Religion Replacement by Spirituality in a Modern Society - Essay Example

Religion replacement by spirituality in a modern society Name Institution Date Religion refers to a strong belief, conviction or faith in a supernatural power or powers that control human destiny. Haught (Haught, 1990, pp. 2) describes religion as an accumulation of belief and cultural systems which associate humanity to spirituality and to moral values. Most of the regions in the world use either a symbol, a narrative or a slogan which all aim to give meaning to life and to give an in depth explanation of the origin of cosmos. Since there are various religions in the world, they all try to deduce ethics, morality, human nature and the way humans live from their understanding of the universe and the nature of human. There are thousands of scholars who have tried to explain the meaning of religion but all of them seem to always point out an area that the other scholar might have left out. This then means that religion is a dynamic phenomenon that encompasses a lot of things. According to Dubuisson and Sayers (Dubuisson & sayers, 2007, pp. 92), the concept on religion has greatly changed over time and that no one can comprehend its advancement. Daniel Dennett confirms that religion is evolving by saying that “I expect to live to see the evaporation of the powerful mystique of religion. I think that in about twenty five years almost all religions will have evolved into very different phenomena, so much so that in most quarters religion will no longer command the awe it does today”. This shows that religion is changing and people again shifting to spirituality. Spirituality has been described by Waaijman (Waaijman, 2002, pp.4) as an extraneous reality which allows an individual to learn and to find out about his or her inner self and means by which humans survives. There are religious practices such as praying; meditating and contemplating which allows an individual to comprehend his or her inners self and help him or her to develop it. According to Bjorklund (Bjorklund, 1983, pp.3) spirituality can be defined by stating the areas of life that spirituality is concerned. He states ‘spirituality has to do with the quality of our relationship to whatever or whoever is most important in our life’. This makes spirituality an aspect in our everyday life. Since spirituality is important in an individual’s life, it is closely related to priorities, preoccupations, values and goals. Therefore, since spirituality is also associated with relationships, it is also associated with love, commitment and trust, tolerance, satisfaction, patience and forgiveness. According to Gorsuch (Gorsuch, 2002, pp. 47-64) this is secular spirituality which emphasizes on such human-centered qualities. According to James (James, 1985, pp.10) Spirituality exists wheresoever’s we battle with the matters that arise on how our lives into the wider outline of things. Since spirituality is a wide phenomenon that has many issues that keep on cropping up, many individuals always come across spiritual matters each time they question where the universe came from and what happens when the individuals die. Secularism is a word that is bandied about today in our world (Kosmin et al, 2007, PP. 10). It refers to the principle of distinction between the individuals authorized to represent a state and government institutions from religious panjandrums and religious institutions. On the other hand, secularism may be taken to imply the freedom from religious biasness and the right to be free from government infliction of religion on an individual. Secularism has been supported by various scholars who have argued that secularism is a faction towards modernization. Secularism was used first in 1851 by George J. Holyoake where he depicted his thoughts of encouraging the separation of religion and the social lifestyle without criticizing the religion. He argued that secularism was not against religion but would not be dependent on it and would not be focused on the unsupportable quality of religion but instead would maintain that there is guidance and light in the secular truth. This worldly comprehension is a life that is apparent and relates with the demeanor of this life and can be examined by life experiences (Kosmin et al, 2007, PP. 29). Politically, secularism is a faction that aims to separate religion from government. This means that this reduces on the connection between the government and the religious institutions and substitutes country laws that have been sourced from the scripture with state civil laws and do away with religious alienation which protects the democratic rights of the minority religious groups (Kosmin et al, 2007, PP. 37). This has been seen with the elimination of the Sharia and Torah laws (Feldman, 2006, pp. 147). In Europe, secularism has been associated with modernization and secularists opt that the politicians make conclusions for secular and not for religious causes i.e. decisions on abortion, embryonic stem cell research, sex education, and contraception and same-sex marriage should be done for secular reasons and not for religious reasons. In support of the Biblical teaching ‘give unto Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what is God’s’ Christians are in support of secular state though some of them oppose a secular state and view it as a menace to Christianity. Due to the lack of the religious leaders, influence in political decisions and