Religion...

As much as we like it to be and hope that it remains in the private household, religion has gradually penetrated and helped lay the very foundations of today’s society. The concept of the secularist state, separating the two spheres of state and religion is a fairly new concept. This is of course when put in comparison to religious history, which predates the modern state by not few but many centuries. I guess my point here is vaguely that, the modern and secular state attempts to separate religion from the public sphere and reduce it to a private matter with little success. Of course in secular democracies like the United States, religion and state have been completely separated in hope that religion will remain a private matter and limit in its influence on both the state and society. But what we do not realize is that religion has long been a major influence on culture, values and beliefs of humans. In fact, it has been a major force in laying the fabrics of societal relations and cultural practices that have evolved into the modern society. One cannot simply ignore religion’s part in the evolution of society through the ages. In fact, religion takes a much bigger part of our history and culture compare to influences of modern society and modern concept such as secularism. My point here is that, religion had intertwined itself into foundations of society long before the belief that it should be separated and reduced to a private matter. Modern secular democracies like Untied States attempt to limit religion’s influence on politics and matters of public life, but I believe they are unable to detract it from fabrics of society, been sewn long before and evolved as culture and tradition, anytime soon.

I have gone on and on over my point above, but still haven’t touched upon what I believe religion is? I think in the simplest terms, religion for me is the manifestation of human mind in an attempt to explain what seems to be alien to him. It probably began whit trying to explain a supernatural phenomenon such as something as simple of a thunderstorm. Religion and its function grow alongside human evolution. Religion transpired into a human need to believe into something greater than itself, to believe in a higher being responsible for all that was out of their hands, from famine to prosperity. As the human needs grew, so did religion! In my opinion, it worked as supply and demand. As long as there was, a need to believe there was a form of belief, a kind of religion supplied to satisfy that need. Therefore, as humans evolved and so did their needs, religion too evolved and became more complex. It encompassed many deities and gods o satisfy different needs. Until humans reached a stage in their evolution that, they departed with the complex polytheistic beliefs and felt a need in one, all encompassing and knowing, God; to satisfy their needs and for a general guideline for all to live by.

In a few terms, religion is the manifestation of the human mind in satisfying its needs and aspirations. The need to believe into something greater than himself. The need to look for what it feels it cannot gain by humane means and aspirations. The ignorance that he does not define his destiny, that source of all his greatness and what he is able to achieve does not come from him but a higher source. That instead of believing in his capacity to achieve greatness, he feels the need to pray and hope for help from a higher source.