Absence of Religion - Annotated Bibliography Example

What Would Happen To Mankind If There Was No Religion? What Would Happen To Mankind If There Was No Religion? The question as to what would happen to humankind in the world today if there was no religion is particularly important in the modern society which is seen to be leaning towards secularism and drawing a thin line between religious practices and worldly ideas. Despite being a very important element of the society in the early ages, religion is seemingly becoming less important in the contemporary world to a majority of people especially in the developed world. Part of this can be attributed to the rise of science, which is based on empirical explanations of most of the things that religion is based upon. Among the religious people, religion is the single most important thing in their lives. Most of the people in the developing world are highly religious, with some states being based on specific religions. Based on both arguments, the question of how the world can fair on without religion is inevitable. On the one hand, a world without religions would reduce the negative effects brought about by religion while on the other hand; human beings are likely to suffer from lack of the benefits of religion. Some of the highly secularized societies where religion has a very minimal role can be used as examples to study a case where there is no religion. Based on this example, when a society is well organized with functioning social institutions and legal structures, religion is less important (Weber, 2002). Annotated Bibliography Asad, Talal (2003). Formations Of The Secular: Christianity, Islam, Modernity. Stanford University Press. Religion has always faced challenging times over the years. Modernity and secularism have become the two most significant threats to religion in recent times. This text tries to look at how secularism and modernity have impacted on the major religions in the world, mainly Islam and Christianity. Brodd, Jefferey (2003). World Religions. Winona, MN: Saint Marys Press. In this text, Brodd (2003) explores the different religions in the world today. Religion can be defined as a set of beliefs, values and world views that seek to create an understanding about the nature, cause and purpose of the universe and human existence. Among the most popular types of religion include Judaism, Islam, Christianity and Buddhism (Brodd, 2003). Cinar, Alev (2006). Modernity, Islam, and Secularism in Turkey: Bodies, Places, and Time. University of Minnesota Press. Turkey is one of the European countries with a large number of Muslims. The growth of secularism in the country has threatened the spread of the Islamic religion in the country. This text tries to look at the impact of modernity and secularism on Islam in the country. Clarke, Peter B. (ed., 2009), The Oxford Handbook of the Sociology of Religion. Oxford/New York. Oxford University Press. This text tries to look at religion using social lens. The authors approach the issue of religion from a different perspective by examining the role that religion plays in the society today. The concept of religion has been in existence for a very long time in the history of man and its impact on human relations and other aspects of the human life cannot be understated. There are a lot of different religions, each based on its own teachings about nature and the supernatural realm. Davie, G. (2003). Predicting religion: Christian, Peculiar & alternative Future. Ashgate Publishing. Christianity has experienced a lot of changes since its inception thousands of years ago. The growth of various denominations and the emergence of newer faiths in the religion are just some of the developments that have taken place over the years. This author tries to have a look at the future of religion and the society in general in order to paint a picture of how religion is likely to be in the years to come. Harvey, Graham (2000). Indigenous Religions: A Companion. (Ed: Graham Harvey). London and New York: Cassell. This text tries to give insights on the various indigenous and traditional beliefs that existed in the society before the spread of modern day religions. Different communities had different sets of customs, traditions and beliefs that all formed a very important element of the indigenous religions. Jacoby, Susan (2004). Freethinkers: a history of American secularism. New York: Metropolitan Books. Developments in science and technology have led to the spread of secularism in the developed work. An important feature of secularism is the emergence of intellectual individuals who base most of their beliefs on rationality and science at the expense of faith. These individuals, described as freethinkers are an emerging group of atheists in the American society ushering in a different approach on matters of religion. This book explores the impact of freethinkers in the society and how they have evolved overtime in the history of America. Kevin J. C. et al., ( 2008), Sociology of Religion: Contemporary Developments, Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. Sociology is the scientific study of the society while religion is the study of different belief systems from the various religions in the world. Sociology of religion tries to merge the two disciplines in order to bring out relationship between religion, man and the entire society. Sociology of religion is the study of religion using the ideas and elements of sociology. This new discipline attempts to look at the significance of religion in the society as well as the relationship of religion and other social institutions or activities of human beings. King, M. (2007). Secularism. The Hidden Origins of Disbelief. Cambridge: James Clarke & Co. Secularism has been around for as long as religion has existed. Secularism formed the first steps of disbelief in religion, while turning the attention to science and philosophy. The author tries to look at how secularism has influenced people in to questioning religion and becoming disbelievers over the years. The text starts with an examination of the origins of secularism and its development as well as its impact on religion. Monaghan, John; Just, Peter (2000). Social & Cultural Anthropology. New York: Oxford University Press. Culture is a very important element of any society. Cultures consist of sets of traditions, value systems and beliefs. Religion is therefore an important part of culture as it influences the worldview of a particular people. This text looks at religion from a socio-cultural point of view. Russell T. M. (2001). Critics Not Caretakers: Redescribing the Public Study of Religion. Albany: SUNY Press. In most countries, religion is taught in schools with some countries being based on certain religions which are considered state religions. With the furtherance of human rights and freedoms such as the freedom of conscience, belief and association; public study of religion has come under constant criticism in societies that have more than one religions. Settimba, Henry (2009). Testing times : globalization and investing theology in East Africa. Milton Keynes: Author House. Religion plays a very important role in Africa and other parts of the developing world. East Africa is made up of some of the fast growing economies and as the countries develop, religion continues to come under threat. Secularism is gradually setting in East Africa as the countries expand their economies and continue to invest in science and technology. These times have been described as testing times for religion in this part of Africa, given that religion has been a very significant role to play in the societies in the region. Taylor, Charles (2007). A Secular Age. Cambridge: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. With science and technology influencing a large part of the society today, secularism continues to expand as more people shun from religion. This has been described as the secular age, where religion plays a very minimal role in the society especially in the developed world where a majority of the populations do not care about God and religion. Weber, M. (2002). The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. Los Angeles: Roxbury Company. Weber, a renowned sociologist, tries in this text to look at the impact of religion on other parts of the society such as the economy. The growth of Protestantism in Christianity has contributed to a large extent on the development of capitalism as the main economic model in many countries. Catholicism on the other hand is mainly associated with communism. Winnifred F. S. (2005). The Impossibility of Religious Freedom. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. This text looks at the concept of religious freedom in the world with multiple religions and non-believers. Despite being regard as being very essential in the contemporary world and a major component of human rights, freedom of religion has become very difficult for some states to implement. From the point of view of the author, freedom of religion is almost impossible to implement due to various reasons explored in the text. Read More