I realized that this post hadn't gone up (but remained unposted), so I'm uploading it again :(
People usually "know what they see." Most of the time they rely their knowledge and beliefs on what they can actually observe or experience, preferring to have evidence in soldifying their opinions. Yet this inclination is broken in one field: religion. Despite the fact that there is hardly any "clear" evidence for the presence of a or multiple gods - miracles and the like excepted - many people of the past and the present tend to indulge themselves in a religion. In fact, the importance of religion goes beyond the scope of daily lives; many conflicts within the history of humanity is related to religion in some way, such as the Crusades or the animosity between the Shi'a and the Sunnis of Islam. Either for better or for worse, religion continues its grasp on people today.
With a family of mixed religions - my grandparents' generation is Buddhist, while my parents' generation is Catholic - I've come to view religion in a somewhat looser manner. During my childhood I've been to both temples and churches, and have both a baptized name and a name based on Buddhist concepts. Although today I consider myself as a Catholic - the influence of parents is big, after all - I'm also not very strict within my beliefs, unlike some people who shout in pub lic to convert to Christianity or "go to hell." Perhaps because of this freer perspective, I have come to occasionally have qualms about the standing religions - Christianity, Buddhism, Islam, Jewish, and the rest.
Religions, after all, are not defined by a god or gods; no god has ever directly come out of the skies to preach to people about how to pray or build churches. Rather, it is people who have defined the concept of god, made rituals to serve their god, and wrapped it up and called it a religion. And if we are to strictly follow the psychological reasons for the creation of religions, we have to attribute the creation of gods to people's anxieties. Are gods only remnants of people's fears, beings created as people long ago became afraid of lightning and other natural disasters?
Perhaps there's some credit to this fear-theory, but I believe that there is more to this than that. By stating that it is humans who have defined religion, I'm not saying that there is no god - I'm saying that there are, or should be, no boundaries. Perhaps there is only one god and all the religions of the world are different perceptions, different analyses of the same - being - or someone - that I couldn't possibly know about. Whether Christian or Muslim or Hindu or Jewish - they are all different facets of the same being, a being people have to define with religious texts and rituals because they can't simply define it - Him? - any other way.
I've sometimes feared that my thoughts might be considered blaphesmy in some aspects. After all, to argue that actually all religions are valid and that it's quite stupid to argue about who's right is, whether in churches or in the Middle East, something not recommended. But it is quite stupid. It's not about creating a universal religion. It's about religious tolerance and actually respecting people's views. Every religion has some essence of truth in it, and it's up to the people to not contradict their own beliefs with their actions.
* Apparently according to the five-element theory, I have too much hwa or fire within my spirit, which means that my name must contain a Chinese character with properties of water to prevent a fiery personaity / disaster. ("Yeon" from my name, 涓, stands for a small river or brook)
Nice expression of opinion, and you're in a unique situation to have two religions playing roles within your life (even if minor). Religious beliefs are definitely a hand-me-down from our parents, and for those of us in poorer nations who aren't exposed to books, films, and even schools which question things - we can understandably see how religions persist, and can even be beneficial. In my opinion, it's a bit sad that religion is one of the few things that brings people together to do something good - be it charity, singing, or witnessing the stages of life from baptism until death. Do we need God to be in charge of these things? It would seem modern society needs him (or her) less and less, but still we see people screaming his name on the subway.
답글삭제Nice writing as usual.