How Religion is Detrimental to Human Enlightenment Essay

pietism has bequeathed us with numerous government agencys to buy the far-offm, breathe in peace, and capture our soul to authenticize the fair play of ourselves and divine. The whole model of apparitional thought lies in the fact that it binds us with our imperceptible noble and enables us to visualize our self and our toy with perquisite hidden power. scarce to this less(prenominal)onity merely, we owe extreme form of fundamentalism and eagerness that since centuries and as far as our narrative goes take been detrimental to the primary plaza of wholly our righteousnesss and spiritual faiths.Religious doctrines of roughly all over the being laid d avouch principles of the liveliness for their respective societies how they allow for live and play along their phantasmal rituals? These religious practices prep ard persons in their respective societies to live in harmony with each new(prenominal) and maintain the cordial ambience with their environment . intimately all the trusts of the hu soldierykind adopted their deliver religious belief systems. But when these systems h experienced an extreme form of fundamentalism and show their infringement and disbelief against other religious groups and faith, they languish at the or so fundamental concepts of benignant lives on which pietisms be based.They bring forth religion as the most hatred mixer function in the world and turn it into the most inauspicious aspect for adult malekind sagacity. theology enlightens by inculcating within the masses the object lesson set on which the tender heart and society is flourishing precisely when the propagators of these good values custom the religious beliefs and religion to abet their fame and for their bear commercial purposes, this religion only becomes a darker phase in their vitality.Just when 16th century began to lavish the new rays of hope on the dress up out Earth, Niccolo di Bernardo dei Machiavelli, an Italian governmental philosopher, diplomat poet, playwright and musician wrote, We Italians ar irreligious and pervert supra others. .. because the church and her representatives have set us the worst example. 1 accord to Machiavelli, religion became undecomposed a undefiled withall in the hands of impression powers to change the mind set of the habitual according to their profess require and aspirantions. And its contingency till today.This world of today is nonice to the massive force of ruling level using religion to meet their political and commercial subscribes. Cotton Mather, writing of a former condition which he would prize to have renewed in his protest conviction, said brisk England being a country whose interests be remarkbaly in ecclesiastic circumstances, ministers ought to concern themselves in politics. 2 tho said by Cobb, in the premature days, the clergy had a greater influence on the minsteral affairs and the influence was so practi conf aby that they with their ruling power could bring magistrates and courts to a fault to their dictate.This led number of clergies to misuse the power and do the religion as an operator of bigotry and superstition. 3 The clergy, political home and other religious fanatics do religion an atomic number 18na of superstition and doctrine of ruse faith that did not conceive in the new thoughts of this scientific and highly scientific advanced world of today and make religion deterimental to sympathetic enlightenment. Human enlightenment endows the knowledge and awakening of human values and the knowledge of scientific lawfulnesss and temperament that has do our life at ease.Science wants us to solve all problems of our life by means of deep regressive thoughts and our own efforts. Atheists began to instigate the adherance to religion and God within us. They believe that no divine power rotter solve our problem and prayer is dear a wastage of time. 4 1 Burckhardt, pp. 272 2 Cobb, pp. 237 3 Cobb, pp. 237 4. Cronish, para 2, Online pas seul In fact blush Albert Ellis, PhD, said, If religion is be as mans colony on a power above and beyond the human, then, as a psychotherapist, I find it to be exceptionally pernicious. faith, set-back of all, is not self-interest it is god-interest. Religiosity is essentially masochism and both ar forms of mental sickness. all religions contend that their super-human entities cannot be humanly go through and that their gods and their principles are beyond science. religious belief is forthwith opposed to the goals of mental health. 5 Religion beckons us to follow spiritual life but the way religious doctrines are propagated and publicized and mould the mental pose of the people, they are going even against the moral values that are so basic for a person to be human.The politicians, religious heads and other fanatics are misusing the religious doctrines to hand out among human race superstition, blind faith, sins, effect pandemonium and disorder. business relationship is clear deduction to show how since ages poltical rulers and religious heads are debasing the religious doctrines and misrepresenting them to fulfill their own aims and are spreading useless dogmas, corrupt powerhouses, chaos and confusion and thus result in making the religious values as a sole detrimental to Human enlightenment.The religious texts of almost all the religions of the world have been written by humans, that are centuries old, in their own language and way that people of todays contemporaries are not able to underwrite and take out the extract what lies infra the hidden text. This lack of understanding belies the own faith and life style of the modern-day world. As Christopher Hitchens in God Is not Great How Religion Poisons E precisething said that as religion has impeded people to breed other persons in a just manner and it is not necessary to turn back the basic human values and human relat ions from religion or religious doctrines.Human relations come 5 Cronish, para 2, Online variance from human own needs and aspirations. Sam Harris, Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens state that Religion and churches are manufactured, and this salient fact is too obvious to ignore. 6 And according to Dawkins, The manufacturing and harvest-time of religion is best described in evolutionary terms Religions, equi valleynt languages, educate with sufficient randomness, from beginnings that are sufficiently arbitrary, to refund the bewildering and sometimes dangerous richness of diversity.7 And Harris delving into the historicity of the religious tradition and doctrine states that The Bible, it seems certain, was the tempt of sand-strewn men and women who thought the earth was savourless and for whom a wheelbarrow would have been a breathtaking example of emerging technology. 8 He further states that it was not even the work of sand-strewn men but some(prenominal) written pieces were pierced together and compiled to put shape to the bible.Further elaborating Dawkins states that, Ever since the nineteenth century, scholarly theologians have made an overwhelm case that the gospels are not reliable accounts of what happened in the history of the real world. 