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RB – Humanities – Religions of the World – Response One

Rosalind Blanckenburg

To me, religion is a cultural system involving a set of beliefs that explain various aspects of life that give individuals ritualized guide lines and moral (hopefully) goals to follow. One religion does not, by any means, encompass or suit everyone; here the saying "one say fits all" has no place when religion is involved. However, people are given opportunities to shape their lives in a more ideal fashion than would otherwise be the case. Stephen Protero’s description of the religions, and their followers, of the world as not one group of one kind mountaineer climbing different sides of the mountains, but rather several kinds of mountaineers with their unique approaches climbing any number of peaks or crevasses. Before hand I viewed the different religions as facets of the same gem, but Stephen Protero’s clever description makes more sense. Buddhists believe in the eternal soul but have no god whereas Hinduism supports the concept of karma, which in turn points to the existence of God (s). Those two religions are closely related but have a few prominent differences.
The description above caught my interest because it teaches us that though religions may share many similarities they have qualities that set them apart from each other. In order to accept them and avoid conflict from misunderstandings an effort must be made to understand them in their own right. For example; religious extremists such as those who ran the the planes into the Twin Towers. Because of their actions, what many people think of when they think of Islam is violence whereas only a minority of Muslims fit the description of terrorists.

AZ

I believe religion effects all areas of life. Religion consist of a group(or groups) of people who have the same moral conviction, beliefs, symbols, and rituals. I think religion defines and changes culture systems. When different religions conflict wars arise, deaths are caused, hatred for other cultures and religions. People decorate themselves with sacred symbols to identify themselves with certain religions i.e crucifixes, swastikas, Star of David etc. Many religions believe the way live you life presently will effect or dictate the circumstances of your "life" after death occurs. Everyday we preform seemingly mundane rituals that have ancient religious roots. i.e. marriage, meditation, yoga etc. In these ways religion sculpts our everyday life.

SL

I think religion, in theory, is something that most people need to have in their lives in order to function throughout the day. It’s something that helps people realize and understand all the unexplainable in the world and also helps them have a purpose in life. Of course, people can turn something so pure into something perverse by using people’s beliefs, values, and uncertainties for their personal gain. I would like religion, in theory, to be something that is personal for individual persons whether they believe in God, gods, or lack there of. Instead, it’s become this thing that’s used to differentiate societal groups and something that’s being forced upon people who don’t know about anything beyond what they’re told.

A.O.

Religion is something humans practice so that they can live life the proper way. Religion is practiced by humans so that we can tell the difference of what is good and what is evil in life. It is also a way of scaring people. For example if you are a person who does no good in this world then you will have to pay the consequences greatly in your afterlife either by going to eternal life in hell or by having bad karma and reincarnate into something else besides a human. Religion is so that we can be prepaired for death due to the fact that there is no scientific proof of an afterlife.

KS

I believe that all religions started out as something philosophical, and when rituals were added people made them into a religion. Rituals are what seem to be the main aspect of what differentiates religions from a set of beliefs. Robert Bellah mentions that Confucianism is still not considered to be a religion in communist China, The Department of Religion in Beijing is choosing not to include it as one. If religion is "one’s ultimate concern" it appears that China’s ultimate concern is humanism.

ZW

Religion is based on a lot of mythology and stories about super natural events and powers that were given to the prophets. Believing in any type of religion gives us something to have faith in, and when faith is put into a religion it gives us that hope that there is more for us after death. When someone passes away the phrase that is commonly used is there is nothing we can do except to pray. Praying and going to church or temple gives us a sense of comfort and hope.

CM

Coming from a Chinese American family, I never really considered Confucianism as a religion in China either. Most people in China do not entirely consider their rituals as Confucianism or Buddhism although they might fit into one or the other. Rather, the majority usually refer it as worshiping their ancestors. Like Robert Bellah mentioned in the interview, teachings and values of Confucianism were mostly rejected and not talked about when the Cultural Revolution happened in China. As of today, worshiping and paying ritualistic respects to ancestors continue to be a major religious act in China because such traditions have been passed down from older generations for thousands of years.

I agree with Robert Bellah with the point where he explains that most of what we do in our everyday lives are ritualistic because it is very often repeated unconsciously. Something such as going to school every day can become a ritual in our lives. Although such aspect of life can peculiarly be constituted as a “religion”, I would say those ritualistic behaviors of our everyday lives fit only in a religious dimension but cannot be categorized as a religion per se. And I would have to also agree with Bellah that “some kind of religious dimension is inescapable”.

AW

I think religion is a by-product of a society, and it is unavoidable. As long as human being need a role model for themselves to aim at, an ideal-form of being is needed to be in the world and fulfill the need. Therefore, religion is created. Religion is complexified by human because of the lure for human to be “ideal”; human developed whole set of rituals and acts in order to get them closer to that ideal form of life, and those acts we know them as “sacred”. Religion is mainly built up by the social need of model. The rituals are the pathways to reach that destination of life.

ANTONIO WONG (WONG ANTONIO BAO CHEN)

VG

My explanation of religion would be rules, practices, routines, etc. A religion usually follows through with the motions and expectations of the church, god, idols, or doctrines made up by man. Many religions have a service/ritual only attended on Sunday but it doesn’t follow through as a everyday experience with our creator, our God. Its a path taken for expectations of positive outcomes to follow through and a better lifestyle.

CS