The Issue of Religion - Case Study Example

TABLE OF CONTENTS: Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………………………….………………3 Brief Summary………………………………………………………………………………………………..………………5 Critical Analysis of Reading………………………………….…………………………………….7 Final Reactions and Implications From the Reading……………..11 References……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….15 God in the Wasteland: The Reality of Truth in a World of Fading Dreams By David F. Wells A COMPREHENSIVE BOOK REPORT Introduction Religion is an important aspect in the life of every person mainly because it involves his or her humane spiritual attribute and the principles of their personal faith. The specific topic in the issue of religion is the relationship of the person to the divine persona entitled God. In the present religiously oriented society, many of its segmented religion based their teachings and principles on the Holy Bible. All of the religions who depend and believe in the holiness and divinity of the Bible are generally referred to as the Christian people. This contextual idea is mainly attributed to the fact that these religions acknowledge the spirituality and sanctity of the presence of Jesus Christ as the set forth Son of God. This spiritual title is concrete supported by the facts explicitly presented in the texts of the Holy Bible. At the contemporary society, Christianity has already undergone many changes particularly in the structure of the general religion. Many sects and orders have sprung from the main body because of different views and interpretation of the message of the Holy Bible. However, all of the said division still carries in them one common philosophy, which particularly defines the principles of Christianity: love God and love your neighbors. Christian philosophy is generally characterized into two mainly originating from the ten commandments of the Hebrew Scriptures and the teachings of Jesus Christ documented in the Greek Scriptures namely, faith and God and its manifestation of loving one another. This principle transcends social norms such as society’s structure, division and discrimination and selfishness. With this principle, the religion of Christianity has given a new philosophy for the humanity during their time of turmoil and disparity. With this philosophy, Christianity has able to bind the people in the spirituality perspective of living in faith with God and the salvation the awaits them in return. With the teachings and principles of Christianity, this religion has given the humanity a new lifestyle of practicing spiritual faith towards the Creator manifested through exercising His commandments. Christianity has modified the beliefs and norms of the people with its teachings regarding the views and concept of right and wrong in accordance to the teachings of the Bible. The implementation of the Christian philosophy rekindled a new path of servitude in the name of faith and established the religious social structure to proclaim the teachings and morals of the Holy Bible. Christian philosophy has also contradicted certain social norms and concepts that are viewed to be inappropriate for the humanity as they are deemed in contrast to the doctrines in the Bible. The expansion of Christianity has also raised personal morals and conduct as they are held to be the rightful way in accordance to Christian philosophy. By putting the God-inspire words of the Bible in the center of the lives of the people, Christian philosophy has able to modify the life and path of the humanity in living up their purpose in accordance to God’s plan. Thus, people have gain new hope through the faith-centered philosophy being taught by Christianity. However, at the turn of time, the ideal philosophy that spurs up the belief on the existence of Christianity is now considered as one thing that people must be able to focus about, regardless of the group of belief that they actually belong to. Brief Summary Religion is indeed viewed as something that is most important to many people in the society today. As noted above though, the existence of religion in the human society is naturally related to the human belief on the philosophy of having something or someone to believe in. Understandably, for years, Christianism and other religious denominations in the human society have been believed by m any critics such as David Wells as something that is plainly based on human philosophy. Not only that, through his written book “God in the Wasteland”, David Wells intend to describe how much people are directly affected by the different machinations of religious groups around the world today. His book, divided into chapters describing how religious organizations could be both refreshing and blinding at the same time. It is through this reading that Wells tries to express his opinions as to why and how religions exist in the human society, who are in control and who are the ones being controlled? In terms of assisting humanity understand the ins and out of religious politics, David Wells tries to increase the explanations of his thoughts through the use of the different explanations of the other known philosophers in the matter and tying them with the kind of explanations and proofs that are rather trying to accent the proof that supports the opinions of the philosophers and critics about religion and its effects on the development of the human society. One particular feature of this book also shows the importance of understanding the sources of the many religions around the world today. A recent tabulation concluded that there are 10 main religions and some 10,000 sects. Of these, some 6,000 exist in Africa, 1,200 in the United States, and hundreds in other lands. Many factors have contributed to the development of new religious groups. Some have said that the various religions all represent different ways of presenting religious truth. But a comparison of their teachings and practices with the Bible indicates, rather, that the diversity of religions is because people have become followers of men instead of listening to God. It is noteworthy that, to a large extent, teachings they hold in common, but