conclusions and the complete freedom of religion and worship, most of the developed western countries are secular. This is because these countries have not been able to devote to the views of nature of cosmos and has limited stipulated methods of solving problems where it employs the use of rational approach to the facts, and a common theoretical account of law which may be present in any society. Holyoake affirmed that secularism needs to be differentiated from atheism and that they should not be involved at all in questions pertaining religion (Rajaram, 1995, pp. 28). Spirituality has been viewed by many religions as an inherent aspect of religion and its experiences. The decreasing membership in religions in the Western modernized countries and the growth of secularism has given spirituality a wider scrutiny of spirituality. Spirituality is now replacing religion in circumstances where the terms religion and religious where formerly applied (Gorsuch, 2002, pp. 47-64). Religion and spirituality are two different words that though sometimes used interchangeably; they have different usages and meanings. We can try to understand whether spirituality is replacing religion by comprehending the differences that exist between the two. Religion refers to a specific faith or tradition that believes in a supernatural reality and illustrates the public, the social and the organized ways through which individuals associate with the divine and sacred while spirituality is not tied to any specific religious culture and illustrates such associations when they happen personally, privately and when they happen in eclectic methods. According to a research that was done in United States of America, 24 percent of its populace is spiritual but not religious (Elliade, 1996, pp. 34). Religion is an institution founded by humans for various reasons. Spirituality relates to all aspects of human life and is born within an individual and develops in the individual. There are various differences that exist between religion and spirituality. Religion encompasses clinging to a specific dogma while spirituality entails growing and experiencing godly awareness. Just as indicated earlier, religion assumes the approach of fearing a supreme being while spirituality approaches a supreme being through the human traits such as love (Elliade, 1996, pp. 34). . Religion is losing membership simply because it talks of the Supreme Being in a specific place i.e. the Christians say that God exists high above in heaven. This shows that God is far away from human reach and most of the aspiring Christians may think that God is far from their reach. Spirituality on the other hand is gaining popularity within the world populace since it shows that the Supreme Being is omnipresent and omniscient and can be felt in our hearts (Waaijman, 2002, pp. 45). Religion is losing fame in this current era due to several criticisms which have been associated with religion. These criticisms have considered religion to be harmful to individuals by brainwashing children, circumcising and healing through faith. Religion has also been said to be outdated and destructive to the society through holy wars, uneconomical resource distribution and terrorism. Religion has also been criticized to promote immoral conducts such as blood ritual killing and also hampers the development of science (Ellens, 2002, pp. 6-7). According to Diana various religions support blood sacrifice where there have been killings of unacquainted victims across the world. Judaism is one of the religion Hitchens identifies for its compulsion with blood sacrifices to please their deity (Ellens, 2002, pp. 24). Religious individuals have been noted to adhere dogmatically to irrational faith such as keeping back from medical care and unnatural limitations on the individual behavior which they claim are the cause for emotional and mental distress of guilt and fear. According to Dawkins, children have been greatly affected by this fear where they end up with mental trauma due to the terrorism by the scourge of punishment, guilt for normal sexual roles and teachings to always dishonor science (Dawkins, 2004, pp. 150), (Ward, 2011, pp. 10). According to Dawkins, these children have been introduced into faiths which deprive the child an opportunity to make their choices and also to make any enquiries. There have been several religions who proclaim to be the only true faith. These religions assert that their teachings are closest to the cosmopolitan truth and claim that the other religion’s teachings are far from the universal truth. This has been reported to cause the other individuals in the other religions to feel dehumanized. When more than one religion proclaims that it is the only true faith then it means that all are wrong. From a research done in United States, many people are changing their religious associations. This show that a number of United States populace do not systematically believe that a certain religion is unambiguously true (Ellens, 2002, pp. 27). Most of the religions do not last for long yet they claim eternity. This was identified by Opsopaus and Hitchens who cited that such religions such as Millerism, Sabbatai Sevi and Greek Mythology have long stopped to exist. Opsopaus and Hitchens also asserted that some of the religions are started as fabrications by certain people to satisfy their biological, social and political desires. Such critics treat religion just as any other human mythos (Dawkins, 2004, pp. 54). Karl Marx views religion as tool that has been used by the dominating classes where the other people’s suffering can be eased through the spiritual feelings. It is always the concern of the dominating course to impart faith into the people that their agony will lead to ultimate joy. So if people believe in religion, they will never understand and subdue the main cause and reason for their suffering (Marx et al, 2005, pp.160). Religious ideologies have been criticized to cause Christians to raise their children in the ideas and the great commission. This has been noted to be carried from one generation to the other which makes the people who carry such ideologies to act irrational, live in fear and cause uneconomical allocation of resources (Dawkins, 2004). According to Dawkins (Dawkins, 2004, pp. 45) religion is a social conception that naïve individual to make better their chances of survival. He identified that the ability of a human being to believe in superstition can enhance an individual’s chance of survival by promoting fear of envisaged dangers. A recent study found that religious individuals tend to think religiously similarly in solving social enigma (Dawkins, 2004, pp. 45). Though Theodore Beale in Dawkins ‘A Devil’s Chaplain, argues that religious people are said to live a happy life in the United States, according to a research by Gallup, Pew Organization and National Opinion Research Centre spiritually devoted individuals were reported to be as twice happy and healthier than religious individuals (Dawkins, 2004, pp. 60). The reported killings and terrorisms across the world due to religious beliefs are always caused by misinterpretations of the applicable religious rules. This is the causative agent for the proclaimed holy wars. This has led to change from religion to spirituality as individuals do not want to be associated with a murderer religion. Religion has also been claimed to offer answers to nearly everything that is inexistent i.e. from origin, morality, purpose etc which has discouraged individuals from exploring areas by stumping down curiosity and by denying its followers a broader view of issues (Ward, 2011, pp. 10). Dogmatic religiousness has been reported to be unethical and not supporting moral values of the individual believers. Such a case has been cited where a certain religion prohibits women from being in the presence of men and that women should cover themselves up failure to which the religion society would term the woman as immoral and responsible for sexual assault. These practices may be termed as unethical and not supporting the moral aspect of an individual (Ward, 2011, pp. 10). On this note, such religions look down upon women and term them as inferior by discriminating against them. The women in the Islamic religion have been deprived of opportunities and termed as subscript to men. These women have also been subjected to torture and excessive punishment as a way of oppressing and make them submissive to their husbands and men (Dawkins, 2004, pp. 62). Some of the religions have also been noted to hold different views about the social behaviors of individuals. There are various conducts which have been termed as immoral by the religious groups which are on the rise in this current era such as the marriage of the same sex, cohabiting with someone of the opposite sex, gambling and getting drunk. These are behaviors which have become very common in our day today and since certain religions condemn them, people are opting to be spiritual since spirituality only focuses on compassion and the other human traits (Dawkins, 2004, pp. 65). All these factors are being considered by individuals across the universe and many people are opting to be more spiritual than religious. The Criticisms by the various critics are things that have been observed over time. Work cited Bjorklund P, 1983, what is spirituality, New York: Hazelden Publishing Dennette, D. 2007. The Evaporation of the Powerful Mystique of Religion, Retrieved from http://edge.org/q2007/q07_1.html#dennett Dawkins Richard, 2004. A devil’s Chaplain: Reflections on Hope, Lies, Science and Love, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Dubuisson Daniel and Sayers William, 2007, The Western Construction of Religion: Myths, Knowledge and ideology, Johns Hopkins University Press Eliade Mircea, 1996, Patterns in Comparative Religion, University of Nebraska Press Gorsuch L. Richard, 2002, Integrating Psychology and Spirituality? Green wood Publishing Group Haught F. John, 1990, What is Religion?: An introduction, Paulist Press James, W. 1985. The varieties of religious experience. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Kosmin, Barry A. Keyser Ariela and Trinity College, 2007."Contemporary Secularity and Secularism." Secularism & Secularity: Contemporary International Perspectives. Ed. Barry A. Kosmin and Ariela Keysar, ISSSC Feldman, Noah 2006. Divided by God: America's Church-State Problem--and What We Should Do About It, Farrar, Straus and Giroux Marx K., Engels F., Gasper P., 2005, the communist Manifesto: A Road Map to History’s Most Important Political Document, Haymarket Books. Rajaram S. Navaratna, 1995, Secularism: the new mask of fundamentalism; religious subversion of secular affairs, The University of Michigan Ward Keith, 2011. Is Religion Dangerous? Oxford: Lion Hudson plc Waaijman Kees, 2002, Spirituality: Forms, Foundations, Methods, Peeters Publishers Read More