The Death of God in Modern Society
Throughout the history of mankind, there have always been certain things that separate men from animals. The opposable thumb, the superior intelligence, and the capacity to make tools are just a few of the things that separate man from beast. Yet one of the longest established and most controversial of these human characteristics is religion. Archeologists have found that religious beliefs are as old as man himself. In the modern world though, it seems as if less and less people are buying into the religious doctrines and dogmas, and creating their own beliefs through a mix of science and philosophy. Why are people turning from organized religion? Has modern society "killed" God, replacing him with a more logical, scientific explanation, or is God just as prevalent today as he was thousands of years before? Either way, we must challenge religion, for as Nietzsche had said: "To admit a belief merely because it is a custom-but that means to be dishonest, cowardly, lazy!-And so could dishonesty, cowardice and laziness be the preconditions for morality?" (Daybreak 101) Many of the flaws that are present in modern religion today are the same flaws that were present in early religions. As Jesus had pointed out, the religi
All of a sudden, what was considered divine is now considered a natural act of the world. The way religion has tried to cope with science shows a great deal of insight into religion's relationship with man. Yet there are problems with this type of segregation, as there are with almost any type of segregation. All you have to do is look around to see the battle raging on, the hedonists versus the true believers. Ancient creation myths usually talk about the world as always having the same plants and animals existing on earth and don't give any hint towards evolution. When the Hebrews were captured in Babylon, the stories of the Babylonians influenced such stories as Noah's Ark. Many Muslims have declared a jihad on America. Tribal leaders decided to say that rules were made up by the deities. The nature of religion is to mold and modify its beliefs to that of the time and place of which it exists. In these cases, the religious people would rather believe writings which are subject to numerous flaws instead of actual evidence, usually because the evidence gives man a less significant image of himself. After Buddha was dead, his shadow was still shown for centuries in a cave - a tremendous, gruesome shadow. The Egyptians believed that all was created from the god Ra's semen or spit. Carl Jung recognized the human elements lying behind God when he said: "God is always man-made and the definition he gives is therefore finite and imperfect. To him, the message of morality was the truth behind the Gospels. Even Hegel, who considered himself to be a great Christian writer, was against the inherited dogmas and doctrines that plague organized religion.
Common topics in this essay:
God God,
Horrified Christians,
,
Christmas December,
Galileo Copernicus,
Protestants Muslims,
Roman Empire,
Jesus Hegel,
Modern Jewish,
Ten Commandments,
organized religion,
earth center universe,
people brought,
type segregation,
earth center,
center universe,
fighting irish,
shadow shown,
birth death,
morals taking,
god god,
|