that differ from the Bible, originated in ancient Babylon. Critical Analysis of the Reading “THE ‘unknown God’ of Americans,” recently said noted theologian Reinhold Niebuhr, “seems to be faith itself.” What an enlightening comment on popular religion today.1 It is this popular worship of faith that helps explain so much about the present troubles of mankind. It helps explain why America, for instance, is growing more materialistic at the very time it is becoming increasingly more religious. It explains why so many persons have not found the happiness they seek. What is this popular worship of faith? It is religion that puts the emphasis on faith, not on the Bible, not on God or his will. A striking thing about this popular religion is that it is not limited to any special religious group; Protestants, Catholics and Jews in large numbers have come to worship at the shrine of faith. But do not these many persons speak of God? “Of course, religious Americans speak of God and Christ,” writes Will Herberg in his noted work Protestant—Catholic—Jew, “but what they seem to regard as really redemptive is primarily religion, the ‘positive’ attitude of believing.2 It is this faith in faith, this religion that makes religion its own object, that is the outstanding characteristic of contemporary American religiosity. [Cleric] Daniel Poling’s formula: ‘I began saying in the morning two words, “I believe”—those two words with nothing added’ may be taken as the classic expression of this aspect of American faith.”3 Will Herberg, who has made an extensive study of this worship of faith, also points to the popular book This I Believe, edited by Edward P. Morgan, as a well-known example. In this book one hundred “thoughtful men and women in all walks of life,” both professed Christians and Jews, make statements regarding what they believe.4 What is the faith they proclaim as being paramount in their life? Faith in an amazing variety of things, such as brotherhood, spiritual values, life, tolerance, freedom, democracy and faith in faith. Scarcely half of these prominent people even mention God. “Somehow their belief in God, and the God they believed in,” comments Herberg, “did not seem to be very central to whatever it was that they had in mind when they stood up to tell the world ‘This I Believe.’5” The average churchgoing adherent of popular religion, Herberg observes, is not much different. Popular religion, then, does not put stress on God but on faith itself, the so-called “magic of believing.” And the strange thing about it is that this positive attitude of believing is even represented as the Christian faith of the Bible! In God’s Psychiatry, Charles L. Allen writes: “I tell you that you can look into a future of peace and victory. ‘Only believe, only believe all things are possible, only believe!’ That is more than just a little chorus. It is the Christian faith.”6 Among the Jewish exponents of this faith-in-faith religion is Rabbi Louis Binstock, who writes in The Power of Faith: “You, like everyone else, have access to a great storehouse of dynamic power on which you can draw. . . . That storehouse is Faith. . . . Not God. But—Faith.”7 Because it is popular, religious groups of all kinds have adopted, in varying degrees, this form of worship. Go-to-church advertisements now usually stress faith, not God or the Bible. One such newspaper advertisement says: “Regular church attendance helps you build your own personal reserve of faith.”8 No mention was made of church attendance helping one learn and do the will of the Almighty God. Small wonder that popular religion is hazy, foggy and that its adherents are hard put to define in precise terms what they believe. Speaking of the motives permeating popular religion, Will Herberg says: “Prosperity, success, and advancement in business are the obvious ends for which religion, or rather the religious attitude of ‘believing,’ is held to be useful. . . . The cult of faith takes two forms, which we might designate as introvert and extrovert. In its introvert form faith is trusted to bring mental health and ‘peace of mind,’ to dissipate anxiety and guilt, and to translate the soul to the blessed land of ‘normality’ and ‘self-acceptance.’ . . . Its extrovert form . . . is known as ‘positive thinking.’ ‘Positive thinking,’ thinking that is ‘affirmative’ and avoids the corrosions of ‘negativity’ and ‘skepticism,’ thinking that ‘has faith,’ is recommended as a powerful force in the world of struggle and achievement. Here again it is not so much faith in anything . . . that is supposed to confer this power—but just faith, the psychological attitude of having faith.”9 What many persons are searching for, then, is not the divine will for man but a spiritual anodyne, something to relieve the pains and vexations of existence; or else they want a spiritual stimulant, something to spur them on to worldly success. As Dr. Clifford E. Barbour, president of Western Theological Seminary of Pittsburgh, puts it: “They want either a faith that will be a contributing factor to success in this life—a so-called enlightened self-interest—or a religious faith that is an escape from this life.”10 Roman Catholic Archbishop Patrick A. O’Boyle has declared that many persons are “turning to religion as they would to a benign sedative to soothe their minds and settle their nerves.”11 What a vast number of churches are dispensing, instead of spiritual food, these spiritual sedatives! The word “success,” appearing in so much popular religion, does not refer to success in practicing true Christianity but success in whatever worldly attainment to which the worshiper aspires. Right at the core of this faith-in-faith religion is the fact that it is man-centered, not God-centered. Thus it operates in just the opposite way from the Christianity of the Bible. One of the most apt descriptions of this man-centered popular religion was given by Rabbi Maurice Eisendrath, president of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations: “Man is the beginning and end of the present-day American religiosity—God is made to serve, or rather to subserve man, to subserve his every purpose and