My fourth blog post, pertaining to the controversial issue of religion; in the novel, 'To Kill A Mockingbird', and in our world.
I knew, when I started working on this blog, I would have to, at one point, touch upon religion; one of, if not the, most controversial topics facing even todays world. If religion were a disease, it would be the most contagious and have the highest mortality rate. In Maycomb, Alabama circa 1930, religion-particularly Chrisianity-was the backbone of society. Religion is still a very prominent part of society, however, it is not as blind as it once was; we now are exposed to the multitudes of different religions; we are now able to question ourselves, our beliefs, and the beliefs of others-at, of course, no harm to them-. In the setting of 'To Kill A Mockingbird', the people did not have these freedoms, hence the children grew up devout and with unwavering belief.
Religion was present in every part of their society, even in the courts; the "testimonie[s] [were to be kept] within the confines of Christian English". However, in a society like that, when there is nothing else, I do not believe religion could do much harm, as everyone would be the same in that aspect. Problems arise when people are intolerant toward other belief systems, and under those circumstances, religion can motivate, like nothing else can, humanity to such extremes, that religion becomes the aforementioned disease.
I am not saying religion is a bad thing, it has many great attributes; it brings people together, makes them feel apart of something much bigger than themselves, hence it provides a feeling of security-be it false or true-. Living in constant fear of death, or the sort, is detrimental for everybody, if religion combats that, who can say it is a bad thing? However, faith, may not be such a good thing; believing undividedly and unconditionally in something for which there is no evidence, to escape from the realities of our world, is far from healthy.
Religion, not unlike virtually anything else in our world, can be great in moderation, but in this case, you can definitely have too much of a good thing.
Avineet
I really like this post because religion has been and always will be one of the major issues that our world faces. I appreciated your end note a lot because it leaves the reader thinking about your blog and it really makes your post memorable. Once again, Great post!
ReplyDelete"...Faith, may not be such a good thing; believing undividedly and unconditionally in something for which there is no evidence, to escape from the realities of our world, is far from healthy..."
ReplyDeleteGreat Blog post. It is very concise, coherent and direct to the point. I respect your opinion on the topic but I think the way you concluded the quotation above is a bit one sided. There is no doubt that some people do use, faith, as a method in which they can, " escape from the realities of the world. " But have you ever considered that some see, faith, as their own reality? As they constantly believe that they are guided by a deity, with no clear cut evidence and factuality, they develop their own purpose in life and have a - reality. I'm not objecting your point, because I do believe in them, however I strongly feel the need to explain the other side of the coin that wasn't elaborated in much detail. Anyhow, great post.
-Lorenzo.