There is no clear consensus of what constitutes a religion. It can be defined as a social-cultural system of specific morals, beliefs, behaviors, and ethics. Religion generally links humankind and supernatural, other-worldly, or spiritual elements. There are thousands of distinct religions worldwide, most of which explain the origin and meaning of life. Personally, I believe in religion and think that spiritual growth and belief are vital aspects of life. I think that religion is a thing that is necessary for the human psyche, and it provides support in dealing with life’s hardships. Being a believer myself, I find psychological theories behind the definition of religion relevant.
Religion remains influential in an age of science as roughly 75% of the US & Canada accept traditional religions. Hence, it acts as proof of the importance of religion and spiritual life in society. There is a two-way relationship between religion and society as, for example, English Common Law is based on the Bible, while modern science is shaping Liberal Christianity. Furthermore, religion has a much deeper meaning than the proponents of the social theory of religion-state. For instance. the creation myth is considered one of the origins of the religion we know today. Myths provided an accessible answer to the metaphysical questions of humanity.
The need for religion may be explained by several psychological theories. Personally, I cannot imagine my life and the world without religion and its wisdom. The image that comes to my mind is terrifying because it is an attempt to visualize emptiness. Hence, the terror management theory by Pyszczynski, Greenberg, and Solomon resonates with me on a personal level. Although I do not fear death, as described in theory, I feel like the absence of some form of God is terrifying, and the realization that humanity is alone in this world creates an existential crisis within me.
The other psychological theory that is relevant to my perception of religion is the functional-experimental approach. The world we live in is filled with suffering, and it is a thing that is impossible to predict or control. Hence, religion provides beliefs, rituals, and ethics that help believers cope with psychological pain caused by those horrendous and uncontrollable events. Besides that, death, suffering, guilt, and meaninglessness can also be addressed by religion. This is why religion is necessary for society in general to create a universal way to transcend the life-negating traumas of human experience.
To me, religion is a system of practices and behaviors linked to faith in supernatural elements of the world. All of those practices were developed as a means of connecting human life and experience with an eternal source of life and wisdom. I agree with Ninian Smart’s quote on the importance of studying religion “To understand human history and human life it is necessary to understand religion”. Indeed, religion acts on both universal and personal levels as each believer has his own approach to interaction with the divine, while all believers follow certain universal rules of the religion.
In conclusion, religion acts as necessary support to humankind in dealing with the psychological hardships of human experience. It provides answers to some of the most frightening metaphysical questions and deals with topics of death and the afterlife. Hence, although religion is hard to define, it certainly serves a psychological purpose and positively impacts the psychological well-being of believers. By providing a connection with the eternal and supernatural, religion enhances human experiences and decreases the existential loneliness of humanity that is left alone to deal with its troubles. A religious way of thinking resolves the sole terror of this understanding. Therefore, my definition of religion is that it is a set of beliefs that provides comfort, happiness, and meaning to life. In addition, it meets the challenge of horrendous situations like suffering and death.
Science is a system of built and organized knowledge in the form of practical explanations about the universe. It is divided into many categories, such as natural, social, economic, and computer science, among many others. The knowledge for any area of science is acquired through thorough research, experiments, and tests. Despite popular belief, science is an ancient enterprise that nowadays can explain the world around us in the most precise and accurate way. Personally, I consider science the most reliable source of information.
Science can be considered to be as old as religion; its roots can be traced to the rise of the first ancient civilizations. Just like religion, science began as a way to explain obscure phenomena and the origin of life. It also aims for further development and improvement of the quality of life. Despite the fact that science was feared and forbidden in some countries during some historical periods, it has been generally practiced throughout the entire course of human history.
Science is a system that collects knowledge through research, experiments, and testing to ensure the quality and precision of the scientific result. Despite the fact that science and religion both attempt to explain the world around us, science only accepts factual evidence. In most cases, if something cannot be proved, then, according to the scientific method, it does not exist; and vice versa, to be claimed real, it has to be evidential. For that, scientists conduct different researches, various experiments, and tests to be able to affirm their hypothesis.
It is true that modern science cannot explain some extraordinary phenomena and miracles; however, it does not render science unreliable. There are many events in human history that no one can easily explain without connecting them to supernatural forces. Many people claim to have witnessed a miracle or deny the coincidence of some irregular circumstance, referring to the fact that it cannot be explained by science. However, to counter this opinion, the example of electricity, or the shape of our planet, can be used. Centuries ago, people would consider a cellphone a miracle or the fact of living on a giant rock floating in space – nonsense. The incomprehensible events that happen today truly may not be explained by modern science, but they could be explained in the future. Nonetheless, science is the most reliable source of knowledge because it provides all the evidence humanity can collect as of today; science is constantly developing, and new discoveries are made every day.
Science is a system of collecting knowledge through research and experiments that attempts to explain and understand the world. Science is as old as religion; it has existed and been practiced throughout the entire course of human history. Science considers factual evidence and proof as to the key elements in the existence and reality of something. I believe that, despite the inability to explain certain phenomena, science is the most reliable source of knowledge and information. It is constantly developing and might be able to be even more precise and accurate in the future.