Category: Religious Beliefs

Religion has always been an integral part of every nation, every nation or every culture. Depending on living conditions, personal conditions or direct or indirect agents, each person has a different viewpoint and religious practices. Social factors also greatly influence religious practice and the growth of religion on every believers. The day-to-day development of modern society also entails many social issues beyond the control of religious norms, such as same-sex marriage. Each religion has its own characteristics, a separate teaching system, as well as different moral standards, but the common point is that people are directed to the right and good things. So in modern society, when abnormal issues like same-sex marriage are no longer a noticeable issue, how are ethical standards assessed? In my point of view, I would like to assess the religious views on the issue of same-sex marriage for Buddhism, Christianity and Hinduism.

Firstly, it is obviously that in the orthodox view of the Buddhist teaching, there is no mention of same-sex relationships. The sermon lectures all promote serenity, direction and support for all the right things in each person’s life. Even though same-sex marriage is certainly an extraordinary, there are no rules that prohibit or force people to submit to or eliminate it. Homosexuality, according to scientists today, is not a disease, both psychologically and physiologically. This has been confirmed by the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO: World Health Organization) and the American Psychiatric Association (WHO) by excluding homosexuals from the list of diseases world. The nature of homosexuality is not good or bad but good or bad is due to our conduct in life with our surroundings. Buddhism is a compassionate religion that saves suffering, equality and regardless of race, religion, color and gender. With the principle of loving all sentient beings, Buddhism does not advocate judging, not opposing or criticizing others, merely based on one’s nature, because this is seen as an approval. judgmental and unfair. Buddhism believes that everything in the world is impermanent, human life also transforms constantly and depending on the karma of every being, the sex can change from one gender to another like a human. A man becomes a woman or vice versa and moves from generation to generation Therefore, through the teachings of the Buddha, we do not see him criticizing morally gay people. For homosexual Buddhists, the Buddha did not have any laws or advice on marriage of people of this gender. He said that He was just a guide, a guide for sentient beings to the shore of liberation. It is understood that he does not have the authority to force others to follow Him or what to do. This principle shows us that the Buddha’s Dharma principle does not include the rules, customs and practices of society as well as the form of rituals for Buddhism. Venerable Thanissaro, the abbot of Metta Forest Monastery in Escondido, southern California, said the Buddha had never banned monks from practicing homosexuality at home. One of the features of Buddhism that can generate interest for gays and lesbians is that the doctrine does not place a special value on reproduction. Marriage and childbirth are considered positive but are not obligatory. Buddhism inherently does not emphasize sexual issues, though sometimes it becomes a problem in the process of awakening and enlightenment. Homosexual and same-sex marriage is quite the same, also not the main concern in Buddhism. Many temples, monasteries, as well as monks often teach Buddhists to see the world through the lens of karma. Every person is born to pay for karma in a past life. According to their explanation, all homosexual and homosexual people are often the result of adultery in previous lives, and so they must pay the result in this lifetime. So, they have to accept what society treats. This system of beliefs has created a solid conservatism in the culture of Theravada Buddhist nations.

Secondly, same-sex marriage is also the big concern in Christianity. Based on the Bible, which sees them as serious depravity, the Church’s tradition has always stated: ‘Homosexual acts are intrinsically disorderly.’ They are against the law of nature. They remove from the act of sex the gift of life. Nor do they derive from the need for true mutual and emotional support. These behaviors are not acceptable in any case. God created mankind so that men and women have sex only within the framework of marriage. The Bible condemns that sexual practice is not between husband and wife, whether it is the act of same-sex or opposite sex The argument against homosexual activity ‘stems directly from the teaching of the revelation of marriage, specifically teaching that the two purposes of the act of human sexuality are the constant union of love between the husband and wife and childbirth – these two goals are inseparable. Because homosexual activity cannot accomplish one purpose or the other, it is certainly immoral in itself”. The current doctrine of the Church also teaches: “The marriage covenant, whereby a man and a woman form a community for life, is intrinsically directed towards the interests of spouses. like toward childbirth and education. This covenant has been raised by Christ to the sacraments among those who have received baptism’. The canonical law of the Church also stipulates as follows: “Because of the covenant of marriage, men and women form one communion of life. By nature, the covenant of marriage is directed towards the good of the couple and to the procreation and education of children. Christ raised the covenant of marriage between the baptized into the sacrament” (Canon law 1055 & 1). Thus, there is absolutely no doctrine or canon law that allows same-sex marriage marriage) between two men or two women, which some countries – including the United States – are allowing this type of marriage. This is a severe decline in the morality and purpose of marriage, an institution. For a long time in human society of all cultures, this institution only recognized marriage between a man and a woman. In general, Christianity is not really support LGBT community as well as giving any agreement in same-sex marriage.

Last but not least, Hinduism, India’s largest religion, has a tradition of depicting homosexuality as natural and cheerful, although some Hindu texts contain specific measures against homosexuality. Hinduism also recognizes the third sex called Hijra. Historians have long argued that pre-colonial Indian society did not criminalize homosexual relationships, nor did it consider them unethical or sinful. Hinduism, India’s largest religion, has a tradition of depicting homosexuality as natural and cheerful, although some Hindu texts contain specific measures against homosexuality. is between priests. On September 6, 2018, the Supreme Court of India legalized homosexuality by declaring Section 377 of the Indian Unconstitutional Criminal Code. Unlike Judaism, Christianity and Islam, which focus on the actions of a single lifetime, Hindu belief centers on a continuous process of birth and rebirth that ultimately releases the true self from the limitations of body and the ego – a freeing of the spirit called moksha. Hindus should understand the scientific and medical conclusions that LGBT orientations occur naturally in a percentage of most life forms. Hindu teachings hold the inherent spiritual equality of all beings, regardless of outer attributes. As such, Hindus should not reject or socially ostracize LGBT individuals, but should accept them as fellow sojourners on their paths to moksha. Various historical events are testament to such changes, and even in ancient times, Hinduism never advocated broad-based, harsh punishments for homosexuality.

In 1999, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that same-sex couples in Canada were entitled to many financial and legal benefits often associated with marriage. The Ontario government’s decision recognizing two marriages took place in Toronto on January 14, 2001, making Canada the first country in the world to have same-sex marriage legally legalized by the government. Being as a multi-culture country, it is understandable that government and people in Canada are quite comfortable in accept same-sex marriage and support LGBT community.

The role of religion USIG conflict perspective

Religion is the belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal God or gods. The role of religion in society is definitely a dynamic one. The relationship between both religion and society is always changing. Religion affects different societies in different ways and in different forms, causing the forms of society to change according to a change in religion. Religion can be a driving force in society but as a reactionary rather than in a radical way. This writing explores the role of religion in society from a conflicting perspective view. It is a theoretical presentation of religious experience from a conflict perspective. It focuses on highlighting the important roles played by religion with reference to the conflict perspective.

Karl Marx`s theory of religion is a complex network of intellectual developments drawn from a variety of sources: philosophical, moral, social, historical, economic, political, and anthropological. The role of religion in a society is quite powerful in driving society. Religion affects different societies in different forms, leading to in change society.

3. 1. The role of religion in maintaining social inequality

Conflict theorists view religion as an institution that helps maintain patterns of social inequality(Welton,2015). According to this perspective, religion has been used to support the divine right of oppressive monarchs and to justify unequal social structures. Conflict theorists are critical of the way many religions promote the idea that believers should be satisfied with existing circumstances because they are divinely ordained(Jost,2014). This power dynamic has been used by Christian institutions for centuries to keep poor people poor and to teach them that they shouldn`t be concerned with what they lack because their true reward (from a religious perspective) will come after death. The conflict theory focuses on the competition between groups within society over limited resources. As Karl Marx argued that religion works to calm uncertainty over our role in the universe and in society.

3.1.1. Religion in maintaining gender inequality.

Looking on gender inequality, religion has had a crucial impact on gender inequality, serving as a catalyst for the development of rules that oppress women and give men supremacy. Men are given control over women in most, if not all, religions, and so a woman’s role becomes submissive. Religion has defined how a woman should behave and has hindered women from having equal possibilities as men. Women are taught that a man is the leader of the household and that they must always submit to him(McKinnon,2013). The function of a woman in religion has been defined as a helper to her husband and a follower of a man’s (husband’s) leadership. Giving an example, in the Nazareth Baptist church, popularly known as the Shembe church, women are hindered by a set of norms from living the life they desire, they are forced to comply with the rules. One of the well-known rules is that women are not allowed to stand before men, it is regarded as a disgrace and a lack of submission.

In addition, Women are not allowed to wear pants or plait their hair in certain ways. Deciding for a woman how she should look is oppression. Women are not allowed to use any form of artificial hair because it is regarded as a worldly trait that will make them fall into sin. Women are not allowed to lead any church services, preference is given to their sons because they will grow to be men. Men also do the leading of songs and prayer, women only get to shine in their religious dance. Oppression in the church dates to arranged marriages. Kelvingrove and Havlicek (2005:2-11) mentioned that women did not have a say about who they married but were forced to take whatever men their fathers think is right for them. In those churches, a woman who has had children out of wedlock is given to older men in marriage. Young maidens are encouraged to stay virgins until they marry, they wear veils in church as a sign of purity, and if you are no longer a virgin you are not allowed in the cycle. Women who have had children out of wedlock are not allowed to enter the holy temple while men who have committed the same sin have access to the holy place.

