The Meaning and Importance of Religion Today
To pin down a single meaning of such a powerful word as “religion” is almost as difficult as trying to define Reality itself. Some religions are monotheistic, asserting that there is only one deity; others are polytheistic, worshiping multiple deities. There are nontheistic traditions which do not profess belief in deity per se but acknowledge the existence of some transcendent reality. Some teach that the sacred reality is transcendent, that to conflate the sacred and the profane borders on heresy and that there exists a clearly defined line between the spiritual and material worlds. Others believe that the sacred is immanent and present everywhere in the world. Some faiths rely on written scripture; others are primarily oral traditions; still others have written texts which are still meant to be recited aloud for the full benefit. Even within a single tradition, one might find absolutists, liberals, fundamentalists, and mystics who draw different interpretations from the same religion. Despite differences, however, all religions and sects thereof share the concept of the Unseen Reality, and provide adherents with a sense of community and way of looking at the world. The importance of learning about religion cannot be stressed enough, for religion is an integral part of many people’s culture, serves a variety of spiritual, psychological and social functions, and greatly influence adherents’ values, beliefs, and how they interact with the world around them.
I was raised in a Christian household. My mother, though not of Native blood herself, was fascinated by Native American culture and artifacts, so through her I also grew up learning about indigenous beliefs. During my spiritual wanderings I dabbled in Wicca, Taoism and Buddhism on my own. Now I am back in school to major in anthropology and dating a young man who double majored in religion and sociology, so I also bring cultural and social analyses to the table when I think about religion. My current way of spirituality can only be described as eclectic and unique. While I believe that one can lead a spiritual and moral life without necessarily being religious, for many folks organized religion can be extremely beneficial.
Karl Marx dismissed religion as “the opium of the people,”[1] charging that it sedates the masses and keeps them from revolting against injustice. Max Weber noted that “institutional grace, by its very nature, ultimately and notably tends to make obedience a cardinal virtue and a decisive precondition of salvation”[2]; that is, that religion can serve as a form of social control. Feminists have criticized patriarchy for subjugating not only the feminine aspects of religion but also women themselves; some religious authorities place restrictions on women or separate the sexes during prayer services. At the same time, though, many religions strive instead to enact positive social change and equality between the sexes. Bahá’u’lláh and Guru Nanak (the founders of the Bahá’í faith and Sikhism, respectively) called for the abolition of all forms of prejudice, including sexism; ‘Abdu’l Bahá, Bahá’u’lláh’s son and successor, declared that “the honor and distinction of the individual [is] that he among all the world’s multitudes should become a source of social good.”[3] Taoism emphasizes balance between the female (yin) and male (yang) forces. Shar’iah in Islam granted women many rights that they had not had in some pre-Islamic tribes (such as the right to divorce and own property), and one of the five pillars of Islam is zakat or almsgiving. Buddhism was progressive in that it asserted that both women and men were capable of achieving enlightenment, and compassion toward others is a trait which is greatly encouraged, particularly in the Mahayana tradition; Thich Nhat Hanh today actively promotes what he calls Engaged Buddhism, asserting that “Mindfulness must be engaged. Once there is seeing, there must be acting. Otherwise, what is the use of seeing?"[4] Jesus of Nazareth as described in the Gospels also worked for social justice, and Mother Teresa founded the Missionaries of Charity which continues to provide food for the needy and runs several shelters, orphanages and hospitals. There are several feminist movements within various religions, and today women are being ordained as priests and rabbis where previously this had been unheard of.
Furthermore, in situations which cannot be changed, such as the death of a loved one, spiritual or religious beliefs are not tools of oppression but rather a source of genuine comfort; this is just one of many psychological benefits of spirituality. My mother died when I was sixteen; my father relied heavily on his religious beliefs to get through the ordeal, and while back then I was “religiously confused,” even the shaky sense of spirituality I had at the time helped me cope with the immense loss. Today I have a stronger sense of spirituality which has helped to shape my understanding of death. I still miss my mother, of course, and always will. But while I do not believe in a literal Heaven where she looks down on us from some otherworldly telescope, and have conflicting thoughts about the idea of reincarnation, I know that she does live on, in a very real sense, through the memories of her loved ones and my knowledge of all she has taught me.
