Religious Life on Planet Earth
Religion on Earth
In order to whether people on Earth are religious, there is a need for the definition of what religion is. The most fundamental part in religion is the belief in a Supreme Being or Supreme Beings who are also referred to as God or Gods respectively. The actions and activities that are practiced relation to the God or Gods are termed as religious actions and religious activities. Religious actions and activities include prayer, pilgrimage, and holding religious meetings just to mention a few. The religious belief that believes in the existence a one God, as is the case in our planet, is monotheism while the belief based on the existence of several Gods with varied abilities, and responsibilities is polytheism. Earth has monotheists, polytheists, and people who do not believe in the existence of a higher power also known as atheists. This report will use the term Supreme Beings to refer to God or Gods. The Supreme Beings are believed to be the creators of all planets including Earth, the galaxies, the stars, and all life that exists (Bacchus, 2006). The Supreme Beings are also believed to be responsible for the forces that human beings cannot control or influence such as the force of gravity, the forces of planet rotation and revolution, the force of the wind, and rain just to mention a few (Bidney, 1997). Since the Supreme Beings are also believed to influence people’s lives, human beings have the need to relate to the Supreme Beings in search of favors through worshipping the Supreme Beings and following their guidelines. The knowledge and evidence about the Supreme Beings is available in main religious books called Holy books, historical artifacts, shrines, and other information passed from generation to generation through word of mouth. The Holy books also contain the guidelines stipulated by the Supreme Beings on how people should live in a virtuous and harmonious manner that pleases them. The failure to follow the guidelines would lead to punishment either during lifetime or after death. Religious leaders are responsible for educating their followers on the existence of the Supreme Beings and the guidelines to follow as well as to act as mediators.
Examples of Religions on Earth
This report will address three belief systems on Earth namely Hinduism, Christianity, and Islam. Hinduism is a polytheistic belief system, the followers believe in Shiva, Vishnu, and Shakti as the main Gods (Gardner & Kleiner, 2010). The Vedas is Hindu’s Holy book and their religious leaders are the Brahmans. Hindus believe in the principle of Karma whereby their destiny after death is determined by how they live their lives on Earth, they also believe in reincarnation, which means that the soul an individual moves from one body to another body upon death. The ultimate goal of the Hindus is freedom from the cycle of rebirth and unity with God. The other religion is Islam, which is a monotheistic belief system that believes in one God, Allah. Muslims believe in following the principles and practices of the Five Pillars as commitment to the faith, they include the Shahada or creed, Salat or daily prayer, Zakat or giving of alms, fasting during the period of Ramadan, and pilgrimage to Mecca (Worden & Smith, 2003). Muslim’s Holy book is the Quran, and the religious leaders are Imams. Christianity is another monotheistic belief system. The Christians belief in one God who is composed of three persons namely the Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost. The Christians Holy book is the Bible, which contains the Ten Commandments that they are supposed to follow (Van, 2007). The Christians believe that a breach in any of the Ten Commandments would lead to punishment after death, if the Christian does not ask God for forgiveness. Christian’s religious leaders are priests or pastors.
Function of Religion on Earth
Religion acts as a social platform that unites the people who profess that same faith, through a sense of identity and belonging to a particular religious group, and doing activities together as a congregation. Religion defines the purpose and direction of people’s lives on Earth, through the recommended living guidelines that are to be complied with, as commitment to the religion. Religions have rules and guidelines, which the followers should follow. It is believed that a breach in the rules would lead to punishment. Religious rules and regulations increase social cohesion and encourage virtuous ways of life (Furseth & Repstad, 2007). Religion is also a source of psychological satisfaction since religious people are able to make sense of life experiences such as happiness, success, death, illness, and suffering, from the perspective of their religious teachings. When events bring happiness, religious people give thanks to the Supreme Beings; happy events are perceived as rewards from the Supreme Beings for following the guidelines given (Piedmont & Village, 2009). On the other hand, sorrowful events are related to punishment due to the breach of the given guidelines, and forgiveness is sought when sorrowful events occur (Piedmont & Village, 2009).
Diversity on Earth
Unlike our planet, Earth is unique since it has people of different; races, cultures, languages, and different governments. The logical reason for the existence of several religions on Earth is that the Supreme Beings created people of different cultures, races, and languages on Earth, unlike in our planet where there is only on race of people. The differences on Earth are the reasons for the varied perceptions of the Supreme Beings (Barnard, 1997). The similarities in the religions on Earth might be a clue that the origins might be common. The Supreme Beings of Earth might be our same God, but maybe he does not mind the different perceptions of him, since they acknowledge his existence, purpose, and power in one way or another. In addition, maybe the different perceptions of Supreme Beings on Earth are the confirmation of the Supreme Beings’ mysterious nature and complexity for their creations to fully accommodate and comprehend their nature. Otherwise, religion on Earth serves the same purpose as it does in our planet.
References
Bacchus, D. N. (2006). Beyond psychotherapy: 123 life-changing ideas for people who will never go to therapy. Universal Publishers.
Barnard, G. W. (1997). Exploring unseen worlds: William James and the philosophy of mysticism. State Univ. of New York Press.
Bidney, M. (1997). Patterns of epiphany: from Wordsworth to Tolstoy, Pater, and Barrett Browning. Southern Illinois Univ. Press.
Furseth, I., & Repstad, P. (2007). An introduction to the sociology of religion: Classical and contemporary perspectives. Ashgate.
Gardner, H., & Kleiner, F. S. (2010). Gardner's art through the ages: Non-western perspectives. Wadsworth/Cengage Learning.
Piedmont, R. L., & Village, A. (2009). Research in the social scientific study of religion: Volume 20. Leiden, Brill.
Van, H. R. (2007). The Ten commandments for Jews, Christians, and others. William B. Eerdmans Pub.
Worden, D., & Smith, P. (2003). Key beliefs, ultimate questions and life issues: GCSE religious studies for AQA. Heinemann Educational.
