How Religion is Detrimental to Human Enlightenment Essay

Religion has bequeathed us with numerous violences to live, breathe in peace, and capture our someone to in truthize the honor of ourselves and divine. The whole image of worship lies in the point that it binds us with our imperceptible creator and enables us to visualize our self and our applaud perquisite hidden power. only when to this morality only, we owe extreme radiation pattern of importantism and fanaticism that since centuries and as far as our register goes have been ruinous to the basic core of totally told our righteousnesss and ghostlike combines.Religious doctrines of al approximately all over the knowledge domain laid d avow principles of the life for their several(prenominal) societies how they ordain live and follow their ghostly rituals? These spiritual practices prepargond persons in their respective societies to live in harmony with each another(prenominal) and maintain the kindly ambience with their environ workforcet. Almost all the worships of the existence adopted their ca example ghostlike belief systems. But when these systems take an extreme form of fundamentalism and show their onset and disbelief against other sacred groups and faith, they hurt at the most fundamental concepts of human being lives on which religions argon based.They make religion as the most hatred thing in the world and turn it into the most unpromising aspect for human enlightenment. Religion enlightens by inculcating within the great deal the virtuous set on which the human life and society is flourishing still when the propagators of these moral value use the ghostlike beliefs and religion to inspire their fame and for their cause commercial purposes, this religion only becomes a darker phase in their life. retributory when 16th century began to shower the new rays of hope on the fetch Earth, Niccolo di Bernardo dei Machiavelli, an Italian political philosopher, diplomat poet, playwright and musician wrote, We Italian s are ethnic and corrupt above others. .. because the church and her representatives have set us the tally example. 1 According to Machiavelli, religion became meet a mere calamus in the hands of ruling powers to change the mind set of the national according to their avow inevitably and aspirantions. And its happening till without delay.This world of today is witness to the massive force of ruling class using religion to meet their political and commercial needs. Cotton Mather, writing of a occasion condition which he would admired to have renewed in his testify cadence, said New England being a country whose interests are remarkbaly in ecclesiastical circumstances, ministers ought to concern themselves in politics. 2 Further said by Cobb, in the early days, the clergy had a greater influence on the minsteral personal business and the influence was so much that they with their ruling power could bring magistrates and courts as well as to their dictate.This led number of clergies to misuse the power and made the religion as an instrument of bigotry and superstition. 3 The clergy, political class and other religious fanatics made religion an arena of superstition and doctrine of guile faith that did not believe in the new thoughts of this scientific and highly technological advanced world of today and made religion deterimental to tender enlightenment. sympathetic enlightenment endows the knowledge and awakening of human values and the knowledge of scientific truths and temperament that has made our life at ease. information wants us to form all problems of our life through deep regressive thoughts and our induce efforts. Atheists began to instigate the adherance to religion and God within us. They believe that no divine power can solve our problem and prayer is just a wastage of time. 4 1 Burckhardt, pp. 272 2 Cobb, pp. 237 3 Cobb, pp. 237 4. Cronish, para 2, Online interpretation In fact even Albert Ellis, PhD, said, If religion is define d as mans dependency on a power above and beyond the human, then, as a psychotherapist, I find it to be exceptionally pernicious.Religion, depression of all, is not expedience it is god-interest. Religiosity is essentially masochism and both are forms of mental sickness. All religions involve that their super-human entities cannot be humanly experienced and that their gods and their principles are beyond science. Religion is directly 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 project the mental attitude of the great deal, 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 spread among human race superstition, blind faith, sins, violence chaos and disorder. History is clear proof to show how since ages poltical rulers and religious heads are degrading the religious doctrines and misrepresenting them to fulfill their own aims and are paste useless dogmas, corrupt powerhouses, chaos and confusion and thus result in making the religious values as a sole noxious to Human enlightenment.The religious texts of almost all the religions of the world have been indite by humans, that are centuries old, in their own language and style that people of todays generation are not able to grind and take out the extract what lies beneath the hidden text. This lack of taste belies the own faith and life style of the contemporary world. As Christopher Hitchens in God Is Not Great How Religion Poisons Everything said that as religion has impeded people to sell other persons in a just manner and it is not necessary to learn the basic human values and human dealing from religion or religious doctrines.Human relations come 5 Cronish, para 2, Online Edition 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 excessively obvious to ignore. 