Written traditions are a major part of many organized religions. Some scriptures can simply be read and are printed in several languages; others like the Jewish Tanakh are generally read in the original language, while still others, like the Qur’an and many Buddhist and Hindu mantras, are meant to be recited aloud in order to get the full benefit and meaning of the words. One of the benefits of written scripture is that adherents of a tradition can share a common source even when they are geographically separated. Of course, even when doctrine is in print, it is possible to have vastly different interpretations of the same text, depending on one’s cultural background and/or personal view of the world. Adherents of a specific tradition may argue which texts are authentic; Sunni and Shi’ite Muslims acknowledge different traditions of Hadith, or sayings of the Prophet, and Mahayana and Theravada Buddhists often use different Pali or Sanskrit sutras. More broadly, one can take scripture of any religion as inerrant literal truth, a form of spiritual allegory, or view it simply as a work of literature which gives insight into the culture of those who wrote it. I tend to vacillate between the latter two views when reading religious texts, although I certainly wish I were ambitious enough to learn many of the original languages in order to understand the true meaning of many scriptures. There is a world of difference between reading an English version of the Qur’an and following along with a translated and transliterated version while listening to recordings of recitations in Arabic. This was also my experience when the class visited the Shabbat service; I got the feeling that much of the poetry and beauty of the Hebrew meanings were lost in the translation when it was written down in English.
Social conditions can shape how religion is expressed; for example, the shift in focus from sacrifice to prayer and holy living in Judaism followed the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, and the development of syncretic religions such as Candomble and Santeria in the Caribbean as African slaves fought to keep some of their traditional beliefs. Even the sudden development of soteriological and eschatological notions in Native American traditions (e.g. the Ghost Dance) can likely be attributed to the people’s suffering under the conditions of the reservations.[5] But the converse is also true; religion also plays a significant role in shaping culture and society. Organized religion can serve as a means of creating social cohesion. In his seminal work The Elementary Forms of Religious Life, Emile Durkheim observed that religion functions as a vital source of solidarity, moral force, and social integration. A group service in any tradition serves to form and strengthen ties between members of a religious community; various life cycle ceremonies such as births, initiations, coming-of-age rites, marriages, and funerals also bring people together. Another sociologist, Talcott Parsons, noted that values, defined as conceptions of the desirable, are essential to the stable reproduction of the social system; broadly speaking, values of a given society help to define societal norms, goals, and use of facilities.[6] These need not necessarily be religious values, but religion has been an important source of values for societies throughout history and today.
While the United States is religiously pluralistic, it is still predominantly Christian. A Judeo-Christian ethic lies at the heart of the American legal system, just as Islamic ideals are the foundation of modern Muslim societies such as Senegal, Jewish values at the center of Israeli society, and Buddhist beliefs at the core of Bhutanese society. Religion often affects politics; at best it can motivate leaders to look out for the best interests of their constituents; at worst, political or religious leaders may (perhaps unconsciously, perhaps not) use dubious interpretations of religious traditions in order to rationalize their own actions. For example, Pastor John Hagee made headlines recently with his book Jerusalem Countdown in which he argues that the Bible shows that nuclear war with Iran is a prerequisite for bringing about the End of Days, which is clearly not the mainstream view[7]. Even economic systems may be closely tied with interpretations of religious beliefs. Max Weber proposed that the “spirit” of capitalism, as he called it, arose out of the ideas of Calvinism, contending that the anxiety of not being able to know if one was pre-chosen by God for salvation caused many Protestants to immerse themselves in commerce, accumulate wealth, and come to view their business success as a “sign” that they were among the Elect.[8]
Mark Gould, professor of sociology at Haverford College, notes that Muslims are seen as vehicles of their own salvation rather than looking to a messianic figure or left wondering if they are one of the Elect. Gould argues that this belief that an individual’s actions determines his or her own salvation while Allah determines the outcome of said actions “facilitates jihad, where if a believer survives, he accumulates credits for following God’s commands, and if he dies a martyr, he gets a pass into heaven.”[9] Young impressionable men may be taught by charismatic leaders that to martyr oneself for a “holy” cause is just the kind of action necessary to guarantee salvation. However, Gould emphasizes – and this is a crucial point -- that this does not mean that all Muslims, or even a majority, interpret the Qur’an or Hadith in such a manner. Islam per se does not cause terrorism, and certainly not all terrorists are Muslims; Gould simply points out how a certain ideology can lead a minority of followers to justify certain actions depending on other social and psychological factors. This is a perfect example of how a particular value can be implemented in several ways. While the core value of Islam is submission to the will of Allah, different Islamic factions might have different ideas about how to submit; that is, what norms should be adopted to realize this value. This of course is not limited to Islam; different sects of any religion, and even different adherents within the same sect, may have very different ideas as to how to implement value commitments.
