Essays on Organized Religion

Harvey Cox is a professor from Harvard Divinity School. He thinks that fundamentalism is in its dying stages and will be replaced by a new era of mysticism as the chief driving force of religiosity. He is probably wrong. Mysticism is something of a catch-all term, and Cox himself doesn’t especially like the term because in common usage it has a fuzzy, ill-defined definition that he feels undercuts the important parts of what he means by mysticism. He defines it in an experiential way, and uses it to refer to an encounter with God or the spiritual that ...

A worldview in nursing is important. What is more important, perhaps, is having a personal worldview, while respecting those of others. A worldview, by definition, is a cognitive orientation, and it can be that of one or many. Mine is just that, mine. However, because, as an individual in the medical field, we work with many different people of different backgrounds, it would prevent us from effectively performing our job if we limited everybody’s worldview to our own. Therefore, in answer to the question what is my worldview, I understand the answer is personal, but it does not ...

Candide by Francois-Marie Arouet Voltaire is a satirical work whose main idea is challenging the widely accepted beliefs in the society. The concept of optimism is one which is heavily satirized through the experiences of the characters presented in the book. The basic idea of the novel was to challenge the beliefs and philosophies that scholars during the Enlightenment period held as the truth. According to the thinkers, God was a perfect God, and this meant that the world; his creation would be perfect. The book uses characters such as Pangloss and Candide, who hold on to the optimism ...

The future of American religion is in the “none.” A recent published and publicized survey on religion depicts an undeniable trend in religious association in America. The religious landscape has many people embracing spirituality rather than a tradition religious brand. People are within their democratic right to embrace this form of religion. Some people in the survey refuse to associate with any religion as others make a transition from the traditional authoritative religions and move to “none.” The survey indicates that those respondents on the “none” affiliation do so in a liberal political spectrum. The “none” has gained popularity in the ...

There are numerous schools of thought as to the role of religion in the Northern Ireland conflict. Institutionally, religion has different levels in the indirect contribution of the Roman Catholic Church and the direct one of the Orange societies. Other levels include the covenant tradition of fundamentalist Protestantism, the level of relational beliefs, level of cultures produced, and the interface between relational religious and national-political beliefs. The way religion connects to politics and conflicts is different for the each of the two dominant blocs of interest. The role of the Catholic Church takes into account. Majority of the past ...

Philosophy Journal

“Burnt Norton” by T.S. Eliot This poem is told through a narrator speaking directly to an audience. He warns of living in the present and not to suffer the past or worry about the future, “If all time is eternally” present. To worry about what one has already done in the past, “Down the passage which we did not takeTowards the door we never opened will not help to live well in the present.” (Eliot) To spend one’s time think and planning for the future is also a waste, “Here is a place of disaffection Time before and time after”. ( ...

Summary

Given the religious culture in America, religion and spirituality are core aspects of multicultural competency that therapists should consider. In this journal, after conducting a 26-study meta-analysis of 5,759 therapists, the author found out that despite most therapists considering the relevance of spirituality in their lives, they less often engage in spiritual practices (Walker, Gorsuch & Tan 2011). The author also found out that just a few therapists participate in organized religion. Additionally, the author found out that family and marriage therapists participate in organized religion. They also consider the relevance of spirituality than those from other professions (Walker, Gorsuch & ...

The role of women in various religious groups has been one of the most hotly-contested issues regarding organized religion in the modern era. Since women began to attain equal rights around the globe, various religious organizations have had to reassess the way that they include-- or do not include-- women within their organizations. Some women's rights groups have attacked organized religion as being backwards and detrimental to the fight for equality for women, while others have made attempts to work to change religious organizations from the inside out, stating that the problems within religions are the work of men, ...

Thomas Jefferson and Martin Luther King were important leaders in their time, even though by background they had very little in common and would not have been on the same side had they been contemporaries. Jefferson was a large slave owner in Virginia who became governor of that state after writing the Declaration of Independence and then president of the United States in 1801-09. Even though he wrote the famous words ‘all men are created equal’, he meant only white men, not blacks, women or Native Americans. As a politician and chief of state, he most certainly did not believe that ...

Analysis of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

There are a few main characters in Mark Twain’s novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Obviously, as the title character, Tom Sawyer is a main character. He is a boy living in St. Petersburg, Missouri, with his sister and half-brother, all orphaned and living with their Aunt Polly. Twain does not give much physical description of Tom, but he seems very active and physically fit, probably around 12 years old or so. He hates wearing shoes or the clothes he has to wear for church. He has no use for school or religion, preferring to play games with his friends. He ...

Emily Brontë’s novel Wuthering Heights contains numerous similarities to events and people in her life, but the novel is not autobiography. Instead, Brontë uses familiar events and characteristics of her own personality and that of family members to tell a story about intense love, marriage and death. The childhood activities of Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff, playing on the moors, parallel Brontë’s own childhood. Her unflattering depiction of religious fanaticism, as displayed by the character Joseph, reflects her own adult alienation from organized religion. The ongoing elements of illness and death function not just as plot devices to advance ...

Introduction

Scholars and historians have always speculated the significance of the 19th century and all the events that happened within that period to religion, particularly Christianity. According to a review conducted by a group of researchers from the U.S., the 19th century was indeed a significant period for religion (Rosenberg 1973, 3). Pair the events that occurred within the whole 19th century and the events that occurred from the start until the end of the renaissance period, and that could be a very strong formula that could clarify most, if not all, puzzles and mysteries associated with religion and its development.

The objective of this ...

Introduction:

In this excellent book, David Aikman focuses on the importance of China as a rising power in world religion and raises some intriguing points especially with regard to China also being an ally against radical Islam. Interestingly enough it appears that global politics is also changing in the way religion seems to be the driving force behind everything these days and this is reflected in the book by Aikman.

Review:

The book starts out by pointing out that at least one third of China’s huge 1.4 billion population will be Christian. This brings several factors into account. For many years, ...