6 And according to Dawkins, The manufacturing and growth of religion is best exposit in evolutionary terms Religions, like languages, evolve with sufficient randomness, from beginnings that are sufficiently arbitrary, to generate 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 work of sand-strewn men and women who thought the earth was flatcar and for whom a wheelbarrow would have been a breathtaking example of appear technology. 8 He further states that it was not even the work of sand-strewn men but several written pieces were pierced together and compiled to agree square off to the bible.Further elaborating Dawkins states that, Ever since the nineteenth century, scholarly theologians have made an consuming case th at 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 majority of the religious texts were written taking in view the social, culture, political turmoil that were affecting the people of that time and period but that can be relevant to this time and period besides if properly interpreted and comprehended.But unfortunately this is not happening, Hitechens wants to tell 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, Roman poet of first century B. C in his ma gnificent 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 matter and void, and everything in the world is learned and understood purely from nature 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 enclose for them in their primitive stage and their ignorance or so the world around, about themselves and about everything that were bust and parcel of their life.Humans were alarmed of fire that is why they started worshiping fire, they were afraid of animals so they made umteen of the animals their deity. Slowly and slowly, they turned their worshipping into rituals that necessiated them to follow in their lifes. Their religious exemption and beliefs strangled their hold on the peoples exemption. Initially they made this beginning to give protective cover to people again st discrimination, persecution and oppression but in this momentum, the religious fundamentalists and fanatics made religion too symbol of slavery, persecution and oppression of weaker sects and women.For e. g. many of the propagators of the religions thought it their right to confer discriminative attitude against gays, force women and children to cover their face with veil. 12 And above all their rights to threaten to death or kill anyone and everyone who comes in front of their religion. In many religions, womens place is inferior to men. Rev. Jill Nelson, pastor of the Sunshine duomo Metropolitan Community Church, commenting on Leviticus 2013, said, It is grounded in the old Judaic 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 other 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, clo thing, 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 independence of thoughts and sexuality and many of the religions are snatching this only freedom by putting before us several of their religious doctrines.Though many of the religions like Buddhism and Christianity say that soupcon 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 select will give you freedom but in this materialistic 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 ardent belief that religi on is socially construed, and is harmful for human lives as it discourages the down trodden human beings from take part actively in the political, social and economic upheavals of the society as it promises that the sheepcote people shall be rewarded in the life after. Ruling class treat religion as a tool to suppress the sufferings and down trodden by implying their own modifications of religious doctrines. For their own commercial and social gains, they imbibe the religious textual principles and traits among the poor and hamper 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 give poor the momentarily relief but could not make them relieve 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 happiness of the people is the demand for their real happiness. To chat 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 ignore religion means to ignore the roots of our civilization, its monuments, its beliefs and practices, acquisition and the legacy that it had bestowed onto us by our ancestors. If we do not have our own religious faith, its bound to have venomous effect on our own persona lity but this very religion becomes our enemy when we begin to use its doctrines and principles to embellish our own selfish ends. And this misinterpretation of the religious doctrines, selfishness of the ruling and brawny elite make our religions detrimental to Human Enlightenment.WORKS CITEDBurckhardt, Jacob. The Civilization of the renascence in Italy (Translated by S. G. Middlemore) USA Penguin Classics, 1990 Cobb, Sanford H. The Rise of Religious Liberty in America A History Ayer Publishing, 1970. Cornish, Keith S. SECULAR SYSTEMS atheist foundation. org. au mesh (19August 2002) Available http//www. atheistfoundation. org. au/secularsystems. htm, 10 December 2007 Fish, Stanley. Is Religion Man-Made? net profit (24 June 2007) Available http//fish.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/06/24/is-religion-man-made/