Religious beliefs affect not only our social interactions, but also how we view and deal with the nonhuman world. Adherents to Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism are more likely to eat a vegetarian or semi-vegetarian diet, since they believe in ahimsa and that one’s treatment of nonhuman animals will affect future incarnations and/or whether or not one may be liberated from samsara. (There are of course several mystic traditions which promote meatless diets, believing that they are more conducive to meditation and/or enlightenment.[10]) Indigenous peoples who have a close relationship with the land are also likely to harbor respect for nonhumans, including what outsiders might deem to be “inanimate” objects such as mountains and rivers. Hunters in these traditions believe that it is necessary to respect and give thanks to the spirits of nonhuman animals they use for food and other needs. Followers of Taoism and Shinto also respect the “natural” order and tend to be fairly ecologically minded. By contrast, environmental activists point out that religious beliefs are sometimes instead used as an excuse to not take care of the Earth. Author, teacher and activist Derrick Jensen fiercely disagrees with “Salvationist” religions implying that the natural world is an illusion and profane -- something from which humans must be “saved” -- as well as anthropocentric interpretations of religion. He contends that just because human perception is imperfect does not mean that the world we perceive is an illusion -- it just means we don’t always see clearly.[11]
I agree with Jensen that embracing the notion that humans are not inherently flawed and are capable of living in harmony with the rest of the natural world would be good not only for us but also for the Earth itself. One of my personal pet peeves is any assertion that since the world is supposed to end soon anyway, we need not bother taking care of it or should try to speed up its demise. I take heart knowing that this is a minority view, and not necessarily the view of the mainstream, many of whom believe it is our duty to preserve God’s creation and that humans will be judged by how well we exercise stewardship (rather than dominion) of the planet. In the issue ecology versus theology, I believe that religion, like technology, is not inherently bad or good; the question is how it is used. We can focus on the afterlife and take bits of scripture to justify our current unsustainable actions, or we can embrace the life we have been blessed with to live a short and sweet time on this glorious, beautiful planet and preserve this beautiful gift for the generations of humans and nonhumans to come. As far as whether this world is an illusion, obviously I cannot deny this with any semblance of authority, but I wonder if creating opposition between body versus spirit, Heaven versus Earth, man versus nature, and similar dichotomies, is the real illusion.
The more I learn about various religions, physical and social sciences, and philosophies, the more I believe that the notion that they are inherently incompatible is greatly misguided. Moses Maimonides and Thomas Aquinas are just two examples of theologians who were able to reconcile philosophy and science with spiritual teachings, and many scientists past and present believe that they are simply studying God’s natural laws; discoveries in quantum physics in particular are helping to bridge the perceived gap between spiritual teachings and scientific findings. Many aspects of Buddhist philosophy have found their way into Western psychology (e.g. practice of “mindfulness” in dialectical behavior therapy), and Western doctors and psychiatrists are realizing what Eastern and indigenous medicine knew all along: that spirituality has a positive effect on health. Ian Barbour states that “Science and religion cannot conflict if they are independent and autonomous enterprises, each asking a distinctive question, employing distinct methods, and serving distinctive functions in human life.”[12]
The Bahá’í faith frequently uses the analogy of wings to show that two seemingly opposing forces are in fact complementary, such as male and female, intellect and passion, or indeed religion and science; humanity cannot fly using only one wing, but must use both in order to soar. I think that is a beautiful and profound analogy and have integrated it into my own beliefs, along with some late-night philosophizing and deep-woods meditation. I have trouble accepting that the UR is something “out there,” divorced from the Earth, and I like the Sufi interpretation of God being “closer than [one’s] jugular vein”[13] implying that the UR is immanent. I cannot walk through the natural world, especially a forest or prairie, without feeling a spiritual presence. For now at least, I have come to believe that the material universe is a physical manifestation of a great spiritual force -- known by so many names to so many people -- which is realized in an infinite number of ways, some conceivable by the human mind, others not.
Understanding religions which are unfamiliar to us is crucial to avoid making sweeping generalizations based on lack of information. Ignorance leads to fear, which can easily lead to hate; the logical remedy for hate, then, is knowledge. Moreover, it is crucial to study and understand religion because we can benefit so much from learning about each other’s beliefs. I tend to think that while no religion (or philosophy or science for that matter) holds a monopoly on truth, perhaps each in some way is able to get a handle on a small part of it -- not unlike the traditional story of the blind men and the elephant. From an absolutist point of view, one person’s dogma is another person’s heresy, and it’s this sort of dichotomous thinking that causes rifts between different faiths. We can debate semantics and details, and we can go about different ways of ascending the proverbial mountain, but in the end, aren't we all talking about the same thing, whether we call it Tao, Brahman, Akasha, Wakan Tanka, Natural Law, God, or just plain old Truth? Mohammed Neguib has made the analogy of religion as a candle inside a multicolored lantern: "Everyone looks through a particular color, but the candle is always there."[14] In terms of the UR, maybe there is no absolute right and no absolute wrong; just different ways of looking at the world.
Problems with institutionalized beliefs generally only arise when there is unthinking adherence to dogma, manipulating doctrine to justify questionable actions, or advocating “One Right Way” that everyone must follow. I think that there are so many different spiritual ways because no one path can effectively be prescribed for all of humanity when every culture, and indeed every individual person, is inherently unique. Maybe it is that sometimes one is born into the religious tradition that suits her or him best, and other times one must seek out a way (organized or mystic) that works for them. Religious and spiritual experiences can certainly be social, but ultimately, in order to be truly meaningful, they must be personal as well.
Works Cited and Bibliography