3.2. The Role of religion in reinforcing and promoting social inequality.

Religion reinforces and promotes social inequality and social conflict. It helps convince the poor to accept their lot in life, and it leads to hostility and violence motivated by religious differences. This perspective focuses on the ways in which individuals interpret their religious experiences(Jost,2014). Marx argued that the bourgeoise used religion as a tool to keep the less powerful proletariat pacified. Thus, the social conflict approach to religion highlights a phenomenon of human behavior functions to maintain social inequality by providing a worldview that justifies oppression. Religion acts as an opiate to dull the pain of exploitation and gives the working-class hope through the promise of the afterlife. Karl Marx viewed religion as a social control used to maintain the status quo in each society. The current state of things; is the way things are, as opposed to the way they could be in the existing situation. A strong correlation exists between inequality and religion, such that societies marked by high inequality are more religious than those with more egalitarian income distributions. What explains this correlation? Insecurity theory argues that high inequality generates intense insecurities, leading the poor to seek shelter in religion for both psychological and material comfort(McKinnon,2013).

3.3 Religion Maintains status quo

Karl Marx`s perspective on religion it is that it maintains the unequal status quo of a particular society (Boundless, 2015). By status quo, he is referring to the current state of the way things are now, as being in the opposite way of how they must be in a capitalist society. In this kind of society, groups of people who have more resources and power than other groups of people use religion as a tool to calm down the less powerful society members that work for wages.

Furthermore, Marx argued that religion calms people down by promising them that they will get a reward in the afterlife rather than in their current life (Boundless, 2015). People who have more resources and power are living their life happily, while the ones without resources are suffering from bad living conditions. The ones without resources are aware that the ones with resources take advantage of them, but due to their religious beliefs, they are accepting this fact (Coleman, 2011). When inequality is recognized and challenged, as is the case within liberation theologies, religion and religious ideas can provide powerful tools for those opposing the status quo.

3.4 Religion is the opium of the people

From Marx`s famous adage that religion is people`s opium to Weber`s recognition of the dignity brought about by religious music, and disagreements about prosocial and harmful, and even violent ( Welton,2015). The influence of religious belief and practice has been a long-term discussion in social theory. The social science literature shows that religion is shaped by social structures (including economic and political structures) and is an integral part of many cultures (Hout,2014).

People can be addicted to religion and the word addiction is mostly assumed to a bad like drug addiction or substance abuse, etc. most people devote themselves to religion and cant literally spend a day without spiritual worshiping or without worshiping god(Welton,2015). Religion is sometimes treated with a dedication to quality therapy.

To see that one is addicted to religion, he or she will avoid responsibilities or personal matters, one would be obsessed with religious rules, one would always have financial problems but always give big tithes at church, etc

References

1. Boundless. M. 2015. `Religion and social control` Boundless Sociology. Boundless, 27 Jun. 2015. Retrieved 07 Sept. 2021.
2. Coleman, P. G. Belief and Aging: spiritual Pathways in Later Life. Bristol Policy Press; Bristol, UK: 2011. [Google Scholar].
3. Stark, Rodney (2007). Sociology (10th ed.). Thomson Higher Education Thio, Alex (2008). Sociology: A Brief Introduction (7th ed)
4. Caprioli, M., 2005. Primed for violence: The role of gender inequality in predicting internal conflict. International studies quarterly, 49(2), pp.161-178.
5. Klingorova, K. and Havl`ek, T., 2015. Religion and gender inequality: The status of women in the societies of world religions. Moravian Geographical Reports, 23(2), pp.2-11
6. Lewis, John. (1975, June). `Marx and Religion` New humanist.91 (2): 34-37
7. Marx, K and Engels, F. (1975). On Religion Moscow: Progress Publishers.

For many years, religion has always been a major topic of discussion, whether that be within modern culture, or from its humble beginnings as early as second-century art. Within my essay, I intend to discover more about religion and the relevance it has in today’s society — through the exploration of both artistic and photographic mediums.

The second-century saw the birth of Christian art, also known as Paleo-Christian art or primitive Christian art, which involves a mixture of architecture, sculpture, and painting from the beginning of Christianity, until the sixth-century — focusing particularly on Italian and Western Mediterranean art. Christian art can be identified as early as second-century wall and ceiling paintings (see Fig. 1), found in Roman underground burial chambers. These catacombs were decorated in a specific sketchy style, which originated from Roman impressionism through the fourth century. The Romans gained their inspiration from a number of subjects, including animals, still life, portraits, and mythological creatures. Impressionism artworks consisted of visibly thin brush strokes, open composition, and emphasis on the accurate depiction of light in its changing forms. Other features include very ordinary subject matter and unusual visual angles. Roman impressionism provided an extensive record of the development of Christian subject matter within the art world. Much of the early forms of Christian iconography tended to be symbolic, for example, an ordinary depiction of a fish was adequate to allude to Christ, bread and wine referred to the Eucharist (Holy Communion), and early figural illustrations of Christ most often show him as ‘the Good Shepherd’ by directly adopting from the classic ideal (see Fig. 2).

Narrative structures tended to be typological, referencing parallels between the Old and New Testaments — mainly portraying Christ’s miracles. Imagery, such as the Crucifixion, Nativity, and Resurrection of Christ was avoided until Christianity became well established. This was mainly due to Christianity being identified as a mystery religion. Painters and sculptors were commissioned by Popes, religious and secular officials to illuminate a range of scenes from the Bible. Scenes were determined by religious diplomacies and the representation of the art form. Whilst not directly representing these Christian concepts, the themes of death and resurrection were enacted through paintings, which were derived from the Old Testament. All these could be seen to metaphorical imply the principal narratives of Christ’s life. Origins of Christian art date to a period in time when religion was a quiet, persecuted sect. It was only after 313, when the Christian emperor Constantine the Great decreed toleration of Christianity, that the religion began to flourish. The art during this period had its roots in ancient Roman style but soon evolved into a more abstract, simplified artistic interpretation. Its model was not identified by physical beauty but spiritual feeling. Human characters became types rather than individuals. Symbols were frequently used, with compositions being flat and hieratic, which allowed the artist to concentrate and visualise the main doctrine.

During the 18th century, a new era emerged highlighting tyrannical monarchs, whose reign was appointed by God, and based on the ‘Divine Right of Kings’. These monarchs, such as Louis XIV, the Russian Romanovs, and the Austrian Habsburgs, were concerned only with magnifying their secular status and developing their failing empires, in order to invest money in religious painting, sculpture, and architecture. In addition to this, the power of the Roman Catholic Church had been severely damaged by the destruction of its monasteries during the preceding two centuries. This devastating combination of secular and ecclesiastical vulnerability meant that during the 18th century there was a significant reduction in the cost of religious art. There was also a massive increase in the demand for portraiture and topographical landscapes from merchants and landowners during this time, which also hindered the value placed on Religious art. The 18th century ended with the French Revolution, which declared a shift in attitude across Europe. Art would now celebrate people, rather than deities. Even less religious art was produced during the 19th century. Due to the success of the Industrial Revolution, significant growth in financial status for nations and individuals was obtained — this was not invested in Christian art. Rather it went towards the development of social and public co-operation. Whilst a few painters continued to portray Biblical aspects within their work, the demand for spiritual artworks decreased.

However, it is not just religious art which has seen a decline during the past few centuries, Christianity as a whole has seen a decrease. Despite Ireland remaining a predominantly Christian nation, there has been a rapid decline in the number of residents who profess to be Christian. According to the 2016 Census by the Central Statistics Office, which covers overall population change, age, marital status, etc, there was a significant decline in the rate of those who adhere to the Catholic faith and other Christian denominations. Catholics who obtained up to 84.2 percent of Ireland’s population, now only make up 78.3 percent. As well as this, Church of Ireland, Presbyterian, Christian, Apostolic, and Pentecostal churches also saw a decrease in membership in the same census. On the other hand, those who identify themselves as having no religion saw an increase to 73.6 percent throughout the past five years. In Ireland alone, Christianity has taken a massive blow, so that leaves the question, does Christianity still have any relevance both within the photographic medium and today’s society?

Introduction: The Dual Nature of Religion in Society

While there are some aspects of region that are positive there are mostly negatives outcomes. The definition of religion is the belief and worship of a controls power. My four avenues of research are does religion cause conflict? How can religion cause equality?How is region good for the world? And Abuse within religion. Throughout my investigation I weighed up the pros and cons of religion. I evaluated at each of my avenue of research throughly to come up with accurate information. The five most popular worlds religions are Christianity with 2,116,909,552 members.Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikh and Judaism.