enterprise whether it be economic prosperity, free enterprise, security, or peace of mind. God thus becomes an omnipotent servant, a universal bell-hop, to cater to man’s every caprice; faith becomes a sure-fire device to get what we petulantly and peevishly crave. This reduction of God from master to slave has reached its height, or rather its depth of blasphemy, in the cult of the Man Upstairs—the friendly neighbor-god who dwells in the apartment just above. Call on him any time—especially if you are feeling blue. He does not get the least bit upset with your faults and failings and, as for your sins, not only does he not remember them . . . but the very word and concept of sin have been abolished.”12 Final Reactions and Implications From the Reading HUNDREDS of religious leaders gathered at the second Parliament of the World’s Religions held in Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A., in the summer of 1993. Buddhism, Christendom, Hinduism, Judaism, and Islam were all represented. Witches and goddess-worshipers were present too. They discussed their role in bringing an end to war. The chairman of the parliament acknowledged that “two-thirds of the major conflicts in the world today have religious overtones.” Was the parliament successful? Take a look at what happened a hundred years ago at the first Parliament of the World’s Religions. It too was held in Chicago, in the summer of 1893, and more than 40 religions were represented. The Council for a Parliament of the World’s Religions admits that those who attended in 1893 “believed that it would be the first of a series of international interfaith gatherings that would contribute to understanding, peace and progress. It was not to be. Religious intolerance and violence have been part of the wars of the past 100 years, and continue so today.” Realizing that “the world is on the brink of great peril, perhaps the suicide of the race in a nuclear war,” Zakir Husain, former president of India, appealed to a panel made up of leaders of all the major religions of the world “to play a fuller and more conscious part in the future than they have in the past” in working for world peace.13 To achieve this end, Husain urged, “they will have to look beyond dogmas, rituals, and practices which obstruct the flow of life from different religious circles towards a new sense of harmony and collaboration.”14 That was in 1968, at the International Inter-Religious Symposium on Peace held in New Delhi, India. In attendance, and apparently in agreement with what was proposed, were leaders representing Buddhism, Catholicism, Hinduism, Islam, Jainism, Judaism, Protestantism, Sikhism and Zoroastrianism. What has happened since that time? True, there have been renewed efforts at further conferences, symposiums and discussions. And due to the mounting threat of nuclear annihilation there have been statements, proclamations, indictments and letters issued against governments and other agencies. But have the religions of the world worked toward doing away with the “dogmas, rituals, and practices which obstruct . . . harmony and collaboration”? Have they produced the fruits of love and peace in deeds and not in words alone? Quite to the contrary, in the years since, the world has seen more wars and conflicts, in which religion, though not the only cause, played a significant role. Some are wars and conflicts between followers of different religions; some are between members of different sects of the same religion. Among more recent examples can be listed the violent outbreaks in the Indian state of Assam, in which Hindus battled Muslims; the ongoing war between Iran and Iraq, in which Shiite Muslims fight Sunni Muslims; the by now notorious conflict in Northern Ireland, in which Protestants slaughter Catholics and Catholics slaughter Protestants; the war and massacre in Lebanon, in which Christians, Jews and Muslims are entangled; and even the Falklands war, in which “army chaplains urged Argentine conscripts to fight to the death because it is God’s will,” according to the San Francisco Examiner.15 This list by no means exhausts the current state of affairs, nor does it include the countless instances in the past of conflicts between nations and peoples fanned by religious fervor. Such wars may be touched off by political or territorial disputes. Sooner or later, however, religion is found deeply involved in them. Time and again members of the clergy on both sides are found appealing to the same God for blessings over their troops, calling their efforts ‘just’ or ‘holy’ wars, and promising instant heavenly reward to those who may be killed in such battles. Yes, it is certain that because of these remarkable situations of the past, religion became to be viewed in a much negative manner by many critics. As David Wells points it out, religion today simply becomes an organization that holds the society for believing in something moral. The existence of such groups do not necessarily mean that they are based on the truth or they hold an important piece of proof that God exists, instead they are simply groups that are formed by men for men to actually handle issues of morality and global hope. More than that, Wells insists that religions are of no use besides being the epitome of the human source for hope and belief that there is something or someone out there which would support them in their challenges. References: D. B. Robertson . Love and Justice: Selections from the Shorter Writings of Reinhold Niebuhr, ed. (1957), Westminster John Knox Press 1992. David Dalin. From Marxism to Judaism: The Collected Essays of Will Herberg (1992) Edward Paddock Morgan. The Chicago Daily News. (1992) Charles Allen. (1997). God's Psychiatry. Revell Publishing. Louis Binstock. (1952). The Power of Faith. Prentice-Hall., Inc. Cifford Barbour. (1930). Sin and the New Psychology. The Abingdon press. Morris J. MacGregor. (2006). Steadfast In The Faith: The Life Of Patrick Cardinal O'boyle. Catholic University of America Press. Maurice Nathan. (1999). Can faith survive? The thoughts and afterthoughts of an American rabbi, by Maurice N. Eisendrath. New York, McGraw-Hill. Read More