Religion-- a paper from spring 04
The world of religion introduces the readers to a controversial and debated subject which tends to bring out the highest of emotional arguments in the readers. Our world history has been full of religious wars and conflicts between people who have read and believe in one of the writers who we have read. It confounds me that so much human effort and destruction can revolve around people’s convictions and beliefs. I am more troubled by the messages and tone that these writers bring to the readers. One such recurring theme which seems to pervade each of these religious writings is the focus on the afterlife while seemingly ignoring and shunning the world at hand. This ominous theme depicts life as meaningless and worthless and full of troubles and sorrows. Each writer presents the reader with their version of how to escape the life-torture.
Job begins our journey into madness by showing the reader a God who, in my opinion, is rather scary and intimidating. The reader is also presented with a God who is fooled and deceived by one of his fallen angels, Satan. Later, in chapter 38, we find in extremely unhappy God who doesn’t appear on the verge of any mercy. He tries to remind those below that they are dependant on Him and he controls everything. Makes the reader think they really don’t have a choice in anything because it is all really under his control. We find the ominous tones towards life in chapter 14 when Job talks of man as “He blossoms like a flower and then withers” (2) and how life is “short-lived and full of disquiet” (1). One cannot help but wonder how anyone is supposed to live up to Job’s standards. He is depicted as “the greatest man in all the East” (1.3) and yet is relentlessly tortured by his God to prove a bet that god had with Satan. Did I mention that God now seems to be a gambler; willing to go up against Satan with us humans as his chips. Since Job was returned everything he lost and given back his past status, I couldn’t help but wonder what the rewards for faith were. Job received no different status in this life after he underwent his religious tortures. God did, however, double all of his things (42.10), leaving the reader with a somewhat materialistic view towards religion.
The Buddha continues the same ominous tone towards religion. The reader is introduced to meditation and emptiness instead of life. In fact, the reader is supposed to “renounce you the world” (5) and give it up for meditation. In effect, everything the Buddha speaks of is trying to get the reader to flee the world, get rid of everything, and put all of their effort into themselves and their personal, meditative pursuit. I could only think of selfishness when I read this passage. Everything seemed to focus on pleasing and satisfying yourself. Not only is the reader supposed to meditate into the otherworld, they are supposed to give up and not trust any of their physical senses. According to the Buddha, (par. 29) our senses are the most dangerous things we possess and should not be trusted. Continuing with faith’s depressing outlook, Buddha reveals life as full of “the boundless ills which result from birth” (34). It seems that these religious writings rely on depressing their readers so much that they have no other choice but to hope for something better after this miserable life.
To top the frosting on faith’s cake, Mohammed takes us to true hatred and evil. In his eyes, God is very wrathful and will destroy, complete with painful torture, everyone who does not believe. His words are very strong and frightening as he describes “God’s abhorrence of you [the reader or unbeliever] is greater than your hatred of yourselves” (5). It is no surprise that followers of Mohammed, in today’s world, are willing to give up their lives in order to get to the next one. To them, the “life of this world is a fleeting comfort” (23). Paragraph 46 reveals what will happen to the non believer and is very intimidating. Gauging by the continuing fright these writers are instilling in their readers, convincing the reader of ‘faith’ must be more difficult than it seems.
Works
Guatama, Siddhartha. “Meditation: The Path to Enlightenment.” Jacobus 648-662.
Jacobus, Lee A. A World of Ideas. 6th ed. Boston: Bedford, 2002.
The Bible. “The Book of Job.” Jacobus 669-686.
The Prophet Muhammad. “From the Koran.” Jacobus 723-728.
Job begins our journey into madness by showing the reader a God who, in my opinion, is rather scary and intimidating. The reader is also presented with a God who is fooled and deceived by one of his fallen angels, Satan. Later, in chapter 38, we find in extremely unhappy God who doesn’t appear on the verge of any mercy. He tries to remind those below that they are dependant on Him and he controls everything. Makes the reader think they really don’t have a choice in anything because it is all really under his control. We find the ominous tones towards life in chapter 14 when Job talks of man as “He blossoms like a flower and then withers” (2) and how life is “short-lived and full of disquiet” (1). One cannot help but wonder how anyone is supposed to live up to Job’s standards. He is depicted as “the greatest man in all the East” (1.3) and yet is relentlessly tortured by his God to prove a bet that god had with Satan. Did I mention that God now seems to be a gambler; willing to go up against Satan with us humans as his chips. Since Job was returned everything he lost and given back his past status, I couldn’t help but wonder what the rewards for faith were. Job received no different status in this life after he underwent his religious tortures. God did, however, double all of his things (42.10), leaving the reader with a somewhat materialistic view towards religion.
The Buddha continues the same ominous tone towards religion. The reader is introduced to meditation and emptiness instead of life. In fact, the reader is supposed to “renounce you the world” (5) and give it up for meditation. In effect, everything the Buddha speaks of is trying to get the reader to flee the world, get rid of everything, and put all of their effort into themselves and their personal, meditative pursuit. I could only think of selfishness when I read this passage. Everything seemed to focus on pleasing and satisfying yourself. Not only is the reader supposed to meditate into the otherworld, they are supposed to give up and not trust any of their physical senses. According to the Buddha, (par. 29) our senses are the most dangerous things we possess and should not be trusted. Continuing with faith’s depressing outlook, Buddha reveals life as full of “the boundless ills which result from birth” (34). It seems that these religious writings rely on depressing their readers so much that they have no other choice but to hope for something better after this miserable life.
To top the frosting on faith’s cake, Mohammed takes us to true hatred and evil. In his eyes, God is very wrathful and will destroy, complete with painful torture, everyone who does not believe. His words are very strong and frightening as he describes “God’s abhorrence of you [the reader or unbeliever] is greater than your hatred of yourselves” (5). It is no surprise that followers of Mohammed, in today’s world, are willing to give up their lives in order to get to the next one. To them, the “life of this world is a fleeting comfort” (23). Paragraph 46 reveals what will happen to the non believer and is very intimidating. Gauging by the continuing fright these writers are instilling in their readers, convincing the reader of ‘faith’ must be more difficult than it seems.
Works
Guatama, Siddhartha. “Meditation: The Path to Enlightenment.” Jacobus 648-662.
Jacobus, Lee A. A World of Ideas. 6th ed. Boston: Bedford, 2002.
The Bible. “The Book of Job.” Jacobus 669-686.
The Prophet Muhammad. “From the Koran.” Jacobus 723-728.
Comments
Post a Comment