Religion and Conflict: A Historical Perspective

Religion can be a powerful tool used to better people but it can also be so powerful that people view their religion as the best and to spread awareness about their religion acts of violence can be committed. Religious conflicts have been going on for thousand and thousand of years. The Crusades were a series of religious wars that were enforced by the latin church in the medieval time period. The war was between christians and muslims as both religions wanted to secure holy sites. There have been countless attacks on religious places of worship. On the 27th of October 2018 there was a anti religion attack on a Shule. The gun man worked into the Shule yelling “all Jews must die”(Shooting at Pittsburgh synagog 2018, viewed 6 November 2019, ). The gunman killed 11 people and injured 6 this is 11 too many. Here we see the dangers that religion has as it can lead to death. Its not right that people feel they can kill someone based on their believe but as long as their is religion people are going to commit crimes targeting particular religions. In 2017 a man named Sayfullo Saipov drove a pickup truck down a crowded bike path along the Hudson River. As he was driving he screamed out “Allah Akbar” which is meaning for god is great in Arabic(Terror attack kills 8 and injures 11 in Manhattan 2018, viewed 6 November). This is just anther example of people believing their religion is superior to others. This highlights the dangers of religion as it can spark violence as people may have hate towards a certain religion or they may feel their religion is supper to others. Over the last years terrosim has been on the rise in more western countries. Groups such as ISIS carrying out their deadly attacks to prove that their religion is superior. In 2017 there were 18,814 deaths from terrorist attacks. The four main groups that carried out these attacks are Islamic state, the Taliban, al-shabab, and book haram. Religion can cause hate and conflict throughout the world.

Gender Inequality: A Religious Perspective

Most religions are equal in the way men and women live their life but some religions have inequalities within them. It can be small things that create the inequality. In Orthodox Judaism men and women pray in different sections and have different prays to say. In the male pray he says”Thanks a god who has not made me a women”. This is just one example of the many inequalities throughout religions. Over time women have progressed in gaining equality. Women and men used to not be seen as equals. Men were seen as superior to women and women were expected to stay home and look after her family. Now days it is seen as normal in most counties and religions for women to have jobs and not stay at home. Mainly in the middle east and North Africa. In Saudi Arabia in the muslim religion women are only allowed education to live a proper muslim life. Their access to education is very limited they’re taught certain aspects of the Quran. In the Islamic law women are obedient to men. Women are forced to expect that that they’re inferior to men. The proper job of a women is to look after her husband, the house and her children. The main reason for a hijab is to control a womens sexuality, it teaches them to limit their sexuality. At the age of 9 based on a Lunar year she is considered an adult and has to pray and is eligible for marriage. Women living under islamic law cannot travel, work, study and leave their house without permission from their husbend or father. Women can not get custody of their children. If her partner dies or she gets a divorce the husbands family gets the children.In many religions such as Judaism or Christianity women cant be priest or rabbis. As times have progressed it Is more common for women to have higher power within their religion. As evidence shows their is inequality within religion men and women may have differs standards or overall can be treated very differently.

Religion as a Source of Comfort and Moral Guidance

Religion can help and guide people within their life. It can be a moral guide to help people make the right decisions or something for people to turn to when they don’t know where else too go. Religion can be a motivation to do the right thing. Religion goes hand in hand with charity. A study found that religious Americans give more, volunteer more and give more often.55% of Americans said religious values are an important motivation for giving (How religion motivates people to give and serve 2017). The value of giving is deeply expressed in a lot of religious texts. In Judaism there is a concept of Tzedakah. It is considered a commandment and a moral obligation that all jewish people should donate to charities. Religion has helped many people over come traumas in their life. 22 year old Mahrukh Shaukatt said “Islam helped me overcome an eating disorder”(How religion saved our lives 2017)Mahruk is a muslim women. She talks about how she knew god was there when she was at her lowest point how she knew that god wanted listen to what she was saying to listen to her prays. This is just one example of the positives of religion and how it can be so good in peoples life. Sophie Dishman 22 said “Buddhism calms my anxiety”((How religion saved our lives 2017). While in university Sophie began getting very stressed and anxious. To the point of never wanting to leave her room. As a child she attend a christian youth club but as she got older she distance from the religion. As her anxiety grew she confindned in a couple of friends who were Buddhist. Sophie became intrigued in the Buddhist faith. She began following the faith.

Sophie said that the mediative aspect has really helped with her anxiety. Religious institutions are responsible for establishing hospitals, schools, orphanges and soup kitchens. Religion is a glue that can hold society together. A religious place of worship can be a safe space for so many people ,Religious rituals bring so may people together allowing them to socialise and forget about their day to day lives. In many religions there are events that bring people together such as Christmas or Shabbat on a Friday night. This is a time for family and this shows the positives of religions as it binds people together and acts as a social glue. Religion provides meaning and comfort to thousand and thousands of peoples life. It installs an outlook on life that is bigger then day to day hardships. Religion can be a very powerful social force. Great leaders like Martin Luther king and Gandhi were both empowered by their faith. Through their actions they managed to change cultural attitudes and put a stop to oppressive government policies. Regular attendance of religious services are linked to a stable family, strong marriages ,well behaved children. The practice of religion can lead to a reduction of domestic violence, abuse, substance abuse and addiction. Studies have shown that religion can impact your relationships with those around you. Mothers who deemed religion as not important in their life, where as those who deemed it important in their life said that their relationships with their child was rated significantly higher. For example when 18 year olds attend religious services the same frequency as their mother. The mother reported significantly better relationships with them. Research shows that men who attend religious services at least once a week were more then 50% less likely to commit an act of violence against their partner or peers. Evidently religion brings a sense of meaning to many people life without meaning to someones life people may feel empty which can lead to bigger problems down the track like negative mental health. Religion acts as a sense of hope and inspiration to others. Its a social glue where people can have the same ideas,vaules,beliefs and aims.

Abuse of Power: The Dark Side of Religious Institutions

Abusive power is something that has come up in the media in recent years. Wether its a priest or a rabbi its someone in a higher power abusing someone who trust them. The Catholic church in Victoria has been faced with over 800 new legal actions for child sex abuse. Many victims have come forward to share their horrific stories. A Melbourne seminary which is a training collage for priest was recently caught out on abuse charges. “I recall that seminarians would come out through the corridor into the sitting room and select a boy to go back with them,” said the now 57-year-old Fells.“After a short wait, Ryan came out into the sitting room and selected me.” Re calls one of the victims (How a Melbourne seminary became the breeding ground for paedohles). There have even been claims that members of the Catholic Church tried to cover up criminal conduct. Other priest are planning to use a new state law that allows courts to over turn historical compensation payments. Seven percent of Australian Catholic priest were accused of abusing children in the six decades since 1950, according from data from the royal commission. Abuse from priest who the victims trusted has left many victims scared for their life.

Maurice is a boy who was abused at his Catholic school from the ages of 11 and 15. He was abused by a priest at his school. His parents didn’t pick up on any of the clues. He didn’t speak up as he got into his teenage years as he was in such a dark place himself. Maurice suffers from post traumatic stress disorder as a result of his abuse Evidently abuse on anyone is not ok and for someone in a place of power to abuse that role is sickening. There have been many more victims that have come forward in sharing their stories. Anther case of abuse Is at a religious jewish school in Melbourne with a women named Malka liefer who was the former principal. Police have layed 74 charges against her at least 8 victims have come forward. Malka fled to Israel where she was allowed freedom and she was living a normal life. This has caused outrage at the isralie court system. In 2007 a women named Dassi Erlich got counselling when she started to have recurrent nightmares and anxiety about the abuse she encountered. The physiologist contacted someone she knew and the information got passed around. The orthodox community helped cover up her abuse. As soon as the allegations came out the school helped Malka leifer book a flight to Israel. Dassi Erlich came out about the case publican ,march 2017. She sued the school in a civil case she received 1.27 million. This shows the dark side of religion as not only was someone abused but a community within a religion has helped cover up someone else abuse. Evidently even within the people you trust the most like a religious leader abuse can happen and get covered up easier if you have the power which In most of the abuse cases they have a lot of authority and power.

Conclusion: Weighing the Positive and Negative Impacts of Religion

As evidence shows their are many negatives and positives to religion within todays society. It can impact peoples life in a positive way as it is social glue and provides a moral code for peoples life. The negatives are that the power can go to peoples head as they start to see their religion being superior to everyone else. This can lead to violence and wars. Religion can have inequality’s and in todays society where we have come so far to achieve equality this is a negative. Lastly abuse within religion as people in a higher power abuse their role. Religion can be a positive and negative tool in our society.

Religion is a topic which everybody seems an opinion on. The desire to unravel fundamental truths has kept the topic relevant and brought about numerous discussion which never fail to provoke people. There has even been book written and documentaries made. Richard Dawkins’ “The God delusion” is one of many controversial documentaries that has gotten a rise out of people. The documentary goes into depth about religion and explores the determination of religious groups in terms of what they want to achieve in this society. In the documentary, Dawkins states that religions cause more harm than good. For someone who may not be sure which side to affiliate themselves with, it can be hard to know whether one can agree with this statement or not. Is Dawkins statement about religions a truth that should be accepted?

The statement that religion does more harm than good is about religions impact on society, not about its basis doctrines or definition. This is not an essentialist claim, but a causal one. The majority of people would agree that religion is associated with good works and that many of them advocate some good moral principles. However, that is not a point that can be used against the statement as a valid argument. If a religion which teaches to love their enemies actually ends up inspiring violent persecutions, then in practice it harms society, whatever its holy books might say. Religions often paint an idealized picture of society, and where everyone has the same religion it might indeed foster social harmony and inclusion. However, we live in a multicultural world, and in such a world religion has far more impact through the divisions it creates than any unity it brings.

