The right to practice whatever religion you want to is a right that I feel strongly about. Religious constriction makes no sense whatsoever because what good is it to force a religion upon a person who does not feel committed to it inside. It is like forcing someone to say that their favorite color is blue when it is really red. They may say that it is blue but inside they know that it is still red.
Also countries that force a religion upon their citizens is really only looking for themselves to prosper, not the spiritual well-being of their citizens. They force the religion to get more people to come to their churches ad contribute making them richer, they do not care about the God or whatever it is that they are forcing people to worship.
Religion is something that each individual on earth needs to find for themselves, if they feel just right in an organized religion then great, but if they don't they should not be forced to conform their spiritual needs. They need to search and find what they believe out for themselves. Kids who are forced to go to church when they are younger often have a period of doubt where they search through other ideas and see if there is anything that makes them feel more fulfilled, if not will go back to their original belief.
Another thing about religion that should be left open is the idea of being baptised and confirmed. Just because a person may not go through these rituals does not make them any more or less devoted to that religious group. They should not be discluded from the main group because of this. They have followed their own path to their own personal version of God. God is unknown, there is no concrete image of him and therefore no one has the right to say my God is the right one and if you don't follow him your going to hell and whatnot. Everyone's opinions should be respected an listened to because we do not know for sure that they are wrong and we are right.
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9 comments:
You conclude in your blog on religion that, "Everyone's opinions should be respected an listened to because we do not know for sure that they are wrong and we are right."
Religious intolerance has been a part of the history of mankind since the beginning of humanity. Why do you think this has been the case? Why has religion become such a force in our lives?
You might find reading a history of religions interesting. If you belong to a particular denomination, perhaps read a history of the religion.
You comment that the “ritual” of baptism or confirmation is something that should be left to a person’s individual preference. However, I assert that such a “ritual” should be something that a believer would seek to participate in.
Please understand the context of my response to your blog; I am a Christian, and I was baptized. So, you may only get one side of the picture in this response. I’m not sure how confirmation works in the Catholic Church. From what I hear in the halls, it is a long, drawn out process that would evoke the type of reaction found in your blog. I can say that I never felt any sense of paparazzi or process associated with baptism.
I agree that such a “ritual” does not bring you any closer to God. However, baptism is an event (not ritual) whose purpose is to give the believer an opportunity to make a public declaration of their faith.
So, the real question is why would you not want to be baptized? If you really want to be a Christian (in my case), why would you hide it from the world? Your faith should show, and this is one way to show it. Sure, it’s fairly ceremonial, if you call an interview and a small service (in which you give your testimony and you are actually baptized) a ceremony. Nevertheless, a “ceremony” hopefully isn’t something that should scare a believer from showing their faith. That’s borderline Pharisaical.
I would like to speak to you about the last 3 sentences of your blog. If I have time, I will respond to it on blogger, but I could end up writing a thesis paper on that.
Till then, think back to a discussion we had in class that dealt with moral relativism vs. moral absolutism. Why? Primarily, because that’s where your last three sentences lead, but also because we inadvertently proved that there are moral absolutes in that discussion. The question is how….
drube
Drubester writes, "’m not sure how confirmation works in the Catholic Church. From what I hear in the halls, it is a long, drawn out process"
There is a preparation period these days. There was a time when Confirmation was administered right after baptism.
Here is information from the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
http://www.christusrex.org/www1/CDHN/confirm.html
In response to Doug:
I think your assumption that governments of certain countries demand an affiliation to a certain religion is very faulty. Consider Iran. Their population is 98% Muslim not because it was their choice to become Muslim, but because of the group mentality. They were born under a religion that is made to be a theocracy. It was not necessarily the government, but the majority of the people who govern what the national religion is. Though my example is faulty, I think you get the idea. Heres another one if not. Consider a young man is born into the Southern United States where creationism is widely accepted. This young man lives in a town that is full of creationists. It is most probable that this boy, under group mentality, will believe in creationism even though our Government clearly doesn't support any particular affiliation (debated topic!).
In response to drubster:
Not to be blunt, but I believe that you are entirely missing the point. Doug says, "Another thing about religion that should be left open is the idea of being baptized and confirmed." Yes some may argue that it is vital that a believer must partake in rituals, for instances Muslims believe that you must speak with your mouth "There is one God Allah and Muhammad is his prophet," in order to be accepted as a Muslim by the population. I think what Doug is trying to say essentially is that the spirituality of one person should not be defined by his decisions to partake in "rituals." Some do partake however in order to prove their faith, however in the end, that baptism, or that confirmation won't mean that you are a sinless heavenly child. The point really is that some may see these "rituals" as a way for others to recognize the others affiliation. And what Doug is trying to say is that, with something like religion, which is essentially a spiritual connection with some sort of power be it yourself or God, is personal and should not need any sort of "ritual". Someones spirituality should be defined by their life, not by their ability to participate in a religions practices. Consider the movie There Will Be Blood, (which I hope you have seen because it's phenomenal). The main character Daniel participates in a confession-esque ritual in order to make another main character, Paul, to give up his land for oil. So Daniel participated in this ritual, however by the end of the movie, it is obvious that he does not care at all about Paul's religion.
ehm, Paul = eli. Sorry.
Responding to theteach- Religion is really very interesting to me, I mean, it has been around since the beginning of the earth, but why? and who came up with the idea to worship and preach and distinguish sects. Its all so incredibly intriguing. Clearly a large part of it is the human need to have faith in something, to believe in something that you cannot see.
Drubester- I understand completely your statement about wanting to show your faith, and for many people that is what they would love to do, it fits their version of their religion. But maybe they do not see that need to fit their own personal view of the religion and they may keep it to themselves. Who are we to say that God would much rather us display it as much as possible, we really do not know that. I agree with what you say about if you are faithful to a certain religion then you would want to show it and therefore baptism and confirmation would be gladly accepted. But what I am saying is beyond that type of faith, it is the ability to make your own version of a religion with your own standards ( this may sound immature, but it is only to get a point across) and we really can't say that it is wrong because we do not have any idea. Religion and faith go hand in hand, as far as I am concerned faith is not something you can have with a concrete fact and therefore faith in a religion is a question of what you as an individual choose to believe in without knowing exists.
for language- Thank you for making certain things clear, this is true that environment often establishes a persons religion. I may be going off on a limb, but in relation to Brave New World, isn't this very similar to the conditioning, a person becomes used to it and it may become second nature whereas if it never took place, the religious possibilities for that mind would be much greater.
To Doug:
I agree that religions are fascinating. Studying their history can help us understand people's cultures and actions...well not always. :)
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