TM ~ Religion
Jul. 12th, 2007 10:55 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
on_holy_groundWhat is religion, exactly? If someone were to ask you, would you be able to give him or her a complete definition of what the word means? Could you encompass every aspect of the word, from the theological, to the philosophical, sociological and even psychological? Would you be able to include all the various practices, ideals, traditions, and ideas that make up the religions in the world? Do you think of it in a behavioral sense, or in the theological? How exactly can you define such a term?
Most seem to agree on what the basic elements of religion are, and yet the most important elements seem to differ from one to another. We all have a tendency to define it not as something encompassing the world, but based on our own individual thoughts on the subject. So in essence, we ignore the vastness of the word itself, in favor of something that makes sense to us as individuals.
When we use the term religion, we are classifying something, but the things that we are attempting to classify are often far greater than we realize. It’s a word that is associated with spirituality, and belief, which are things that many people hold near and dear to their hearts. So much so in fact, that they are willing to kill and be killed for those beliefs. There are wars being fought over this term in countries across the world, and yet we don’t even really know what it means.
I believe that religion is indefinable because we never talk about it. It is a topic of conversation that is considered taboo, because we are afraid of insulting each other with our differing beliefs. We are afraid that we will lose our friends, or gain new enemies, and possibly even insight a war.
However, I can’t help but to wonder how we can ever truly learn to love each other and live together in peace, if we never talk about it at all?
Most seem to agree on what the basic elements of religion are, and yet the most important elements seem to differ from one to another. We all have a tendency to define it not as something encompassing the world, but based on our own individual thoughts on the subject. So in essence, we ignore the vastness of the word itself, in favor of something that makes sense to us as individuals.
When we use the term religion, we are classifying something, but the things that we are attempting to classify are often far greater than we realize. It’s a word that is associated with spirituality, and belief, which are things that many people hold near and dear to their hearts. So much so in fact, that they are willing to kill and be killed for those beliefs. There are wars being fought over this term in countries across the world, and yet we don’t even really know what it means.
I believe that religion is indefinable because we never talk about it. It is a topic of conversation that is considered taboo, because we are afraid of insulting each other with our differing beliefs. We are afraid that we will lose our friends, or gain new enemies, and possibly even insight a war.
However, I can’t help but to wonder how we can ever truly learn to love each other and live together in peace, if we never talk about it at all?