As Darwin said in his documentary, religion thrives on unexplained mysteries. This corrupts our sense of morality by encouraging us to believe wildly implausible things on the basis of ancient texts whose writers understanding of the world was pitifully limited. For example, it’s more than 150 years since Charles Darwin Alfred and Russel Wallace discovered the theory of evolution. Since then it has been supported by huge amounts of evidence, from paleontology, biogeography, comparative anatomy and even molecular biology. Who can possibly in 21century – as an informed person – deny evolution? And on what basis? Nevertheless, religion has managed to make people deny the most obvious facts. If religion has such an impact on people, it is rather obvious that it can lead otherwise decent people to do appalling things on behalf of their belief, especially for the sake of an entirely mythical afterlife. An example of beliefs with damaging moral implications is that women should be subservient to men, that homosexuality is a sin, that some people communicate with evil spirits that can be defeated only by killing them, that martyrdom will secure eternal life in the company of seventy willing virgins. Surely, none of these would be widely held in the 21st century were it not for pernicious influence of beliefs based on bronze aged stories and ancient values.

As mentioned above, religion corrupts our sense of morality. It’s both absurd and dangerous to tie morality to religion and religious values. In “The God Delusion”, It is said by Adrian Hawkes that “If there is no God, if there is no lawgiver, why does it matter what I do? Why is rape wrong? Why is pedophilia wrong? Why are any of these wrong?” He implies that people would behave a lot worse if they thought there were no consequences, which is not farfetched. This may risk undermining morality, because if everybody is told that without religion there is no morality, then if religion or religious consensus slowly and inexorably dies, that could undermine the moral consensus. Nonetheless, religion does keep people at bay. A myriad of people find it relieving that religion has some people around a tight leash because in some way it makes the world a better place. Even so, doesn’t that make the relationship between God and Humans analogous to that of a prisoner and a jailor? You’re only motivated to keep up the good behaviour because you afraid

Jainism is a well known religion for its religious equality. According to Jainism religion all the creatures that exist on earth are equal and they have their own roles to play for the easy going of life. Jainism is an ancient Indian religion and its followers are called as Jian which means Victory. This consequently indicates that path of victory depends on how we over come the cycle of rebirth rebirth though an ethical land spiritual life.

Concept of Liberation in Jainism

The prime objective and motive of any Jainism followers is to obtain Moksha which refers to Liberation. In other word acquiring salvation of a soul form the cycle of rebirth and death. Liberation is a heavenly state of a soul which is possible when on overcomes from Karmic Bonds. All the other activities apart form striving to obtain Moksha is considered as rubbish.

Femaleness as an Impediment to Liberation

All the living beings that are on earth have the potential to achieve liberation. While Jainism says all the people have the rights and capability to gain liberation some traditionalists say that for women it is a difficult thing to succeed. In Jainism women are projected as virtuous mother who spend all their energy to care their children and learned teacher. However they are also widely considered as ‘temptress and evildoers’. In this way the Jainism religion and its conservative people underestimate and belittle the woman in few aspects, especially on the aspects of their natural and physical structures.

In Jainism we find that there are two sets of believers: one is Digambara who believe that women cannot reach liberation unless they are reborn as me. Other set of followers are called as Svetambara who strongly disagree to Digambara. Digambara embrace on to this view for the following reasons:

• Nakedness: Digambara cling on this principle because they totally believe that nakedness is one of the fundamental ways to achieve liberation and women are not allowed generally to be naked on the public premises, because it creates problem to men and brings shame to women. Hence in this way Digambara says that liberation for women a hard thing to obtain.
• Ahimsa, Impurity and Women: Digambara affirms that women cannot enjoy liberation because they are inborn with harmfulness which intrinsically refers to their menstruation period. Their menstruation blood kills micro organisms that are living in the female body and they also assume it a sign of impurity. They advocate idea that menstruation itself makes them impure. They have no scientific evidence to prove their argument yet they stick on to this precept.
• Attachment: Another important element is women basically emotional beings they are very much attached to children. Therefore women will find difficult to do away with from some earthly attachments. Liberation is possible for women if only they make themselves detach from worldly things.

Portrayal of Women in Buddhism Religion

The role of women is considered to be very pathetic in ancient era of India. They were treated in a cruel way and they were not allowed to act on their own and as wish. Freedom was considered to be an unreachable destiny for them. They were always kept under the care of somebody; in childhood, they had to be there with their parents, under the care of husbands, like a slave, after the marriage then finally under the care of son or daughter as aged parents. During the childhood, lots of restrictions were applied. Being a wife the life of women was often miserable. So playing a role a woman was not that very simple rather it was seen as a burden. In this situation Buddhism’s view on women was something different; they treated as ordinary human beings not as slaves so we shall see about them elaborately.

Buddhism’s view on women

Buddhism treated both male and female equally. They did not compare male with female and not considered women as being inferior to men. The Buddhism had an idea that the human beings were useful to the society. The Buddha gave an emphasis on the fruitful role played by women in the family and the role played as mother to bring up the family. Family life was not something where the husband alone would work night and day to fulfill the responsibilities rather the works must be shared with equal dedication. The husband is not allowed to treat his wife as a slave instead he should consider his wife as his better half, a friend, a life partner and a good companion. A leader of the family is not expected to hide anything with regard to the business in which he is engaged only then she would have some knowledge about the business and manage his affairs in his absence.

Buddhism encourages the women to gain good education because Buddha agreed that women have the capacity to realize the truth, just as men are capable of. This is the reason why he had allowed the admission of women into the order. He was able to see the uniqueness of women, the hard work they put in to rise up the children and the will power to run the family when the husband is expired. This shows that in the Buddhist society a wife occupied equal position with the husband.

Portrayal of Women in Hinduism Religion

Feminism in Hinduism is not respected as equal as compared to men in Hindu society. Historically speaking, whether it was ancient India or the medieval India, the status and respect of woman was always at stake and not regularized. Talking about south Asian subcontinent, mixture of Muslim and Hindu women, socially, women have faced infinite atrocities in the hands of the men. However, if compared, Muslim women were much better off for their religion as it had set special injunctions for the maintenance of their virtue, rights and status. Whereas, the Hindu women of those times were worthless in front of all, owing much to their own religion and holy scripture. Hinduism, as a religion opposes the fundamental rights of the female clan. The Vedas, Scripture of Hindus is quite hostile to its women no matter what. According to it, women happen to be inhuman and are subject to no primary civil liberties. The society, thus, ignored all kinds of rights owned by the women and thus, in ancient era all led a hopeless life.

The Position of Women in Hinduism

There is a fundamental tension between the value accorded women within classical and traditional Hindu society and the distinction of women in myth and their role in various Bhakti movements. There is no strong connection between the presence of feminine imagery or figures in a tradition mythology or scriptures and gender egalitarianism. Indeed, despite the prevalence of worship of the Mother Goddess, Hindu women were/are not regarded as the spiritual, moral or intellectual equals of men. Within, that is, a traditional Hindu framework.

Women as equals of men in early Vedic Religion

Within the early Vedic tradition there is evidence that women enjoyed a great deal of equality with men. Women could receive an education in religious doctrine and practice, and could even devote themselves to study and teaching. The myths found in the Rig Veda contain a number of important female deities including Ushas and Vak.

Criticism Appraisal

In majority of the religion women are treated equally to men and there is gender equality. However in reality and in deed we cannot deny the fact that women are the subordinate and there is much to overcome to establish the so called Gender Equality. For an instance in India, where we live in the patriarchal society, one of the common issues is the gender Inequality. So we can exempt the women in all religion from this gender inequality. To some extent woman in religious community is still very much a men’s world particularly in the area of family, community and religious life.

Patriarchy actually means the rule of the father. In some religions, they follow the patriarchy system. Hence, women always play a secondary role in the socio-political and the religious life of a woman. There is always a preferential treatment for men and boys. There is always a case of women being physically and sexually abused in the family and society at large. Thus we can say that women are only a subordinate and men are the boss. Another major problem in the gender studies of religion is infanticide. The life of a girl child is not valued today. The babies are just aborted just because she is a girl. Hence in Punjab there is an imbalance in the ratio of men and women. Hence there is always room to improve.

Conclusion

Women in general have travelled a long way from the old conventions of sati, illiteracy, oppression, suppression and being an asset of the males, the women have made a huge come back. They have not only earned social and economic development but also the political liberty. In this age, many women have renounced their orthodox views about their religion and thus joined the more modern mainstream. This has therefore led people of India to realize the importance of their women and the role they actually play in the life of the entire family and society. It is this feeling that eventually has ousted the conventionalism from the hearts of the people and especially the women themselves. The concept of equality between all sexes is gripping in to the mind of people in this present scenario, most especially in the all the religions.

It is my analysis over the time which I have experienced and heard and seen from amongst many religions that thinking pattern on both men and women have changed a lot from traditional way to modern. This is made possible probably due to the equal rights given for education to both gender. Though we could vividly see the improvement of women in the entire field still some people try belittling them in a few aspects which should be avoided. People need to cultivate the art being open to new ideas.

The word “Culture” has plenty of definitions. Some people think that culture is mixed with their blood but if we do a blood test we can not find out culture in blood. Every nation and religion has their own culture and it is connected with other notions. “As a methodological basis is used activity concept of the culture, supplemented axiological or value concept. The study found that the basis of the religious culture of the individual constitute the spirituality and religiosity, as a special form of spirituality. Spirituality is seen as a humanistic consciousness and value orientations of a person that are realized in its practical behavior. Spirituality thus suggests integrity of the person, the unity of humanistic consciousness and behavior. Religiosity is a form of spirituality, which establishes the humanistic ideals and values on the belief in the absolute, supernatural supreme being – God. The religious culture of the personality structure of the author identifies: 1. religious consciousness (a complex of religious ideas and emotional experiences), 2. religious value orientation (ideological system of values and behavioral attitudes) and 3. religious behavior (the system of the individual activities, due to the religious consciousness and religious value orientations)” (Shpalova). I will focus on how a culture can be obstacles for a certain gender. In this essay, I will analyze a case study named, “The Cultural Context of Women’s Productive Invisibility: A Case Study of a Pakistani village. The case study is based on a Pakistani Village which is called Rajpur, situated in Punjab. This case study is based on Rajpur’s common feminine activities and how these activities are important but invisible in a cultural context.

