How Religion is Detrimental to Human Enlightenment Essay

godliness has bequeathed us with numerous indicators to live, go on in peace, and capture our soul to crap the verity of ourselves and divine. The whole concept of pietism lies in the particular that it binds us with our undetect satisfactory creator and enables us to visualize our egotism and our esteem perquisite hidden indicant. precisely to this piety only, we owe extreme motley of constitutionalism and fanaticism that since centuries and as far as our tarradiddle goes shoot got been detri rational to the basic core of only our worships and apparitional faiths. ghostly teachings of close each(prenominal) over the cosmea laid d deliver principles of the flavor for their respective(prenominal)(prenominal) societies how they volition live and follow their sacred rituals? These spectral practices prep ard persons in their respective societies to live in harmony with each other and maintain the cordial ambience with their environment. Almost each the wo rships of the world adopted their receive unearthly belief systems. provided when these systems take an extreme form of funda rationalism and expose their aggression and disbelief against other ghostly groups and faith, they hurt at the most fundamental concepts of service homophile lives on which religions atomic number 18 based.They shop religion as the most curse thing in the world and sport it into the most inauspicious aspect for gentleman enlightenment. Religion enlightens by inculcating deep overmaster the plurality the moral set on which the kind-hearted life and society is flourishing plainly when the propagators of these moral determine use the ghostly beliefs and religion to instigate their fame and for their declare mercantile economic consumptions, this religion only be rises a darker level in their life.Just when 16th century began to shower the new rays of hope on the mother Earth, Niccolo di Bernardo dei Machiavelli, an Italian governmental philosopher, diplomat poet, playw merelyifiedly and musician wrote, We Italians atomic number 18 heathenish and dilute to a higher place others. .. because the church and her representatives have piece us the worst example. 1 According to Machiavelli, religion became just a mere prick in the custody of command powers to change the mind set of the public accord to their own needs and aspirantions. And its happening till right away.This world of straight off is witness to the massive ferocity of ruling class using religion to regard their political and commercial needs. Cotton Mather, make-up of a former curb which he would admired to have renewed in his own time, utter New England universe a country whose interests ar remarkbaly in ecclesiastical circumstances, ministers ought to concern themselves in politics. 2 Further said by Cobb, in the early days, the clergy had a greater put to work on the minsteral affairs and the influence was so much that they with the ir ruling power could sour magistrates and courts too to their dictate.This led number of clergies to harm the power and make the religion as an instrument of bigotry and superstition. 3 The clergy, political class and other religious fanatics make religion an bena of superstition and ism of dim faith that did non weigh in the new thoughts of this scientific and super technological advanced world of immediately and made religion deterimental to compassionate enlightenment. humane enlightenment endows the knowledge and awakening of human race values and the knowledge of scientific truths and genius that has made our life at ease. acquisition wants us to solve all problems of our life through deep regressive thoughts and our own efforts. Atheists began to instigate the adherance to religion and immortal within us. They believe that no divine power can solve our problem and ingathering is just a wa set up of time. 4 1 Burckhardt, pp. 272 2 Cobb, pp. 237 3 Cobb, pp. 237 4 . Cronish, parity 2, Online chance variable In fact even off Albert Ellis, PhD, said, If religion is defined as mans dependence on a power above and beyond the human, then, as a psychotherapist, I find it to be exceptionally pernicious.Religion, first of all, is non self-interest it is god-interest. religionism is immanently masochism and both are forms of mental sickness. All religions contend that their super-human entities cannot be humanly experienced and that their gods and their principles are beyond science. Religion is directly opposed to the goals of mental health. 5 Religion beckons us to follow ghostly life only the way religious doctrines are propagated and publicized and mould the mental attitude of the flock, they are going even against the moral values that are so basic for a person to be human.The politicians, religious heads and other fanatics are misusing the religious doctrines to spread among human race superstition, blind faith, sins, violence chaos an d disorder. History is unfastened proof to show how since ages poltical rulers and religious heads are degrading the religious doctrines and misrepresenting them to fulfill their own aims and are spreading useless dogmas, corrupt powerhouses, chaos and confusion and thus final result in making the religious values as a sole unwholesome to gay enlightenment.The religious texts of almost all the religions of the world have been written by humans, that are centuries old, in their own vocabulary and modality that muckle of todays generation are not able to comprehend and take out the utter what lies beneath the hidden text. This lack of taste belies the own faith and life style of the contemporary world. As Christopher Hitchens in God Is Not Great How Religion Poisons foreverything said that as religion has impeded state to discreetness other persons in a just manner and it is not undeniable to learn the basic human values and human relations from religion or religious doctr ines.Human relations come 5 Cronish, conservation of parity 2, Online fluctuation from human own needs and aspirations. Sam Harris, Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens accede that Religion and churches are manufactured, and this salient fact is too obvious to ignore. 6 And according to Dawkins, The manufacturing and growth of religion is best exposit in evolutionary terms Religions, interchangeable languages, evolve with sufficient randomness, from ascendants that are sufficiently arbitrary, to generate the bewildering and sometimes dangerous comprehensiveness of diversity.7 And Harris delving into the historicity of the religious tradition and doctrine states that The Bible, it seems certain, was the work of sand-strewn men and women who thought the human beings was flat and for whom a wheelbarrow would have been a breath taking example of rising technology. 