After reading these three chapters, I had many conclusions and questions regarding religion. I have been familiar with religions, but I have never read in depth history on the foundations of Judaism and Christianity. Chapters 8-10 gave me a lot of insight on how religion developed throughout time to be as big of a phenomenon as it is today. I have decided that there is an obvious difference between religion and faith. In my opinion, religion is very political, and Jerusalem is the prime example to this argument. In Jerusalem's extensive history, the dominant religion of the city was decided by who the current ruler was. Chapter 9 discussed how emperor Constantine wanted to make Constantinople a new Christian city, and get rid of paganism. Because he had the money, power, and resources, he was able to destroy any other faiths and encourage the establishment of Christianity. It seems that religion is not what you necessarily believe in, but it is decided according to where you live and who is ruling you.
Faith, on the other hand, is different. I believe that you are able to have a faith, but not necessarily follow an organized religion. In many ways, that is how I feel it should be. Faith is based on the idea of sacrality, which is supposed to be the main idea of religion also. Instead, I feel that organized religion has been a political tool since the beginning.
I have always had my doubts and uncertainties with religion. I think it is a beautiful thing that does wonders for people. But now that I am learning the history behind it from an academic perspective, I am realizing it flaws that should be recognized.
You're last two paragraphs are two huge things that I thought about during this reading. Recognizing the difference between being religious and spiritual/faithful is a discussion I have had with people before. You can be spiritual/faithful while not adhering to a prescribed religion and still be respectful towards g-d, g-d's, or what have you. Religion does do good, but you're right, it can cause some problems.
ReplyDeleteFaith is something that does not have to be used exclusively with religion. For example, the theory of gravity is something that is accepted as true, but is not officially proven as a law. However, we have faith that this is what keeps us attached to the ground.
ReplyDeleteReligion is tied to politics. Both are made up of traditions and a system of beliefs for how people should/should not act. As ideas began to spread, it became impossible to rely on oral messages, and this is when leaders started to come together to solidify what exactly the message is. Both religion and politics only have influence if they are believed in, and we can see over history the tug of war between the two for the greater influence.
I agree completely with you. Organized religion has always been used as a tool of politics; there are innumerable examples of where this has been the case.
ReplyDeleteYet I do believe that in some cases religion and politics can be separate. But this may just be the difference in faith and religion you speak of. Maybe religion and faith should be defined more clearly.