Abstract

In the village of Rajpur women are involved in so many household and productive works. Some sectors of works which really have an impact on the economy of a country, surprisingly women have almost no participation. One of the sectors is agriculture where women’s participation is lower and the village Rajpur is among those where women’s works and participation are always underestimated and ignored. Now the question is, why are they ignored? The simple answer is they do not earn. The earning source for the woman is always a man in Rajpur. In a Muslim society, the power and the status of a woman are relatively low compared with the man, Rajpur is not different. The writer, Taasawar Saeed Ibraz tried to find out some answers that why women’s activities are not much onerous as the man. He focused that, women have plenty of important activities including taking care of children, managing home and maintaining households and most important is taking care of kittens and cows. So this works is not much productive in a cultural way because women are taking care of cows, feeding them properly, washing them but man is selling the milk. The earning source is man and woman in Rajpur area of Pakistan is not dependent because they don’t earn. They indirectly or directly helping the man to earn money but in a cultural eye they are neglected and somehow their works are underestimated.

“In Pakistan, every woman has a different story. Many women are happy with their lives and more happy with Islamic sharia. I have no problem with those ladies. They also deserve respect and have the freedom to chose for them.

But the woman like me. Who criticize some orthodox 1400 years old Islamic sharia, life is not easy to be very honest. I want Allah to give me the equal rights in marriage. Allah should give me the right to “triple talaq” my husband anytime. If I feel my husband is boring. I’m angry. Or my husband is cheating on me I would say “talaq” “talaq” “talaq” And he is done. Yeah, I want equality from Allah. And this is not enough I would regret after talaq and would force him to go for “halal”. Now he should marry a random person and have physical relations with him then come to me again. This is just one example there are many things which should be fixed”. This a comment of an ordinary woman of Pakistan named Afifa Sarwar on a social media. She says my thoughts because every educated girl from Muslim majority countries may have the same questions. Afifa is educated and she is able to ask questions but women from a village of Pakistan may not have that right too. Questioning about these religious issues is unspoken. So being in a marriage is a great matter for an uneducated woman of Rajpur because even if she is not happy with his husband she can not express it. She is dependent, she bears a life like a parasite but she is happy because she doesn’t have options. In Muslim culture, women are born to be married even in a country like Bangladesh where women are more educated than men. The scenario of Pakistan is far worsened. I can relate with this case study because a woman of a village of Bangladesh belongs a quite same culture. Women should get married fast because she has to carry children. She has to take care of her husband and for Muslims getting married is “Faraz”. In Muslim culture, a girl and a boy are not equal. A ritual is mentioned in this case study where we found discrimination. Muslim families get more happiness when they have a newborn boy. Boys are more eligible to take the responsibilities of a family. Girls are born to go others house as a bride so they are not much substance as their brothers. So it is established that boys are privileged by families and Muslim cultural societies. Women get used to their natural works like giving birth, managing family, taking care of cows, cooking, sewing and so on. Women get closer to nature by these activities. They don’t complain because husbands decision is the decision. Every family is not the same but this is very common in Bangladesh also. Our grannies lived these lives and my mother and aunts followed them. Their contribution of household works or other productive works and endless schedules were not appreciated ever. Because of this cultural practice, some educated girls also have some thoughts on making a family. So if a work is worthy of appreciation by the society it is not possible for an ordinary village woman to complain to anyone.

Further analysis

Tassawar started his case study with a problem with less participation of women in agriculture who live in Pakistan. It is important fact that, half of the population of Pakistan is female so less participation has an impact on whole economy. Author also focused on female dependency. He raises two important questions that,

• Are women dominantly independent on the income generated by men alone to run their households?
• To what extent do they contribute to the sustenance of the family and in what productive domestic and agricultural spheres of activity do women participate?

The paper is based on extensive research in a Punjabi village to identify some answers to these questions. It helps to grow, firstly a perception of the nature of productive acts of women which are performed within the households and farms. The second concept is, It declines some of the culturally accepted notions regarding women, which, despite their participation in important and productive works harder for the sustenance of the family, build women and their work appear less honourous than men in the cultural perceptions and project them more focused as a caretaker and protector and bearer of children. Now I would like to present some writings of Ortner who tried to describe, how women are devalued by culture and how women are close to nature, According to Ortner (1974), “The three indicators of secondary cultural evaluations accorded women in a culture are: (1) elements of cultural ideology and informant’s statements that explicitly devalue women, treating them, their roles, their tasks, and products as less prestigious than men and their activities; (2) symbolic devices such as attribution of defilement; and (3) social structural arrangements that exclude women from participating in some realm in which the highest powers of the society are felt to reside.

These three types of data (which may or may not be related) are reflective of women’s secondary status in a given society” (Ortner). Ortner also wrote that “woman is being identified with – or, if you will, seems to be a symbol of – something that every culture devalues, something that every culture defines as being of a lower order of existence than itself. Now it seems that there is only one thing that would fit that description, and that is “nature” in the most generalized sense. Every culture, or, generically, “culture,” is engaged in the process of generating and sustaining systems of meaningful forms (symbols, artefacts, etc.) by means of which humanity transcends the givens of natural existence, bends them to its purposes, controls them in its interest. We may thus broadly equate culture with the notion of human consciousness, or with the products of human consciousness (i.e., systems of thought and technology), by means of which humanity attempts to assert control over nature” (Ortner). Tassawar added concerning about Ortner, “Firstly, women’s physiological, biological, and reproductive functions place them closer to nature in contrast to the physiology of men. Thus, because of women’s prolonged bodily involvement in the functions of childbirth, they are relatively constrained to take up the projects of culture; men being free of these physiological constraints are in a relatively advantageous position to take up these projects. They are, hence, considered as being closer to culture. Since culture has the ability to transform — to ‘socialise’ and ‘culturalise’ nature — it is therefore superior. This, according to Ortner, has led cultures to place a lower value on women. Secondly, women’s physiological functions, in turn, place them in social roles that are considered to be of a lower cultural order than the roles men take. (Ibraz)”We would like to focus on Muslim culture on this term. In this case study, the author said that in the village of Rajpur has its institution of purdah (purdah means veil or curtain which is mandatory for women in Muslim culture) and segregation of sexes according to Muslim culture. Where women are giving birth, growing up the children and maintaining the family in her own private domain. On the other hand, men are freer and they have their own public domain. So we can figure out that, according to this case study, Muslim women are natural but private and men are cultural and public.

The writer focused the participation part than. Wheat, pulses, oilseeds, maize these are major crops were grown in Rajpur. The author said that women don’t work in the field. They cook food for the labours. Sometimes in the ploughing season farmers need to hire other people to work in the field. But women help them just making foods for them. The writer presents a chart about the different stage of cultivations and the participation of men and women. In the ploughing of the major crops, women are absent. So ploughing is the work which is especially done by men. The other stages like sowing, weeding, packaging men and women are both seen. Kristie Drucza and Velentina Peveri analyze the role of the women and they assumed that ‘The role of Pakistani women in producing wheat and the way wheat products are used, valued and shared by them is grossly under-researched. The initial search around the basic keywords ‘rural women’, ‘agriculture’, and ‘wheat’ did not produce any significant outcome, identifying not so much a paucity of current published literature pertaining to gender in wheat producing regions, but rather a more fundamental and widespread inconsistency about the connection between women and grain crops.

Moreover, the crop sector of the small farm economy remains to a certain degree unexplored by economists and anthropologist alike. In most of Pakistan, grain crops are strongly identified with men; the plough, for example, is such a potent male symbol that women may not even touch it. Even if women weed crops, this role fits within the livestock sector as the weeds are fed to animal’ (Kristie Drucza). Raising livestock what women do is the same as raising crops what especially men do. Farmers need to assure that their survival in the case of risks coordinated with development, a need that customizes the household into a commercial sector that is legible t that state and takes risks, and a sector which is not legible to the state but plays an important role in the household’s food security. The gender discrimination of labour has some reasons and one of them is based on Purdah and it is how male dominance and female subordination manifest. On one hand, there is a clear division of labour – e.g., provision of care to newborns and infants is almost entirely a female responsibility within the household, on the other hand, there is a grey area around farming. A range of agricultural tasks must be undertaken by females. These tasks need to be identified further. Here we can add a quotation from Holy Quran, ‘And stay in your houses, and do not display yourselves like that of the times of ignorance, and perform As-Salat (IqamatasSalat), and give Zakat and obey Allah and His Messenger. Allah wishes only to remove ArRijs (evil deeds and sins, etc.) from you, O members of the family (of the Prophet SAW), and to purify you with a thorough purification’ (The Holy Quran).(al Ahzaab 33:33) The Prophet said: “Woman is ‘awrah, and if she goes out, the Shaytaan raises his hopes (of misguiding her). She is never closer to Allaah than when she stays in her house.” Narrated by Ibn Hibbaan and Ibn Khuzaymah; classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in al-Silsilah al-Shaheehah, no. 2688.

