Beliefs & Believers, Essay Example

One excellent example which incorporates experiential, mythic, and ritual dimensions is the wedding ceremony. The wedding ceremony includes the stated life stage experiential component which the two ceremony participants will remember their entire lives, the mythic aspect of sanctified union and the ritual aspects of a religious or civil service coupled with particular actions and statements to give the wedding ceremony religious, social and cultural weight.

A strong example of the interplay between the doctrinal, ethical and social aspects of a religion can be seen in the highly organized and hierarchical Roman Catholic Church. As understood by the Chapter 11 Triangle, the evolving doctrinal rules as developed by the Pope and Curia along with the ethical rules and traditions of the Catholic Religion helps shape to define Catholic societies (for example fish eating on Fridays and an emphasis on charity work).

One example of a religious conflict with intense inter-relationship dimensions is the Arab-Israeli conflict. Currently the religious and political conflict results in profound barriers to interaction between these groups due to legal, cultural, linguistic and physical barriers. In my opinion, if people had a better understanding of the inter-relatedness of their two societies they might better be able to understand the actions and beliefs of the other. Example of this success can be seen in mixed Arab-Jewish cities such as Jaffa, Lod and Haifa where tension is minimal.

Yes, I would have maintained what the video producers decided on. These roll-ins helped show the important role that religion plays across humanity and drew on the significant life and religious experience that these individuals had to offer.

a) Religious expression is a universal human behavior; b) Religion is neither good or bad but dependent morally on how it is used; c) Religion can create incredible beauty or profound evil.

The modern world had a profound impact on religion as for the first time in human history the breadth of human societies were exposed to the variety of human religion. In addition, with this mixing of religions, the state could no longer allow for one religion to control a society but a secular sphere inevitably emerged as in America and France which did not tolerate religious exclusion or control.

a. Absolute truth claims; b. Blind obedience; c. Establishing the “ideal” time; d. The end justifies any means; and e. Declaring holy war. Kamikaze attacks during World War II by Shinto Buddhists and the 9/11 attacks by Wahhabi Sunni Muslims demonstrate Kimball’s symptoms as a socio-political conflict adopted religious connotations and used them to justify sending soldiers on suicide missions with complete confidence in the validity of their creed to restore a fallen past by whatever means necessary.

Negative Identity Formation can be understood as defining yourself or group in conflict with another individual or group. This can be seen in Islamic terrorist groups whose entire reason for being is the destruction of another religious group.

Modern science is recognizing the important of rituals in human biology by using fMRI to unlock patterns of brain function during meditation and prayer. This shows how prayer utilized scientifically established channels of neurobiology to influence human thought and emotions. One example of religious brain retraining could be seen in Native American use of peyote and other drugs to influence thought.

The difference between religion and spirituality is one of organization. Spirituality is religious feeling in isolation from society. When that motivation is organized on a social scale it becomes religion.