Religious Definition by Steve Bruce - Essay Example

Religious Studies Introduction: Just as there is difficulty in establishing common ground for the definition of religion, so is the defining of religion by an individual. Religious instructions normally start at a young age and religious beliefs are fed at this age, when there is only assimilation and seldom comprehension. As an individual grows up understanding of the meaning of religion gets clouded by the institutions, beliefs and versions of the religion that one was born into and comes to know. This is my state of mind, when asked to define religion. My definition of religion will naturally therefore be deficient of neutral thought process and influenced by my personal views on religion. My Definition of Religion: Religion to me is a shared set of attitudes, practices, rites, ceremonies, beliefs and faith through which the group of individuals or those belonging to that religious faith understand the Almighty and their relationship with the Almighty and answer the questions as to the purpose of existence and what occurs after life and through the eyes of the Almighty give the relationship through which the group should exist and judge what is right and wrong in the world that they live in. My religious views are not fanatic and accept the point of view that there are many paths to reach the Almighty and that my religious beliefs are but one path to the Almighty. The use of the word Almighty is to signify this, so that in my definition Almighty can be changed to Jesus, Allah, Buddha, Abba or any other name that religious groups have given to the Almighty. Religious Definition by Steve Bruce: In his book “God is Dead: Secularization in the West”, 2002, Steve Bruce defines religion as “ beliefs, actions and institutions predicated on the existence of entities with power of agency (that is gods) or impersonal powers or processes possessed of moral purpose (the Hindu notion of Karma), which can set the conditions of, or intervene in human affairs”. Comparison of the Definitions: My definition starts with the element of sharing, whereas in the definition of Steve Bruce there is no element of sharing. From the perspective of individuality and extreme secularization the element of sharing in my definition is a weakness. It makes it necessary that religion is not individualistic, but a shared activity of a group. From my perspective I do not find this a weakness. Social living is an essential part of human existence. Social interaction and society developed from sharing of common factors that bound a group of humans together, which included religion. With time, in more advanced societies tolerance of members with belief in other religions became a norm and so no longer was it necessary that all members of a society or community shared the same religion. Still religion is shared and is not an individualistic belief and action, as even Steve Bruce makes institutions a necessary part of religion. In my definition religion needs to answer the purpose of existence and having served this purpose to the satisfaction of the almighty, what happens after death. I believe this is one of its strong points. For Steve Bruce the answer to after life is not a part of religion and I believe this to be a weakness. Fear of the unknown and what happens after death have remained at the root of the founding of all religions. In the Christian religion there is clarity in what happens after death. Serving with satisfaction the purpose of existence leads to the reward of Heaven and if not the punishment of Hell. Other religions too have a reward and punishment aspect in after life. Excluding such an aspect from religion targets the very basic necessity of religion. In my definition of the judgement of rights and wrongs is based on religion. This aspect may be a weakness. An example of this lies in that for some religions the consumption of meat is wrong and for others the consumption of pork is wrong, or the consumption of liquor is wrong. In my view it is not these issues that matter. I imply that for social order there should be religious grounding for the essential norms of society. It strengthens the social order. Killing another human being is hardly acceptable for social order and regulation against murder in society is founded on religion and strengthens its utility in preserving society. In case the rights and wrongs of society are based on an individualistic perception of religion will give rise to individual views of rights and wrongs that lead to disruption of society. The strength of Steve Bruce’s definition is that it fairly well portrays the trend of religion in these modern materialistic times, while my definition tends to cling to the older basis of religion. In the developed world better economic growth has caused individuals to become less bothered with the Almighty, the purpose of existence and the after life. With things going so good individuals have become more self-oriented and hence the individualistic perception of religion. This becomes clear when we observe that in the less developed world there is a clinging to the more orthodox version of religion. After giving my definition of religion, I had to clarify that my definition is oriented towards religious tolerance. This is a weakness in my definition and the strength of Steve Bruce’s definition is the religious tolerance available in it or the secularization of religion. An individualistic version of religion also implies tolerance for the religious views of others, for if there is no tolerance for other individualistic views the self view of religion then becomes non-existence. This augurs well for a world that has seen the rise of religious intolerance between different religions and sects within each religion giving rise to concern on maintaining peace and harmony in the world. In that aspect the greater the acceptance of Steve Bruce’s definition of religion, the greater will be the chances of reducing tensions around the world on the basis of religion. Conclusion; Defining religion is not easy. Every definition has some weak points and strong points. The definition may have meaning for some and for time, for very few definitions of religion have stood the test of time, though religions have and continue to exist over very long periods of time. This is because individuals and groups of individuals think in different ways and trying to express the Almighty in terms of humanity is a near impossible task. Literary References Bruce, Steve. (2002). God is Dead: Secularization in the West. Oxford. Blackwell Publishing. Read More