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Place of religion in a modern society (2)

By Emmanuel Ezeagwu
27 August 2015   |   12:39 am
Religion is nothing but perceived ways of appeasing or communicating with the Creator. It includes beliefs that are superstitious and mythical, beliefs that can hardly be integrated into the rest of one’s knowledge of facts now unearthed by science which partially reveals the truth of life.

WorshipReligion is nothing but perceived ways of appeasing or communicating with the Creator. It includes beliefs that are superstitious and mythical, beliefs that can hardly be integrated into the rest of one’s knowledge of facts now unearthed by science which partially reveals the truth of life. One indeed has to induce a trance-like illusion of understanding in conceptualising these beliefs.

Take for example the idea of offering sacrifices as means of appeasement. What can a Creator be in lack of? What could a supernatural Being demand from man He designed other than to regard Him, love and tend the creatures and the universe He designed? Whence, therefore, comes the relevance of religion? If any religion were the true and divinely approved religion which will it be?

What have we to say about the Crusades, the Jihads, violence among various religion, most especially the ones that hypocritically preach peace to appear prestigious and deceptively recruit credulous people, terrorism that cripples civilisation and net development, and schism even among and within denominations of a particular religion?

How shall we justify such religious vices or shall we call them blessings? If we instead term them human errors should we not conclude then that all our religions have altogether been an utter waste?

Our God cannot certainly delight in crooked services and quench His thirst with blood spilled from animals and humans killed in wars or voluntarily sacrificed? Religion has never had any meaningful benefit whatsoever since history.

Religion cannot be the same as the worship of God. We should be able to worship Him through conduct that He approves, but not through the opinions and interpretation of the clergy.

Since religion is not the pathway to the worship of God but only our conduct as taught by His true Messengers whose teachings are an enlightenment, it has become a divisive instrument in human relationship and inimical to the peace of the community. It is more of a curse than blessing.

Its essence has been negated by the damage it has caused given that it remains almost entirely the source of modern terrorism and conflict.

It is, undeniably, a threat to civilisation since it is obviously incompatible with world peace, freedom, civil rights, equality, and good government.

Moreover, it hampers the advancement of science and technology, as was seen, for example, in the dark ages. It takes sound objectivity and sincere rationalisation to concur with me that religion is an anachronism in this age of enlightenment that began in the 18th century.

It no longer serves the purpose for which it was formed by us human beings. In fact, it has had and does have nothing useful to offer in today’s world.

The hope it once offered is far outweighed by the enlightenment, hope, safety and comfort science through logic has largely brought.

The sense of morality it once inculcated in the lives of people has been replaced with a far better system of law provided and enforced by the government.

The usually erroneous or substantially incomplete explanation to life and the surrounding world it once proffered is now silenced by the amazing, undeniable facts and predictions of science.

The endearing pomp it once possessed has been quietened by reason. This then means our search for that which is beyond religion and science must continue.

Needless to say, the popularity of religion, or rather, the number of people practising organised religion in highly developed or civilised societies, in the Western world has dwindled.

Those who still are involved in one form of religion or the other in these high-class societies are mainly those who choose to do so out of respect for a long-standing family tradition, or out of curiosity, and never as a necessity.

The case is even more pronounced with the younger generation, the youths, most of whom are not remotely familiar with the details of religion.

The rate of conversion to any religion here is poor. However, this cannot be said of underdeveloped or developing societies where the number of religious practitioners, so to say, is alarming.

Here, the level of education and the standard of living are low, and religion seems to be the only source of hope of any breakthrough for the people who are beset with unfavourable conditions for survival. Superstitious beliefs still predominate in these societies because of underdeveloped science.

Although the practice of sacrificing human lives has been abolished, there are still cases of callous practices such as various contortions of the body, and so on, and even ritualistic killing of animals.

The incidence of religious violence in a locality can also be a criterion for determining what society still tightly embraces religion.

There is obviously a high incidence of religious violence in these underdeveloped societies unlike their developed counterparts which experience a relatively high level of peace and order. This even leaves them with more opportunity to attain greater prosperity and power in tow.

One could go on and on citing instances of how much of a burden religion formed out preachment of the clergy and distortion of truth and logic, a primitive invention of man, is to today’s sophisticated world. Concluded. manuel.ezeagwu@gmail.com Quote

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