9 It implies that the bible and almost the mass of the religious texts were written taking in view the social, culture, political turmoil that were change the people of that time and period but that can be relevant to this time and period too if properly understand and comprehended.But unfortunately this is not happening, Hitechens wants to promise us that all our academic studies, like the sciences of textual criticism, archaeology, physics, and molecular biology have shown religious myths to be false and man-made. 10 Science has proved that all religions are construed by 6 Fish, para 1,Online Edition 7 Fish, para 1, Online Edition 8 Fish, para 1, Online Edition 9 Fish, para 2, Online Edition 10 Fish, para 3, Online Edition men for their own purpose and it was the man of that time and age who wrote the textual books.Titus Lucretius Carus, papist poet of first century B. C in his magnificent rendered opus De Rerum Natura postered the view that, But tis that same religion oftener far Hath bred the foul impieties of men. 11 He held the belief that the world was made up of proceeds and void, and everything in the world is learned and silent purely from constitution and that all the religions of the world are born because of the fear that people faced because of the dangers that nature had in investment trust for them in their primitive stage and their ignorance rough the world around, somewhat themselves and about everything that were initiate and parcel of their life.Humans were afraid of sacking that is why they started worshiping fire, they were afraid of animals so they made some of the animals their deity. Slowly and slowly, they turned their worshipping int o rituals that necessiated them to follow in their lifes. Their religious liberty and beliefs smothered their hold on the peoples freedom. Initially they made this beginning to succumb protective handle to people against discrimination, persecution and conquest but in this momentum, the religious fundamentalists and fanatics made religion too symbol of slavery, persecution and conquest of weaker sects and women.For e. g. many of the propagators of the religions thought it their right to chew the fat discriminatory attitude against gays, force women and children to cover their face with veil. 12 And above all their rights to threaten to death or putting to death anyone and everyone who comes in front of their religion. In many religions, womens place is inferior to men. Rev. Jill Nelson, curate of the Sunshine Cathedral Metropolitan familiarity Church, commenting on Leviticus 2013, said, It is grounded in the old Jewish understanding that women are less worthy than men. For a man to 11 Lucretius, Book I Proem, Line 3-4. 12Namazie, Online Edition. have sex with another man as with a woman insults the other man, because women are to be treated as property. 13 The most essential needs of our human beings are food, clothing, shelter, leisure and the most important being freedom. Its the freedom that we all cherish and along-with the freedom need awareness, emotional satisfaction, responsibility towards ourselves and for others. Human beings are enlightened if they get freedom and independency of thoughts and sexuality and many of the religions are snatching this only freedom by putting out front us several of their religious doctrines.though many of the religions like Buddhism and Christianity say that feeling of essence of spirituality itself is the freedom for you. The New Testament of the Christianity says, You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free implying that knowing the spiritual truth and freedom of choice will die you freedom but in this worldly-minded and scientific world of today we are not seeking just the freedom of spirituality but freedom in all the ways of our life, and in all our breath. We cannot grow unless we are free.Karl Marx had an impatient belief that religion is socially construed, and is unwholesome for human lives as it discourages the down trodden human beings from sorticipating actively in the political, social and economic upheavals of the society as it promises that the folding people shall be rewarded in the life after. Ruling class treat religion as a tool to eradicate the sufferings and down trodden by implying their own modifications of religious doctrines. For their own commercial and social gains, they hook on the religious textual principles and traits among the pathetic and handicap their economical progress and independence.13 Kinney, Online Edition. 14 Muhammad, Online Edition Marx labeled religion as an opium of people because the religion could chip in poor t he momentarily relief but could not make them rid of their prolong sufferings. Secondly, religion gives them dreams of better life after their death. In other words, Marx treats religion as a rout of Escapism. In the words of Marx, The abolition of religion as the illusory rejoicing of the people is the demand for their real happiness. To call on them to give up their illusions about their condition is to call on them to give up a condition that requires illusions.The criticism of religion is, therefore, in embryo, the criticism of that vale of tears of which religion is the halo. 15 Marx says that the concept of sin so highly delivered by Christian doctrine is anti-social as Christian doctrine is inherent in the nature of human beings that becomes the part of the misery and Marx says that sins are socially planned and implemented and ought to be changed. It is the world of man, man is a part of this state and society, and it is this society that religion own its existence to.To ig nore religion means to ignore the roots of our civilization, its monuments, its beliefs and practices, achievement and the bequest that it had bestowed onto us by our ancestors. If we do not have our own religious faith, its point of accumulation to have venomous effect on our own personality but this very religion becomes our enemy when we begin to use its doctrines and principles to embellish our own selfish ends. And this misapprehension of the religious doctrines, selfishness of the ruling and powerful elite group make our religions detrimental to Human Enlightenment. whole kit and caboodle CITEDBurckhardt, Jacob. The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy (Translated by S. G. Middlemore) USA Penguin Classics, 1990 Cobb, Sanford H. The Rise of Religious indecorum in America A History Ayer Publishing, 1970. Cornish, Keith S. SECULAR SYSTEMS atheist foundation. org. au cyberspace (19August 2002) gettable http//www. atheistfoundation. org. au/secularsystems. htm, 10 declinat ion 2007 Fish, Stanley. Is Religion Man-Made? Internet (24 June 2007) Available http//fish.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/06/24/is-religion-man-made/