For the last couple of days I've been trying to define religion - or rather, re-define religion. The ongoing tensions around the world and in my own motherland moves me to this exercise. France is plagued by a 'religion based guerrilla war'; Germans are divided over PEGIDA; the middle-East is being taken over by the ISIS; the topic of religious conversions is heating up in India. For once in history, religion is evoking a mixed, varied and I'd say weird feelings.
Naturally viewing from this perspective religion seems a curse or a burden thrust upon the modern era. So why not get rid of the curse and move on? Merely cast off the bothersome burden and get on? Well that's the tricky part. Everytime I come up with a 'different' understanding of religion, I end up falling into the same trap that I initially intended to escape! It is as if, when religion is pulled down, something else automatically 'becomes' a religion! So one ends up with another structure, merely a different name and form... but still the same essence.
Got to do some serious reading about this. Another interesting study would be the relationship between God and religion.
Naturally viewing from this perspective religion seems a curse or a burden thrust upon the modern era. So why not get rid of the curse and move on? Merely cast off the bothersome burden and get on? Well that's the tricky part. Everytime I come up with a 'different' understanding of religion, I end up falling into the same trap that I initially intended to escape! It is as if, when religion is pulled down, something else automatically 'becomes' a religion! So one ends up with another structure, merely a different name and form... but still the same essence.
Got to do some serious reading about this. Another interesting study would be the relationship between God and religion.
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