Looking at religion objectively, I came up with a conclusion. A religion is composed of four different components with some elements from one component overlapping with elements from another.
Here, once again, I shall lay down my opinion.
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The four components are:
1)Morality
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This is probably how it all began. The basic rules that any community on this planet needs. Within the first component, there are rules agreed upon by nearly everyone, things that we agree not to do unto others so that others may not do unto us.
-Thou shall not kill
-Thou shall not steal
-Thou shall not covet thy neighbor's wife
-Thou shall not ____ (insert something that you don't want to happen to you)
So, whenever people talk about how religions all preach the same thing, well the same elements are usually within this first component only.
2)Cultural Values/Pseudo Morality
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Morality has to be protected, everyone should abide by the basic rules or else this world will be in chaos. However, for nearly all communities, morality is also intertwined with cultural values. So moral values that are vague -meaning, they're only right within a certain cultural sphere- belong in the second component. I'll give you this simple example to illustrate my point:
Kissing in public, is this morally wrong?
- It is NOT WRONG in France, the French would think "ah ze couple ar showing zeir luuv and passiooun fur one anozher, how romantik!"
- It is WRONG in Malaysia, Malaysians would think "aiya, tak malu punya orang, talak maruah betul, ini macam pun boleh ka?" or "Masyaallah! Inilah kemungkaran yang nyata, argh I want Islamic State!!"
So naturally, in any cultural group, the members seek to retain their values, to retain what is morally right to them. This is why when a religion is exported, it has to be exported along with its background cultural elements, and this is also why pious Malays who abide by Islam tend to look like Arabs; The man would be complete with long flowing beard, jubah, serban etc and the lady would be covered from head to toe.
3)Preservation
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In a religion, once the first two components above have been established, there exists an immediate need to preserve them. Without preservation, the components won't last and chaos would ensue, we don't want that -do we?
Hence, the third component makes its entrance right about here and it fulfills the need of preserving 1) and 2).
This is a list of some of the Preservatives that I can recall at the moment:
a)Inspectors
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-God
-Gods/Goddesses
-Deva/Devi
b)Rewards/Punishments
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-Karma
-Hell
-Heaven
4)The Unknown
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We are scared of the unknown, our mind will naturally question things like, what will happen to me after death, why am I here, will I see my beloved ones when I'm gone, are there really ghosts, are we alone in this universe, what is there at the beginning, why why why what what what who who who etc
The fourth component is the answer, here you will find the answers and your mind and heart will be at ease. It is within this component that we are told/taught things like:
-it all began ______(insert an origin)
-after death, we will all be somewhere nicer.
-sure we'll see each other again.
-argh that bastard! It's allright, he might get away with it here but he'll suffer in the afterworld.
-there is no true death, after this life stops, we'll be reborn.
-etc
Does 4) contain truth? No one can tell, here faith is all that matters.
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I believe now, as I've believed long ago, that the most important component is the first one and
it is imperative that we all must concentrate on it.
And I must say also that it is sad and heartbreaking to know that people are fighting and killing one another -completely ignoring component 1- just to prove that their component 2, 3, and 4 are right.
I've laid down my opinion, clearly I hope, and now you...
what do you think?
8 comments:
i think u missed a point. solace seeking. when people are in deep shit..they turn to religion.
and ever wonder why do one turn to religion if they are troubled..needing guidance of some sort..
i question myself too..why do i do that?
Hahaha. maybe because i am selfish.
Yes, I agree with you on this one. Solace is also one of the purpose of religion.
But wouldn't solace fall under component number 4? Relieving the stress and strain of having too many questions up in our heads.
To me, it seems that more (than usual) questions will arise in someone's head when he/she is troubled. Questions like: "Why is this happening to me?", "Is life fair?"etc
And, I'd like to say thank you for your input.
i have to say , that i would seek religion each time i m troubled with unsolvable issues. apsal agaknya kan? could it be this is the only time we believe god and only god could save us?
anyway, what caught my attention to this issue is not the issue itself. it's not religion or faith, or understanding.
the only thing i want to know is how did u think that it could be divided into these 4 elements? could it be more? (if so, i cant help either. heh) or maybe less.
are these 4 things written or understood by u, just by observing, or by thorough research?
the topic religion could be intimidating when it's more tuned into self-righteousness. but since this is instead a discussion of perceptions, i think its kinda cool that u made me ponder.
not about religion per se, but how could u actually made them clear into 4 different (but not exclusive) elements.
I think we humans are spiritual, just as we are physical and mental. We have to maintain the proper functioning of all three aspects to be able to live normally/happily.
This is why we have religions, I think our religions (regardless of where they're said to have come from) originated from within us humans, not without.
This conclusion came from my own observation and experience. It's like:
When you eat donuts day in day out, after a few days, you realize these donuts you're having are made up of sugar and dough which after careful reflection, you also realize is made of flour, butter, yeast and water.
I've been carrying this in my head for quite a while now and it felt really good when I finally wrote it down here.
Thanks for sharing your view Thinkerbell!
ehm..your view of religion is a very general overview...to me, as a Christian, it is not all about religious practices or morality issue but it's about having a right relationship with God everyday, rather than practices like burning joss stick and pray to the death in order to get momentary peace, or to avoid disturbance from the wrong medium...
thx for visiting my blog, and i am so happy i know someone who loves history like me! do come by again! :)
you hate idiots? ehm..then i better watchout LOL :)
You don't have to watch out. Since you felt like there's a possibility that you may act idiotic (just as I or any normal people do) It shows that you're not an idiot.
I'll let you on to something. Idiots don't know that they're idiots ;) kinda like the movie 6th sense, where dead people have no idea that they're dead.
Thanks for dropping by Elween!
See, I'm all for number 1, which as you have said is what people should be focusing on instead of the other 3 .
Some people, however, think that last 3 are ESSENTIAL in religion. I think it's essential to them for means of control and uniformity. Faith should be about finding peace with the universe, not trying to force your beliefs down someone else's throat.
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