24 November 2008

the ties that bind us

I know i haven't blogged in a while(over a month), but it's been a pretty hectic semester. I'm hoping to catch up, if that's alright.

When Marx said that religion was a threat to human progress and must be abolished, outrage ensued. However, despite one's religious views, Marx had a valid point. Religion, in some cases, doesn't make you a better person, sometimes, it stifles you.

"Religion is a flower on the ties that bind us."

Man is always trying to live up to the standards that religion instills in us. Supposedly, if man goes through life, living according to religious rules, he'll have a pleasant afterlife in "heaven". However, man sometimes gets swept up in trying to live virtuously and misses their life here on earth. Now does that make sense? Man should be able to live life according to what they think is right and ethical. They should be well learned enough to know right from wrong and secure a set of values that will give them eternal life in heaven, eventually.

Marx said that man is not abstract, but religion and heaven is. Man is in a human world, a state and society. Religion is a general theory and should not apply as 'gospel' (pun intended) to everyone, which is another reason why religion sometimes is criticized.

Although I personally believe religion is important to society due to my upbringing, I'm beginning to drift away from the "do this, do that, give us money" aspect of religion. I think that as long as someone has faith, and lives according to a society's idea of a good person, all will be well after all.



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