moving on for your dreams.

As we've all seen in history, and today, religion can destroy as well as it can create.

In the movie Dogma, there was a great line that I think fits very well with something like this, and I agree with it. I can't remember exactly what it is, but it was something like: "Have an idea for something, not a belief. An ideal is easy to change, a belief is not."

Religion is a belief, and with most of it being written, it is easy to misinterpret. Faith, however, is an ideal that YOU live up to. It's not truly written, it's all in your thinking.

Not sure if any of this made any sense, and if I offended anybody with anything I had no intention to, this was all just what I think.

Blake Widmer

English student said...

I feel as if religion and faith are both needed in today's society. Maybe they have been taken to far? I go to church, but I still don't believe in everything the bible tells me. Everything seems crossed up. Almost not possible. Then faith comes in and plays a huge part. I once asked the questions that seemed crossed up to someone who held religion very highly and she told me I had to have faith. Maybe faith is the answer to the questions that don't seem real. I started to believe from then on. Maybe there wasn't an answer for every question. I think to have the faith takes a lot more than to be religious. The faith part takes it a step higher. Our faith in God must be absolute. Science makes mistakes. I think having faith puts God above the "human knowledge."
Lance Hanmer

English student said...

No, I don't think faith requires religion. Yes, I believe that good acts and observing the golden rule are of primary importance, and that religious rituals are not important. I don't think God cares if we ever step foot in a church. Yes, I'm almost sure the world would be a better place without religion. The ongoing war in the middle east is just the most recent example of conflict caused by differing religious beliefs. Such conflicts, resulting in millions of cases of wrongful death, torture, and brutal treatment toward humanity, all in the name of religion, have been occurring ever since people formed different ideas on God and how to best serve Him and on what a particular belief entitles you to (such as a particular piece of land).

Some individual or group of people dreamed up religion as a way to praise their concept of the lord and possibly also to separate themselves from others who operated in a different way or who didn't believe in the same lord. That's ALL it was, a dream, an artifical human construct to help people categorize themselves so they could unite and maybe distinguish themselves from others who felt differently. Now many people can't distinguish reality from this dream.

I can't believe how much trouble organized religion has caused and continues to cause. War is the most obvious example, but religion also plays a key role in other big problems, such as oppression of groups of people, certain ideas, and personal freedoms as well as emotional issues such as low self-esteem and guilt. I personally know of two kids who killed themselves because they felt guilty for the sexual urges they were feeling. Religion gets the blame for that.

Karl Marx (I think) said "Religion is the opium of the people" (meaning the general masses not included in the cultural elite), suggesting that the masses (who did all the physical labor) needed something to help them endure their lives and get through each miserable day. Can't afford opium or other drugs? Try religion. Observing religious rituals pays off in an afterlife that will be way more pleasant than this one--or so the story went. The masses ate it up, and the next thing you know, we reached the point that religious beliefs attained the status of truth for many people. But religion likely has nothing to do with truth. Religion originally caught on because it appealed to the poor and weak--gave them something to live for. In modern society, we should have outgrown religion a long time ago.

John Wentworth

English student said...

i believe that religion require faith. there are many dofferent religion out there and peole have faith to the god they pray to. everyone have faith and believes in god. in todays day, many people do not believe in god and it is the way the world growing.
cristobal