Through this past semester in this class, I have had to study and analyze the tenants of the major religions that essentially run the world, namely (in no particular order) Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, and Daoism. I have learned about their god (or gods), ways of worshiping said gods, behavioral practices, and philosophies. Regardless of whether the religion is strict and structured like Confucianism or some sects of Christianity, or if it is more “laid-back” like Buddhism or Daoism, there is one thing that seems to be neglected from the course’s study. This is the element of Faith in regards to these religions and belief systems.

It is no doubt that most of what is believed by the world’s religious institutions must be retained by an element of faith. I say this because many religions have stories and allegations about their gods or saviors that are either not supported by history or science or even operate consistently contrary to science. Of course, an adherent can hold the belief that there is a being that is larger than the universe that is in control of the scientific anomalies occurring, but such characters have not appeared, at least not recently and overtly enough for their presence to be captured by a news camera. In order to establish my credibility, I will use an example from my own faith, Christianity. Christians often cite a story in which their savior, Jesus Christ, is at a wedding party and performs his first miracle, turning water into wine. Of course, this is scientifically impossible, but Christians have to hold constant that there is a god who is the creator of science and is supernatural to the universe and its usual manifestations, and so he is in control of the miracles at hand.

Another example can be derived from one of the Hindu holy books, the Bhagavad-Gita (Moroney, “Summary of Assigned Passages of the Bhagavad-Gita”). First off, Hinduism is well associated with its caste system, splitting its people into permanent social groups, each having its own place and duty (Prothero Chapter 4). Though this social system may be contrary to how other people groups may organize themselves, they still carry the faith that this is how the “powers that be” decided for the world to operate. They also hold the faith that a person’s soul never truly dies, and is instead locked in an infinite loop of reincarnation. Holding all this constant, a character in the Bhagavad-Gita is led to make a decision; a warrior does not want to kill his fellow man, but is persuaded by the god Krishna to do it anyway, because that is his dharma (duty) and that no one ever actually dies anyway. Though this is an oversimplification of a main part of Hinduism, it still holds up that faith is an even bigger part of the religion.

Even the religions that don’t have a particular savior or creator as the point of focus (such as Buddhism and Daoism) still operate under a kind of faith. As I cite in my first essay about philosophical debate, Daoism and Buddhism are characterized by looking “inward” towards your being and finding enlightenment (Moroney, “Essay #1 (Philosophical Debate)”). For most, this practice seems inactive, and thus too simple to be significant. Because of this, entering into this practice involves having the faith that this is all there is to existence and that one should only be content in “being”. Faith is especially involved in the cases where someone experiences a lot of tragedies, and so they must enter this meditative state with the faith and understanding that everything will be fine and to let go of their worrying.

Sigmund Freud’s “Civilization and its Discontents” also leaves out this important aspect of religion. As I’ve analyzed in my summary of his work and my second essay, he believes the adherence to a particular religion to be a form of psychosis, insinuating that a rational human would not carry out the thoughts and behaviors of one who is religiously devout (Moroney, “Essay #2 (Theory of Religion)”). He also mentions how a person’s choice in religion can develop from their perception of beauty, which is derived from their perception of sexual love (Freud 733). This theory of his strikes me as incredibly cynical, as he asserts no possibility that the development of any religion is the result of a genuine concern for the spiritual livelihood of others. One of his speculations I tend to agree with, though, is the sense of “eternity”, which one must have in order to derive a sense of satisfaction from ascribing to a particular religion (Freud 723). However, it is important to note that Freud is operating under the assumption that there is no god, or at least no god like the faithful adherents have described, and so this brings me back to faith. Even Freud would have to understand that if he were to argue on the basis of faith, he would already have lost his argument.

It is for the reasons mentioned in the above paragraphs that in my writings during this course I have often used the word “faith” as a noun when referring to the religion in question. In one part, this is because the word “religion” carries a connotation that is almost synonymous with the strict regulations of a standardized test or a common rule of law, only requiring your attention to certain details in order to say you’re a part of it. On the contrary, “faith” emphasizes that one must wholeheartedly take part in what is taught to them and know without a doubt that this is the way we were all meant to live.

Help Received:

Works Cited:

* Freud, Sigmund. Civilization and its Discontents. (Downloaded File, “civ-and-its-discon.pdf” downloaded 1/27/15)

* Prothero, Stephen. God Is Not One. New York City, New York. HarperCollins eBooks. 2010

* Moroney, Thomas. “Summary of Assigned Passages of the Bhagavad-Gita.”

vmi.edu. 21 April 2015.  Web. 27 Apr. 2015.

* Moroney, Thomas. “Essay #1 (Philosophical Debate): Confucianism vs. Daoism: Which is more central to China’s basic culture?.” vmi.edu. 27 April 2015.  Web. 27 Apr. 2015.

* Moroney, Thomas. “Essay #2 (Theory of Religion): An Explanation of Freud’s Theory of Religion, as mentioned in “Civilization and its Discontents”.” vmi.edu. 27 April 2015. Web. 27 Apr. 2015.

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Cadet Faulhaber for figuring out way to cite web posting

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