Religion: is it a Force For Good in the Modern World? Essay

What is religious belief, and advise it ever be a soldiery for grievous? Religion is a nonional series of beliefs that accommodate sense of the world. For some people, it can help to answer questions roughly creation, life and death, and provides comfort and a system of belief in and latria of a supernatural power or god. Religion in the westward (mainly Christianity) is now not what it once was, and in the East (for example Islam) has rifle rather distorted due to fundamentalism. Nevertheless, most of us would like to theorize that religion is a force for good. The basic nature of most religions should take a leak them so, only when people abuse religions and use them as an excuse to make money, exert power, or plain to wage war, they turn into a force for mischievous.The Christianity of the past has some time discernmed horrific to our eyes, but at bottom the context of the times for many an(prenominal) another(prenominal) a Christian it was a force for good. We can see now that Christianity was good in the sense that it helped to inspire many good things in education, the rule of faithfulness, and culture generally many paintings and musical compositions were enthused by the Christian religion, because people wanted to stir illustrations of their belief in the transcendent.The ecstasy Commandments were and dumb ar a good way for people and groups to adjudge their behaviour and tolerate a clear moral framework. (It is interesting to melody that the Christian idea of turning the other cheek is not what the Christian Americans will be doing if they decide to attack Afghanistan.) thither were several things slightly Christianity in the past that nowadays we consider to be morally wrong, but the Christians at the time thought that what they were doing was right the crusades, for example, where the European crusaders wandered around the mall east attack Muslims, sometimes even mistaking Christian villagers for Muslims and slaughterin g their families.This would be considered as anything but morally right nowadays. The crusaders, though, thought that it was Gods will that they should slaughter those people, tho as was the case was with dogmatic disputes within Christianity, with Christians fighting each other the Christians thought that they were doing these terrible things for a just cause, just as bigoted and ignorant people in northern Ireland still do. The good thing about Christianity these days is that the majority of Christian churches are benign give intrust and something to rely on (for instance, the possibility in New York attracted many people to come to church to pray, even some non- sacred people). Churches provide a focus in the community, and sometimes religious groups can act as a force to counteract bad elements in governments and societies.In the western world nowadays, Christianity is being overtaken by philistinism learning and compassion associated with the Christian religion are being undermined, and in the Middle East and in Africa, fundamentalism, (which takes the words of sacred texts literally), is coming into play. in that respect is the danger for examples of clashes between Protestantism and Catholicism, and between other groups, in particular, evangelical churches, which are fundamentalist in tone, and display for example narrow-mindedness over abortion. in that location is also a danger from semi-religious cults, which like sects in religion underline a few aspects, which are a great dispense of benefit financially to themselves, or at least to their leaders. It cannot be truly religious that in these money-based cults, in that location is a wish to dominate financially as well as ideologically.The Islamic religion was like the Christian religion in many respects it was charitable, respected the individual and also helped to provide the foundations for things like education, law and the arts. However, the Islamic religion expanded too quickly ove r a wide geographical area, and could not keep up with the development of society, and at that place began conflicts within itself, and with Christianity. Jihads, (or Holy Wars, similar to crusades), were probably fundamentally more(prenominal) than touch on with political and economical aims than with religious ones. Today, when it is part of more open and full(a) Muslim societies, such(prenominal) as Turkey or Pakistan, the Islamic religion does not present a major threat, and it is clear in these countries that thither are a potty of similarities between Islamic and Christian principles. only if because it has failed overall to adapt and find a place in the upstart world, and there has tended to be a large gap between the affluent and poor in Muslim societies, then fundamentalism has taken hold among the more ignorant or manipulative elements, and often has strong nationalist connections, as in the Taliban. This is a reaction by the clerics and their associates against a pluralistic society, past from individual rights and especially those of women to the supposedly core beliefs of the religion. In most cases the more tolerant and benevolent aspects of the religion are ignored, and even the strictest are seen to be corrupt the Talibans religious police can be bribed, and often loot the televisions etc that they confiscate. An example of the difficulty that some modern day religions panorama is the idea of a holy or a just war. close to religions say that you should not commit murder, and should respect the individual, and it is often not well to see wherefore or how this can be overruled so that churches can justify a war, but the fact is that war is justified by different religions whether we like it or not. Generally a just or holy war should involve clear identification of an enemy, clear reasons for attacking the enemy, and some idea of what the outcome will achieve, even if it is only to the attackers benefit.The CIA supported and trained put in Laden and his associates in Afghanistan when it suited the USA to use him against the Soviet invaders. Now they have to front him as a dangerous enemy. An ex-Soviet general said recently that quartet soldiers in a tank were no match for an Al-Qaeda follower on a donkey. Bin Laden is now the arch-enemy of the USA. Because he is provide in Afghanistan, that country, which has suffered 20 years of terrible war, is likely to be attacked again. The Taliban, however, feels that they have reason to view the USA as the enemy. Is this to do with religion, a real jihad, or is it that because everybody in poor Muslim countries that have suffered a lot of war feel envious of the power and wealth of the worlds only remaining superpower? If President Bush can parley carelessly (or was it carelessly?) about a crusade, is it not understandable that many Muslims feel that this is anti-Islamic in general and not just anti-Bin Laden?There is really no such thing as a justifiable holy war because no one should attack anyone else simply because they have different religious beliefs the background to any war is always furthermost more complicated than matters of doctrine it is usually a power peppy and/or an economics game. Whether we are believers or not, we all have to hope that if used properly and in the right hands, religion can still be a force for good. In bad hands such as those of religious fundamentalists of an extreme kind it can be very dangerous.It is difficult for us to enter the minds of extremists partly because their motives often seem abstruse for example, it is said that the night before the attack on the World spate Centre a lot of shares were bought and sold by people with connections to Bin Laden, and he seems to be a rich man already. The West has not yet come to terms with what these types of religion can mean and that is why it was taken by surprise on September 11. Until we understand what lies can the sectarianism of religious extremist s we will not be able to deal with these forces which bring what can only be called evil in their wake.