Religion's Effect on ALL of Us

Saying that comparing and contrasting the different religions and faiths that we covered last week is very difficult is a cop out, and I believe shows lack of insight and intuition. These religions, in regards to human nature, are all but entirely the same. When dealing with human nature, Islam, Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, et al, say the same thing. Do what we tell you is right, what you are conditioned to believe is a 'moral center,' or burn for it. While 'burning' is sometimes literal (Christianity), the punishment for not following the 'correct path' is not all the same.
Human nature is indeed a social construction, because religion is, and always has been a social construction. Whether we want to accept this fact or not, but all religion is based on social aspects of society. Judaism, for example, came about when one man (Abram) decided to leave his homeland and create a new society, a new social group that followed a certain set of guidelines (not written down until the 10 Commandments). How is that different than the Pilgrims leaving their own society, first to the Netherlands, then to the New World. Their motivation was the same as Abram's, to practice the society they wanted.
This is hard to understand in the modern context because of the intense focus on the separation of Church and State. But before the Great American Experiment, this separation did not exist. Religion and social aspects of life were connected at the hip.
But what does this say about human nature? Whether you are Muslim, Roman Catholic, Jewish, Baptist, Atheist, Hindu, or follow the teachings of the Buddha, religion HAS had an influence in the way that your social construction, your human nature works. I am not saying that this is a bad thing and all humans are wrong in this set up, because I absolutely fall under this as well. What I am saying is that religion has had a definite imprint on all the societies of the world since the beginning of recorded history. Not limiting itself to the religions mentioned previously, but ALL religions from all history.

The Sound of Silence... No Thank You

Today, as I was hanging out between classes in my room, I came to a realization. I hate silence. I noticed that in between shutting my XBOX360 off and turning the television back from input to TV, I freaked out a little. There was about 3 minutes of silence while I read something online and before I turned my TV back on.
Why do I feel this way? I don't even watch the TV about half the time it is on. Am I afraid to be alone with my thoughts? Am I scared that once I am alone I will forever be alone? I don't know. Even as I sit here, in a computer lab on campus, with no sound but the humming of computers and the tap, tap, tap of the keyboard, I feel like I could be doing something else. I could easily occupy my mind with my favorite music, or a television show I have never seen before.

'Nuff Said

The Human Condition: An Islamic Perspective

Coming from a Judeo-Christian background myself, I can easily relate to the human condition of Islam. In many ways, the three great monotheistic religions (Judaism, Islam, and Christianity) are very similar. Just as Judaism and Christianity, Islam believes in the creation of man from clay by Allah, followed by a fall from grace at the hands of Satan (in Islam, Iblis).
A uniqueness of Islam is the role of angels in the story. Allah creates man to be praised by angels, since humanity was made in the image of Allah. It was Iblis' denial to worship man that led to his banishment from paradise. The story of Adam and Eve differs in that their repentance for their first sin was forgiven, and therefore no original sin plagues humanity for the rest of time. Humanity now, is subject to the deception of Iblis in order to make them disobedient to God. Humans are charged with not repeating the mistakes of Adam and Eve, but all humans fail and sin because of the passion that Satan puts on them and their carelessness about the demands of the Quran.
Therefore, Islam calls for humans not to sin, and the sins that they do commit, as well as the good deeds they do, follow them until the time of Judgment. Those who follow Islam are charged with following the Quran, living a good life, and have a life full of good deeds. Allah puts these charges to Muslims as a guide to enter paradise. All of this shows the close similarities of the three great monotheistic religions.

Most of the world news from this week comes from the Caribbean. The 7.0 magnitude earthquake that struck the island nation of Haiti has caused massive death and destruction. The world sections of the BBC and NY Times are showing the massive international efforts to give aid and relief to the Haitian people. This follows the Islamic perspective of the human condition. Allah calls for humanity, even if full of sin, to perform good deeds. According to Islam, two angels are assigned to each human, one one the right and one on the left. The role of these angels is to record both the sins, and the good deeds of each person. Therefore, Muslims should feel the call to help their fellow humans in need.
Along with the news from Haiti, the world news is full of war. While some religions permit the use of 'just wars', it would be hard to believe that the arming of Hezbollah that could spark an Israeli-Syrian war, along with the fighting in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Palestine/Israel, along with constant fighting all over the globe, could all be considered just wars. Therefore, someone with the Islamic faith would feel that all this fighting, killing, and destruction would not follow Allah's wishes. That these actions all over the world are stemming from passions spurred on by Iblis (Satan).

I believe that the Islamic perspective on the human condition has similar problems to those in all religions that offer eternal paradise and eternal punishment. Do humans do good and avoid evil because it is the right thing to do, or because they are afraid of fiery punishment that lasts an eternity? If this is the case, then all good done by the followers of these religions are doing good deeds for selfish reasons. This critique is not alone with Islam, it is in all religions. For those that do not have an eternal punishment, there is no motivation to do good and avoid evil. In the Christian denomination Calvinism, there are people called the 'elect' that are 'predestined' for heaven and hell. They believe that only certain people are chosen by God to enter heaven, and this decision is made at birth and cannot be changed throughout the lifetime. This brings up the question again of motivation to do good. If you know that there is no way to change your eternal status, what motivation do you have to do good? If I know that my eternal destination has already been determined, whether it be fire or paradise, I am going to be living it up, not worrying about doing good or helping others, not caring about what I do to others or myself.

But since these religions, including Islam, have a punishment set out for those who do wrong, there is great motivation to do good and avoid evil. Whether it be for selfish purposes or not, Islam still has its followers doing good deeds and avoiding evil.

Back to Action

Hello again!

I am starting this machine up again. Although it is because of class assignments I am really looking forward to the posts to come.
This semester I am in a Global Studies class on the Human Condition. This class involves posting comments to the class blog Destroying Humanity on topics ranging from religion to sexuality. We are supposed to post these comments anonymously, without the class knowing who exactly says what. This is in order to ensure that everyone in the class will post using absolute honesty. Anyone that knows me knows that I will be honest with you no matter what. So I will be commenting on the class' blog, and then reposting my responses here.

So enjoy this over the next semester, it should be fun and maybe we can cause a little debate as well. Feel free to comment on all of my posts, and I will try to respond to questions, or defend my views further throughout the week before the next week's assignment is done.