little flower's "Can Liberals Blend Religion and Politics?" raised many issues that inspired a few comments yesterday. The topic inspires another question in my mind:
What role should religion play in the post-modern world?
Being an agnostic, I feel questions of God and faith are personal. Leading a life that does no harm is all that should matter. But I know I am in the minority on this. Religion, like it or not, is a central character in many conflicts, domestic and international these days and must be dealt with. On the other hand, many feel science has replaced religion. Much of what was left to "God's Will" has now been explained by science. I don't think science replaces religion, but the point is a valid one.
Throughout written history at least, religion played a central role in society. Now, while still important, it does not hold the sway of science, politics and technology. So fellow bloggers, what is your take?
3 comments:
It kind of depends on your definition of religion. If viewed as a man-made institution, it's just a system to maintain order among people, and I suppose there's nothing necessarily wrong with that, so long as it doesn't clash too much with other existing institutions. Humans are social creatures, and belonging to a club of any kind is usually comfortable and probably profitable for social development.
I am, of course, playing devil's advocate here -- I don't think that real christianity is a man-made institution. I also am also among the school of thought that says relationship with the Almighty is initiated by the Almighty; one does not "find" God, so the question of the role religion plays in society depends on the individuals' relationship with God. Ie., the role played is the role God asserts.
Here's some essays I wrote, if you care to get more of my perspectives on the topic.
Do you think there is credence for "modernizing" religion? Bringing it up to date to address science, for example?
That question doesn't compute for me. You're viewing religion through an entirely different paradigm than I am, so the question doesn't make sense in my worldview.
Biblical christianity, as I see it, is entirely about worshipping God, acknowledging Him not only as creator, but as master, and helping out your fellow man. James 1:27 - "Pure an undefiled religion is this: that you help orphans and widows in distress, and that you remain unpolluted by the world." I think that today's religion, in the current corporate structure, isn't biblical. Today's churches are like the second dark ages.
In any event, there's nothing in there about science, politics, technology - that's not built into the framework of relationship with the Almighty. There's nothing to include or exclude those issues, so they become issues of personal interest. They are characteristics of a person, not of a religion.
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