And he also said about a woman’s prayer in the mosque: “Their houses are better for them.” Narrated by Abu Dawood (567) and classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh Abi Dawood. One Islamic scholar says that “The husband is required to provide his wife with food, clothes, a place to live and medical treatment according to his environment, conditions and income. The wealthy have their own measure, whereas the poor have theirs. The Prophet (greetings and peace be upon him) said stating the rights of women, ‘You are obliged to provide them with food and clothes honourably’. [ Transmitted by Abu Dawud (1905); Ibn Majah (3074); Al-Doramy in Kitab Al-Mannish p.440 on the authority of Jabber; Ahmad 5/73 on the authority of Abu Gara Al-Raqashi’s uncle.] Honourably here means what is conventional according to people of faith and honour, without extravagance or meanness. The Almighty said: ‘Let the rich man spend according to his means, and the man whose resources are restricted, let him spend according to what Allah has given him. Allah puts no burden on any person beyond what He has given him’ (The Holy Quran). [Surah At-Talaq 65:7] ” (Al-Qaradawi). So if a girl is getting married, it means that she doesn’t need to earn by Islamic social and religious culture. And in return of the mentioned rights women have to return something. She has to obey her husband and she has to protect her husband’s money. Even she doesn’t have any right to spend that money given by her husband without his permission.

The author did fieldwork about the presence of women outside of the home in daytime and night time. Where some interesting factor has been found. Women are found in ponds and fields but in the night time, they are absent. They only exist in the home. The author wrote that home is the best place where the vulnerabilities of women are protected. Home is also a symbol of feminity. She is a mother, good cook, homemaker so home is her personal space. Tassawar clarified that ‘women in the cultural eyes are seen as incapable of dealing with the outside world — the world which, according to men, requires intellect and reasoning (aql and samaj) which means intelligence and understanding the two qualities in which women are thought to be comparatively lacking. They are, hence, kept away from the public world ‘for their own good’. Men, on the other hand, in their traditional, cultural images as mijazi khuda (worldly, imaginary gods) and maliks (masters), guardians, protectors and providers, and as those possessing greater aql are allowed not only to dominate women but also other structures of power outside the home. (Ibraz)’ Tassawar also focused on the importance of girl and boy children in a family. He put an example that how girl children are underestimated. He said about the birth celebration in Muslim religious culture which is called ‘aqiqa’. In this ritual, two rams were sacrificed by the family for a boy and for girls the number of sacrifice rams is one. Even families have that concept of ‘aapna and paraya“ which means ‘owns and others’. A boy is considered as a blessing and a girl is considered as a mouth of feeding. So it can be said that boys are positive for a family and somehow girls are negative in Muslim society. “In pre-Islamic times, there were often inter-tribal blood feuds, which demanded male members to defend their tribes.

Hence men were in much greater demand than women. In addition, in the tribal conflict, the enemy always aimed at capturing women and taking them as prisoners so that they could collect heavy ransoms. Failing to do so, they would keep them as slaves. In both cases, women were considered a liability to their own tribes. For if they paid the ransom, they would lose money, if not, then the chastity of their women as well as their honour were at stake. ‘The Arabs did not welcome the birth of a baby girl, and this was so because of the nature of their society. Wars and invasions never ceased and taking revenge never stopped. All these things depended on the male, but a woman was unable to do any of these tasks, in addition to it, she was the desired loot for (the) service (of the enemy) in the eyes of the enemy, or she was for his entertainment’. For these reasons, the Arabs believed that their own daughters constituted a heavy burden on them and the easiest way to get rid of them was to kill them immediately after they were born“ (Jawad).

Conclusion

The Muslim cultural society carries the tradition of their ancestors. However, different places have different types of Muslim culture but the attitude towards women is disrespectful. Sometimes, It is less disrespectful, sometimes it is much disrespectful. It also depends how the women society takes it.

References

1. Al-Qaradawi, Sh. Yusuf. „The status of women in Islam.“ Islamic Articles (1997).
2. Ibraz, Tassawar Saeed. „The Cultural Context of Women’s Productive Invisibility.“ The Pakistan Development Review (1993): 101-125.
3. Jawad, Haifaa A. The Rights of Women in Islam . Newyork: St. Martin’s press, Inc, 1998.
4. Kristie Drucza, Velentina Peveri. „Literature on gendered agriculture in Pakistan: Neglect of women’s contributions.“ Women’s Studies International Forum (2018): 180-189.
5. Ortner, Sherry B. „ Is female to male as nature is to culture? .“ Woman, culture, and society (1974): 68-87.
6. Shpalova, lena Vladimirovna. „RELIGIOUS CULTURE OF PERSON.“ Reserch Gate (2017).
7. The Holy Quran. Mecca, ‎609–632.
8. The Holy Quran. Mecca, 609-632.

Religion

Religion has sown its seed in human communities for as long the human consciousness can perceive. The reality and the conception of this abstract purity is a lubricant to the human society to dwell in sociological lives. However, the abstract idea of religion has always fallen before questions of logic and scientific understanding, and the belief systems merely dignified their superiority in ways that are supernatural, spiritual, miraculous, and often remain unexplained from human perception of rationality and logic.

There is not just one set of beliefs in the human community. Every other community has offered their beliefs on certain spiritual beings to guide their individual lives. And in that way, religion is a collection of society’s conscience. The religious individual stands strong on their ground belief and guides their lives’ morality often following the inscriptions of respective religions. The conflict, however, does not rest easy between the different lines of the belief system. And probably this is one reason that has restrained humanity from the destination of actual truth even after pursuing numerous times by uncountable methods. Religions often center around the belief in god. Hence, belief in one god is known as theistic belief, where belief in more than one god is considered as polytheistic. Though it is more usual to have a belief in god to call it a religion, there are other religions as well where god is never involved, and those are known as atheistic beliefs. So, by definition, religion as it seems, it not the belief in God, but belief in a certain way. This is the reason that differentiates each belief system and the community in it. Even the believers of the same religion often face mismatch with a fellow believer who is from a different community. This ideology has created conflicting classes, popularly known as castes.

The concept of religion, however, is abided as objective truths by the followers. But, if the belief systems are looked upon from a much broader view, curiosity over the authenticity of such a claim erupts. That view is what we call sociological imagination, when we look far from a biased perspective, only to see from a neutral viewpoint. All the individual religion has its ritual and ceremonies, one significance of following a religion. The rituals run down in the tradition of communities after they blend in the culture of their society. These ceremonies are often similar but contain unique originalities based on where they are celebrated. Likewise, the miracles and stories of religion are believed from the core by a true follower of the faith system. When the religions are put on the same string and compared with one another, much of a chaotic view comes up when all the individually acclaimed objective truths seemingly create forked lines of subjective truths.

However the conflicting outcomes may seem, religions have remained solid on the ground for thousands of years. The strong belief of the followers leads them towards their ways of life. Religions form a sort of framework for society. The believers usually sustain lesser self-conflicts as their religion answers the curiosities for them. Even a non-believer theorist, Karl Marx, once said that religions are like opium for people, it helps them to soothe their sufferings. Religions distinctively teach the moral conduct of life. The guidelines that religions offer are inscriptively for the betterment of humanity, and it has somewhat proved so. The true followers of religion often detach themselves from the toxicity of society and heed their conscious to purify themselves and the ones around them. However, any group may easily include outliers who pollute the attribute of a community. Such is not an exclusion in religions as well, and we often see the faces of religion by them and judge a book by its cover.

As per the sociological theorists, there have a different perspectives on religion from their individual views. Emile Durkheim supported the functionalist perspective that pitches the idea that religion is an integrated force that shapes society’s collective belief, which promotes a sense of belonging and collective consciousness. Another view Max Weber supported a thought that religions are belief systems that provide a cultural framework in the societies for respective signs of progress. However, with an alternate theory of sociology, Karl Marx brought forth the idea that religion proposes conflict and oppression in societies. Being a conflict theorist, Marx saw religion as a mere tool to divide society into classes that promotes stratification and supports hierarchy. Such sociological theories swirl in the society to blend in with logic and rationality forming a social skeleton.

Superstitions

Superstitions, on the other page, walk partially along the same lane as religion as they are also constructs of belief. They are, however, beliefs entirely on some specific events and actions even if the reference has been forgotten for long. A community may embrace or forbid something specific with an intention of the community’s prosperity, coming down from the origin of logic or belief. The interesting matter is, when the origin is long forgotten after generations, those abstract ideas or saying float around with a wiped out root, and that is what we understand by superstition. Superstitions, may or may not, have risen from the religious and cultural beliefs, depending on which of the two is the mother to another. The minor understanding of superstitions hints that the cultures are mostly responsible for coming up with them, rather than religions, because a wide variety of people believes in superstitions regardless of their religious differences. For instance, a black cat is unlucky, or number 13 is unlucky: these are the most widely known superstitions around the globe. These superstitions have outlived their base of origins and still mutter around bearing no specific meaning in the later generations.