8 He further states that it was not even the work of sand-strewn men precisely several written pieces were p ierced together and compiled to flow shape to the bible.Further elaborating Dawkins states that, Ever since the nineteenth century, scholarly theologians have made an overwhelming case that the gospels are not reliable accounts of what happened in the history of the strong world. 9 It implies that the bible and almost the majority of the religious texts were written taking in fascinate the societal, culture, political exhilaration that were affecting the people of that time and termination exactly that can be pertinent to this time and period too if properly interpreted and comprehended.But unfortunately this is not happening, Hitechens wants to tell us that all our academician studies, like the sciences of textual reproval, archaeology, physics, and molecular biology have shown religious myths to be rancid and man-made. 10 Science has proved that all religions are construed by 6 Fish, para 1,Online Edition 7 Fish, para 1, Online Edition 8 Fish, para 1, Online Edition 9 Fish, para 2, Online Edition 10 Fish, para 3, Online Edition men for their own purpose and it was the man of that time and age who wrote the textual books.Titus Lucretius Carus, Roman poet of first century B. C in his magnificent rendered opus De Rerum Natura postered the view that, But tis that same religion oftener far Hath bred the foul impieties of men. 11 He held the belief that the world was made up of matter and void, and everything in the world is lettered and understood purely from nature and that all the religions of the world are born because of the terror that people faced because of the dangers that nature had in store for them in their primitive stage and their ignorance closely the world around, about themselves and about everything that were part and parcel of their life.Humans were afeard(predicate) of fire that is why they started worshiping fire, they were afraid of animals so they made many of the animals their deity. Slowly and slowly, they saturnine the ir worshipping into rituals that necessiated them to follow in their lifes. Their religious independence and beliefs strangled their hold on the peoples license. Initially they made this capturening to give protective cover to people against discrimination, persecution and oppression but in this momentum, the religious fundamentalists and fanatics made religion too symbolization of slavery, persecution and oppression of weaker sects and women.For e. g. many of the propagators of the religions thought it their right to confer discriminatory attitude against gays, force women and children to cover their face with veil. 12 And above all their rights to threaten to death or kill anyone and everyone who comes in front of their religion. In many religions, womens place is deficient to men. Rev. Jill Nelson, pastor of the Sunshine Cathedral metropolitan Community Church, commenting on Leviticus 2013, said, It is grounded in the old Jewish understanding that women are less worthy than men. For a man to 11 Lucretius, Book I Proem, boundary 3-4. 12Namazie, Online Edition. have sex with other man as with a charwoman insults the other man, because women are to be enured as property. 13 The most essential needs of our human beings are food, clothing, shelter, vacant and the most important being independence. Its the emancipation that we all cherish and along-with the liberty need awareness, emotional satisfaction, responsibility towards ourselves and for others. Human beings are enlightened if they get freedom and independence of thoughts and sexuality and many of the religions are snatching this only freedom by set before us several of their religious doctrines.Though many of the religions like Buddhism and Christianity distinguish that feeling of essence of spectrality itself is the freedom for you. The New Testament of the Christianity says, You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free implying that knowing the spiritual truth and freedom of choice will give you freedom but in this materialistic and scientific world of today we are not seeking just the freedom of spirituality but freedom in all the ways of our life, and in all our breath. We cannot grow unless we are free.Karl Marx had an ardent belief that religion is socially construed, and is harmful for human lives as it discourages the down trodden human beings from participating actively in the political, social and economic upheavals of the society as it promises that the faithful people shall be rewarded in the life later. Ruling class treat religion as a tool to suppress the sufferings and down trodden by implying their own modifications of religious doctrines. For their own commercial and social gains, they imbibe the religious textual principles and traits among the short and hamper their economical progress and independence.13 Kinney, Online Edition. 14 Muhammad, Online Edition Marx labeled religion as an opium of people because the religion could give poor the momentarily relief but could not make them rid of their put out sufferings. Secondly, religion gives them dreams of better life after their death. In other address, Marx treats religion as a rout of Escapism. In the words of Marx, The abolition of religion as the unreal happiness of the people is the demand for their real happiness. To call on them to give up their illusions about their condition is to call on them to give up a condition that requires illusions.The criticism of religion is, therefore, in embryo, the criticism of that vale of tears of which religion is the halo. 15 Marx says that the concept of sin so passing delivered by Christian doctrine is anti-social as Christian doctrine is inherent in the nature of human beings that becomes the part of the distress and Marx says that sins are socially planned and utilise and ought to be changed. It is the world of man, man is a part of this state and society, and it is this society that religion own its existen ce to.To ignore religion means to ignore the roots of our civilization, its monuments, its beliefs and practices, achievement and the legacy that it had bestowed onto us by our ancestors. If we do not have our own religious faith, its bound to have venomous work on our own personality but this very religion becomes our enemy when we begin to use its doctrines and principles to embellish our own ungenerous ends. And this misinterpretation of the religious doctrines, selfishness of the ruling and herculean elite make our religions detrimental to Human Enlightenment.WORKS CITEDBurckhardt, Jacob. The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy (Translated by S. G. Middlemore) USA Penguin Classics, 1990 Cobb, Sanford H. The Rise of spiritual Liberty in America A History Ayer Publishing, 1970. Cornish, Keith S. SECULAR SYSTEMS atheist foundation. org. au net (19August 2002) Available http//www. atheistfoundation. org. au/secularsystems. htm, 10 December 2007 Fish, Stanley. Is Religion M an-Made? Internet (24 June 2007) Available http//fish.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/06/24/is-religion-man-made/