There are so many religions in the world, and no one has the exact same beliefs despite what religion they are. To me this seems to indicate that religion is man made, and I suppose I really mean that all of the religions today are man made. I think that there is something intangible about the world that links everything together, and I guess you could call that a higher power, but I think that this power applies to everyone equally and doesn't require anything to work; it is innate. People can realize that our actions affect everyone and act accordingly or they can not think about it when they make decisions. Religions, as Ali pointed out in class, tended to make "rules and stories" to enforce behavior for some purpose other than strictly this is what god said, like the marriage rules. As I've said before, religion and its rituals serve to reinforce to hierarchy or social structures in societies. An example of this would be witchcraft in certain societies in Ghana. Since people do not want to be accused of witchcraft it serves as a check on deviant behavior, and it enforces society's structure because you aren't allowed to accuse the aristocrats.Also religions borrow or build upon other religions. The first or second day of class I think we said religion was a process, and this evolution of religion shows that religion is at least strongly affected by the changing factors in society, if not a direct result. An example of building upon other religions can be found in the similarities between bible stories and Sumerian stories that are thousands of years older than the Old Testament. The following are lines taken from Babylonian cuneiform compared to lines from the bible story of Noah. Babylonian cuneiform: The gods decide to make a flood. The God Ea warns Artarthasis to build a ship. Artarhasis is to take his family and animals aboard. The flood turns mankind into clay. The ship grounds on Mount Nisir. Artarhasis learns when the waters have subsided by sending out a dove, a swallow, and a raven. He offers sacrifice to the gods. The gods smelled the sweet savor. The god Enlil blesses Artarhasis and his wife. From Genesis: The Lord decides to destroy wicked mankind. The Lord warns Noah to build an ark. Noah is to take his family and animals aboard. The flood destroys all flesh. The ark comes to rest on the Ararat Mountains. Noah learns when the waters have subsided by sending out a dove, a swallow, and a raven. he offers sacrifice to the Lord. The Lord smells the pleasing odor. God blesses Noah and his sons. In other religions too, one sees lots of symbols that are borrowed.
Because of the wide varieties of religion, and the process in which they are created I believe religion according to Geertz's definition is man made.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
There are soo many definition of religion but i would like to build my point on the one definition that is mostly used. That is religion is a cultural practice defined by the way a group of people live and way these people live is by a set of rules and regulations which determines their moral conducts.In my opinion,religion is from a 'supreme being" of some sort. From a christian's point of view I would think religion is from God. Why do I say so, because the first set of rules were made first by God.That is the Ten Commandement. These commandments has been the fundamental rules of what we consider as man made religious rules today.I agree very well with you on the point that religion has evolved but what has lead to these changes are what i would agree on as being man made but religion as an estasblishment in my opinion is from God.
ReplyDeleteFurther, from a pegan or even people who don't beleive in God, there is still an idea of a a supreme being, an unseen or spiritual intervention that people believe in and leave their lives accondign to these believe. So in my view,religion is from a higher being certainly not from man.