It was often a casual coincidence that gave birth to superstition. For instance, if one wears a bracelet to a baiting gambit and wins for the day, the person might start thinking this as their lucky charm. However, there is no direct causation for the bracelet of becoming a lucky charm, rather a mere correlation or coincidence. Such incoherent beliefs have brewed through generations and still flow the same way in societies. Moreover, such beliefs start affecting judgmental decision makings. Once a belief on a superstition gets stronger, that tends to weaken casual confidence in what adverts the superstition. Consequently, they have let their way in individuals’ heads and spreading wide in a community. Though the origins were mainly outcomes of accidental connections, the beliefs that have run down to generations still breed nonsensical faith over them.

Certain beliefs in supernatural forces cannot be ignored even in this era. However, the times they have originated, the sublines go hand to hand with religion and early myths. The considerable myths now were once believed profoundly as a core of early faith. The belief constructed early Greek gods and deities, Norse gods, Egyptian gods, and all other sorts of mythical powers that believably bestowed their magical blessings over a community or the entire humanity. These mythical religions, however, provided with moral guidelines for a certain way to live. Whereas, the superstitions are just inner belief in magic with a notion of good luck or bad luck. The superstitions do not provide a guideline to follow to live with but only interferes with specific events to fool around with personal confidences. Some psychological researches also support the discussion. One psychologist and author, Stuart Vyse has provided with niche insights over how superstitious psychology creates impact. As per the expert, a greater percentage of women hold their belief over such superstitions, whereas men can have a shallow faith in them. People of certain professions such as actors, players, gamblers, and some others do possess a strong belief in superstitions, as they find confidence in their works due to their faith in some illogical causation.

If the radar is to be followed, such crude belief in superstitions is much strong in the parts of the Asian continent. Here, the religious rituals blend in the superstitions to give a deadly byproduct. In the regions of Korea, India, and the subcontinent, the shamans, thus get an upper hand of power equivalent to doctors at times.in such regions where the belief system is more distorted and fragile, the superstitions ground with more power in manipulating less knowledgeable minds. In the South Asian parts of the words, fortune tellers, shamans, tantric, and saints fall in a core part of a naïve community. Here, the diseases and supernatural implications initially get through these superstitious character experts for resolution. Witchcraft and tantra are widely used in these regions to solve the equations of deadlier diseases.

Belief and Pandemic

With the arrival of COVID-19, the world has shaken by a mass tremor. The daily lives have fallen stagnant in forth of this deadly pandemic. As the battle continues with this global pandemic, many of the sociological issues are coming into light as time goes by. With the treatment and cure discovery hunting down through the roads of darkness, the delayed procedures are pushing up new challenges for humanity. Countries are sinking with economic and social concerns putting the lives at risk in struggling days of quarantine. The virus can very well be tamed with vaccines once a solution is discovered, but the footprint it will leave behind will continue to trouble the world in a fair chunk of foreseeable future. Meanwhile, in the pandemic, the already struggling countries have the most at stake. They are having to deal with sociological issues like cultural adamancy, fight against foul religious prestige, financial downturn, and many more. However, the apathetic social classes are making efforts to unite under one shade to embrace everyone with needs under their watch. Nature is relishing in its way to heal from the damages done by humans for the centuries they have rambled on earth. Be it an act of god’s wrath or another scientific mystery, this pandemic is not leaving the world intact in its old condition anyway.

In these fragile times of humanity, the concerns are of its survival. When the contributions of the religions are looked onto, a rather chaotic picture can be washed out. All the communities have united from their spiritual foundations to heal from this pandemic. The individuals, circumstantially, have become closer to their faiths on religion. While many have accepted the fallen days as a test of God, others started accusing this as a curse. The crude believers and other occasional ones have accepted their fate as they submit to COVID-19. In regions where less naïve believers are found, they are seen to be roaming around without safe precautions instructed by medical personnel. They believe this global pandemic as a mere punishment of God, and His creations are to be taken away from life in according time. Such beliefs have made it impossible to flat-curve the infected rates and respectively, avoid the death tolls.

Superstitious believers have also vented out that this pandemic is just here to wipe out the nuisances created by generation Z. Their hints are towards the alleged festering of youths with LGBTQ, atheism, feminism, and other protesting rights. The believers have denoted their disgust earlier over such matters claiming these as social toxicities, and their claim is as such that this pandemic will wash away the sins from this polluted nature. In contrast to that, in the third world countries of Asia, the communities are infuriated about the situation. Where many of the communities have held public prayers asking for forgiveness from God, others have declined to accept the clauses of social distancing by discarding themselves from the list claiming themselves superior. Such communities, especially the Muslims, claimed that such a virus is not in this world to affect the followers of Islam and will only eradicate the non-Muslims from the earth. While in several parts of India, many rallies in the name God and deities have rampaged on the streets disregarding the deadly hazards and even their government’s instructions of staying at home.

Conclusion

The discussions sum up to showing that the existence of religion brings notable purposes for humanity to carry on in a designated path. To walk on this earth without a proper faith in something will only make one more curious and drive them anxious derailments continuously. However, keeping thyself separated from the belief systems often lets the individuals see beyond the restrained boundaries of religion, unveiling newer perspectives to explore. The superstitions, however, may fade with time but their smudged existence may very well remain even being something very accidental and out of logic. In the end, the mystery is yet to unfold, when such an opinion is passed where the claim is religion being an ancient superstition itself.

References

1. Admin. (2015, May 6). Difference Between Religion and Superstition. Retrieved from https://www.differencebetween.com/difference-between-religion-and-vs-superstition/
2. Albert, S. (n.d.). The Psychology of Superstition. Retrieved from https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/features/psychology-of-superstition#1
3. Barnes, R., Moyer, M., & Nasa. (2015, May 31). In Age of Science, Is Religion ‘Harmful Superstition’? Retrieved from https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2015/05/150531-religion-science-faith-healing-atheism-people-ngbooktalk/
4. Crossman, A. (2019, July 3). How Do You Study the Sociology of Religion? Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/sociology-of-religion-3026286
5. How Are Major Religions Responding to the Coronavirus? (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.cfr.org/in-brief/how-are-major-religions-responding-coronavirus
6. Lemon, J. (2020, January 28). Christian pastor claims coronavirus is God’s ‘death angel,’ blames parents ‘transgendering little children’. Retrieved from https://www.newsweek.com/christian-pastor-claims-coronavirus-gods-death-angel-blames-parents-transgendering-little-1484473
7. Shehadi, S., & Partington, M. (2020, April 27). How coronavirus is leading to a religious revival. Retrieved from https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/religion/2020/04/how-coronavirus-leading-religious-revival
8. The Role of Superstition. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.badnewsaboutchristianity.com/ib0_superstition.htm
9. TheAdvocateMag. (2020, January 29). God Sent Coronavirus to Destroy LGBTQ People, Says Trump-OK’d Preacher. Retrieved from https://www.advocate.com/religion/2020/1/29/god-sent-coronavirus-destroy-lgbtq-people-says-trump-okd-preacher

What are the consequences of when people are intolerant? Sadly, in the world today, many people remain prejudiced against others. There are many forms of intolerance such as bias against those based on race, religion, and gender. In the novel Inherit the Wind by Robert Lee, the character of Reverend Brown amplify’s central theme surrounding intolerance because of his biased views towards non-religious people, or in this case, Evolutionists. There are three forms of intolerance he demonstrates within the novel. The first is revealed through his belief that unless you follow the teaching of the church you will be punished. The second is revealed through his criticism of people who offer different views of religion contrary to his own, and the third is that he declares an absolute love for God, which he used to justify the persecution of others.

Reverend Brown believes that the teachings of the church are to be followed ‘blindly’ by its followers and that these beliefs should never be questioned. He refuses to tolerate non-religious people and their views. For example, Bertram Cates states: ‘Tell him what your father really said! That Tommy’s a damned souled writhing in hellfire.’ (Lee, 36) Brown made these comments after disclosing that the little boy’s father did not let him get baptized before him drowning. This quote demonstrates Reverend Brown’s extreme and unforgiving attitude towards people who do not follow his religion’s rules. Instead of feeling compassion and empathy for the father of the deceased child, he decides to ‘scold’ him, letting him know that the son (he loves) is now in hell because of his mistake. Reverend Brown makes everyone hate non-religious people, causing considerable bias within the community of Hillsboro. His attitude of hate is toxic and contagious. Another example in which Reverend Brown demonstrates this is when he states, ‘Lord, we call down the same curse for those who ask grace for this sinner.’ (Lee 28) He says this when his daughter asks forgiveness and tells her father not to curse her friend, Cates. This example also reveals the level of intolerance he has towards those who oppose him. He would even curse his daughter for showing loyalty and being willing to stand up for her friend.

Reverend Brown shows intolerance to people’s viewpoints that oppose his religious beliefs by insulting and being mean to them. He attempts to ‘control’ other people by praising those who follow his religion and being incredibly critical and cruel towards those who do not. He shows no remorse towards the Evolutionist perspective and unleashes his wrath on them for offering a different perspective. He makes Evolutionists seem evil, presenting them with the image that they’ll steal your faith and that they are ‘tricking’ you into holding their beliefs. He expresses this feeling while pointing his finger towards the prison and saying, ‘ Do we curse the man who denies the Word?’ (Lee 28) The person who was teaching evolution was in jail, and he wanted the mass of people to recognize that this is where you will end up if you deny God. This is significant to my point because it reveals that he wants any person who opposes his religion too, “burn in hellfire.” He shows no flexibility or any forgiveness aspect of religion. He demonstrates this also when his daughter was trying to justify Cates’ viewpoint. He said; “You’re infected with the poison of his agnosticism! Now get down on your knees and pray for forgiveness!” (Lee 16). This shows that he criticized his own daughter for considering the viewpoint of agnosticism, even though she remains a devout follower of the church and still believes in God.

