n his Self-Reliance, Ralph Waldo Emerson writes of “the over-soul”, the belief that mankind is united through very similar beliefs through this “over-soul”. Our instinctive actions in making moral choices are all part of this over-soul. This over-soul exists universally among me...

How do we account for religion - its origin, its development, and even its persistence in modern society? This is a question which has occupied many people in a variety of fields for quite a long time. At one point, the answers were framed in purely theological and religious terms, assuming th...

Change is a fact of human life and evolution. One could even say that without change, there is no growth and therefore no life. In terms of religion, however, change is not always perceived in a positive light. Indeed, particular in terms of the Christian and other fundamentalist faiths, change ...

Nietzsche "God Is Dead" Out of all the things I could have chosen to write about, for some reason "Twilight of the Idol's' caught my eye It was kind of a catchy title, and it was the last thing that Nietzsche wrote that had any merit before he went ...

As one of the oldest forms of religious beliefs, animism* has brought forth an attempted explanation to the greatest mysteries of humanity; what is religion? Derived from the Latin origin of 'anima' meaning spirit, breath, life, or soul, animism is the belief that things in nature (e.g. ...

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances (United States Constitutio...

Theories of literature demand the reader separate the author from the story. Millions of students engrain the mantra of "the author is not a character in the novel" into their memory or risk failing the most basic of English courses. While the author may not directly play a role in the nov...

Problems with the Philosophy of Religion The philosophy of religion is an examination of the meaning and justification of religious claims. Claims about how the world is, often embodied in creeds, are more typical of Western religions - Christianity, Judaism, and Islam - than of Eastern religions...

New York Times, on Sunday, November 8, had an article on sentences addressed by a Federal judge to three members of the antigovernment Montana Freemen for conspiracy and fraud; the article stirred my memory and concern about this paper, as well as brought into play many of the dilemmas d...

Introduction My great aunt was a fascinating woman. She was raised in Canadian by English parents, married and immigrated to the United States. She understood French and English and was fluent in several different languages. She attended services, in places of worship, all over. She chose to p...

New York Times, on Sunday, November 8, had an article on sentences addressed by a Federal judge to three members of the antigovernment Montana Freemen for conspiracy and fraud; the article stirred my memory and concern about this paper, as well as brought into play many of the di...

"We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed... There comes a time when the cup of endurance runs over, and men are no longer willing to be plunged into the abyss of despair... Like a boil that can never be...

How do practices of Spiritualism gain popularity in nineteenth century Britain and why? Spiritualism started in America, New York, in 1848 by Catherine and Margaret Fox. They heard banging's and knockings in there house and started to communicate with the spirits which later became known a...

The historical development of religion has taken many turns, ingesting the new ideas of each major philosopher as he questions the ideas put forth by the man or era before him. In this constant questioning and development of ideas, the trend has changed from theism and faith to more rational religi...

Overcoming Evidentialism The turn of this century came in stride with Humanity's most radical scientific progression in history. Accompanied with science, has come the thirst to rationally validate all our beliefs with evidence. This is the principle by which the evidentialist devotionally a...

In American Evangelicalism, Christian Smith answers the question of what it means to have a "strong" religious faith. Smith claims that strength is conceptualized and measured on the self-definition, values, and purpose of the group in question. He categorizes religious strength into six...

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Religion is primary agent of social control in our society. Due to its communally held beliefs and principles, we have a foundation on which we can rest the laws, values, and the main doctrine, of almost any society. Here in America, we have tremendous freedom in both establishing and in choosin...