Reverend Brown reveals absolute love and devotion to his God. He can justify his hate towards other people’s religious views because of his dedication to his Faith. For example, during the prayer meeting, he said, ‘Strike down this Sinner! As thou didst thine enemies of old, in the days of the Pharaoh’s!’ (Lee 28). He reveals his extreme and ‘old school’ form of punishment towards those who oppose the Christian beliefs. He is begging for ‘The Lord’ to show a sign and use it to strike down Cates, who is inside the prison. This demonstrates that through the murder of Cate’s, his God will be able to have revenge on Cate’s for presenting his class with the views of Charles Darwin. From his religious perspective, the only punishment of such an act should be death. Reverend Brown also demonstrates this view while he’s speaking to his daughter about why he is so extreme towards people who offer other views on Religion, he says, ‘Because I love God and I hate his enemies’ (Lee 16). In his response to her question, the assumption is that any person who offers other ideas that don’t link up to his own is automatically considered an enemy. His religious beliefs are set up so that unless you agree with exactly what he says, then you are doing to be criticized, publicly humiliated, and put to death.

When a person is unable to listen to other people’s perspectives and views on religion they limit their own life experience. Reverend Brown’s religious intolerance within Inherit the Wind by Robert Lee can be seen through his actions of severely criticizing people that offer different religious opinions to his own, his devotion to love for God and also the use his love to persecute others. Reverend Brown did not understand that just because he did not believe in Charles Darwin’s theories does not mean that they still cannot exist. He could still have his religious beliefs without feeling that they are being threatened by Charles Darwin’s theories. He might have been even able to learn new ideas that would have strengthened his own Faith. Moving forward, a person should not be intolerant towards new ideas and opinions of others. They should have respect for other people and another person’s opinion clashes with yours, they do have the right to their opinion. If you do want to challenge others’ opinions do it respectfully and present actual facts supporting your case. Perhaps, you could both learn something new from each other.

Many people believe that individuals who are deeply depressed or even moderately depressed commit suicide. According to the Bjceap Organization (Arnold, 2017), 60 percent of people believe that victims of suicide are led by only deeply depressed feelings. The reason why people believe that depression is the reason why people commit suicide is that individuals usually show symptoms of depression such as sadness and, hopelessness. These symptoms are obvious when it comes to the reasons that they have passed. Such as a person who has been hurt physically and mentally. For example, someone who was raped will have issues all their life because their innocence was taken from them. It will haunt them, give them nightmares, and leave them with strong anxiety issues. A problem like that easily leads someone into depression especially if they have nobody there to help them out. They give up on everybody including themselves. The only solution visible to them is to commit suicide because they don’t have to deal with that pain. So, the myth that only depressed people commit suicide is a tough subject to contradict but not necessarily true. People have their reasons on why it is that they took their life, and if there is no explanation one doesn’t really know. It could land both ways like, if the person is depressed and is struggling mentally, or they are angry and are having issues towards someone who they hate. For example, a school shooter has not gone to shoot up a school for being depressed but it could be anger and they have issues so they commit a crime and don’t want to face their consequences so they take their own life.

Suicide is when an individual ends their own life because that individual does not think they belong in this life. According to the World Health Organization, approximately one million people commit suicide each year worldwide (Nordquvist, 2011). Something important to know is that depression is not the only cause of why individuals commit suicide. There are varying factors that lead people to commit suicide besides depression, factors such as stress, terrorist agendas, mental disorders, and illness that also cause suicidal tendencies.

Stress is when the body denies any changes in a person’s life, such as physical, mental, and emotional responses to external factors. Stress is a feeling that occurs in everyone’s lives, but some people cope with it differently depending on the situation. Many people suffer from stress due to the environment they inhabit or their mental state. Stress usually is naturally involved in someone’s career, A career that is often known to be stressful is law enforcement. A police officer suffers from stress every day of their career. Officers run into many situations that may cause unstable mental states, such as seeing corpses, arresting criminals, or even being in life-threatening situations. According to Violanti (2004), most police officers grow old into retirement and become alcoholics or suffer trauma from stressful career-related moments that they do not know how to cope with, so their lifespan after retirement is very short and limited. Violanti (2004) also asserts that it is statistically proven that an officer passes away 3 to 6 years following a trauma dependent upon the officer’s ability to handle stress. There have been cases where the stress is too hard for them to cope with on a daily basis, and the officer may become an alcoholic and commit suicide from not being in a stable mental state (Violanti, 2004). Stress is an awful feeling for many, especially those who find themselves dealing with financial issues or even divorce. In some cases, individuals who have lost their job from getting fired or laid off in a period of their life when income is needed most leads to increased stress. They cannot afford to pay their mortgage, car payments, or feed their families. That can lead to divorce and escalate downhill until one hits what they consider “rock bottom”. The person is unable to find a solution or a way out of their problems because their life is full of so much negativity, problems, and stress. This may lead one to abuse drugs and alcohol while becoming abusive towards themselves or others. As this level of stress peaks, an individual may make the choice to end their own life. Stress can be harmful, and it may not lead to suicide, but individuals may be unable to find an easy fix and ultimately suffer until making the choice to commit suicide.

Suicide does not only come from depression or stress, but the self-harm may arise through religious beliefs or even brainwash that allows the individual to become a hero through death. In Islamic countries, there have been countless murders in recent wars over the past few decades, including deaths of both bad people and innocent individuals who die so that Islamic extremists can get their point proven or display acts of pure evil. These attacks are carried through by using suicide bombers. A suicide bomber is when an individual straps bombs to themselves or is behind the wheel of a vehicle full of explosives. It is their goal to cause destruction and take as many lives as they can or take one in particular not caring who is in the way, it could be children, infants, or adults. According to Farmer (2012), these attacks are mainly carried on by adult males or sometimes kids. People often wonder why these extremists would end their lives to harm others. A major reason behind that is that most of these Islamic extremists believe in suicide bombing as martyrdom and expect rewards in the afterlife, as is specified in the Quran. According to Chow (2010), male martyrs will receive 72 virgin maidens in paradise as a reward for their sacrifice. On the other hand, female martyrs are promised to find a single husband in paradise. A woman who had multiple husbands in life would be able to choose the best one as her eternal spouse in the afterlife. Kids are used in these evil methods as they are viewed as less suspicious and could get through checkpoints easier. Victoroff (2009) states that these kids are picked up off the streets as young as ten years of age and are brainwashed by their handlers. Furthermore, Farmer (2012) details an Afghan boy who was rescued moments before he carried on an attack had mentioned: “the mission was simply that he would run to the Americans and set off the bomb touching only two wires and that he would survive the explosion” (Farmer, 2012, p. 397). These kids are told that carrying on these assaults would get their parents into paradise, and the kids would not die but only the people around them. Another case is where kids are easily brainwashed.

A mental disorder is broadly defined as a clinically significant behavior or psychological syndrome. Many people around the world suffer from a mental disorders. There are many mental disorders, some mental disorders that are often recognized are anxieties, eating habits, and so on. One of the most common disorders people hear about is schizophrenia. Baldessarini (2006) states that schizophrenia is a long-term disorder, some of the symptoms include breakdowns, emotional outbursts, abnormal behaviors, inappropriate actions, and fantasy. When a person suffers from schizophrenia, it is hard because the person can be expressing several behaviors at once. According to Baldessarini (2006), schizophrenia can lead a person to commit suicide because they are out of touch with reality and have a negative aspect of behavior that many consider as psychotic. Bipolar is another disorder that negatively impacts people because a person can be happy one moment, and the next moment, that person may be sad or mad. A person who suffers from bipolar may commit suicide simply due to forgetting to take prescribed medications, which may create an increased state of mental instability and lead to suicide. Mental disorders are not the only conditions that can cause a person to end their life, as illnesses may also play a role. When a person is diagnosed with a sickness, the first thing that the person thinks about is death. Cancer is a sickness that can kill a person in less than six months. It is rare if a person is a survivor of cancer, as cancer is a disease that destroys the body. People who have cancer may experience feelings of hopelessness because they believe their life will end soon. Lynee (2018) states suicide is most common among individuals in the first three months after being diagnosed with cancer. The reasoning is because the person does not want to suffer from the pain of the disease or want to go through chemotherapy to combat the disease. This experience is the same with a person who gets diagnosed with a brain tumor, as they often have no hope in life and commit suicide because the doctor tells the person they will not make it more than six months. Having a mental disorder or an illness is difficult due to struggling with suicidal ideations or actually attempting suicide as a means to deal with deathly diagnoses.

Overall, suicide is a tremendous issue around the world that needs to be discussed more often because suicide does not only affect deeply depressed people. Suicidal tendencies can affect anyone who feels hopeless in this world. All individuals deal with various types of problems in their personal lives, but when suicidal thoughts occur within the mind, they can lead to death. Stress is a problem that all people encounter and suffer. Stress also leads to suicide because individuals see no solution to the problems that they are forced to face. When a person has a mental disorder, it is hard to find the proper treatment and many times the help fails to reach the individual and inspire that person to not continue with their life. illnesses affect may lead individuals to commit suicide because the doctors usually give the patient a timeline of fewer than six months to live. Ultimately, there are many factors that lead to suicide.