Being Blind

Being Blind...

"In the beginning, human beings created God who was the First Cause of all things and Ruler of heaven and earth. He was not represented by images and had no temple or priests in his service. He was too exalted for an inadequate human cult. Gradually he faded from the consciousness of his people. He had become so remote that they decided that they did not want him anymore. Eventually he was said to have disappeared."(Last name of the author, year of pub, p.no.) This theory was proposed by Father Wilhelm in 1912.According to Schmidt, man and women had been monotheists; that is, they are said to have believed in one supreme High God also called the Sky God. Later the Sky God came to be replaced by more attractive gods and disappeared from their lives and new gods emerged. These gods were shortly forgotten.

Richard Purtill portrays his thoughts on why human beings have a need to worship. According to Richard, the need to worship appears to be a historical and psychological fact. "An atheist will explain this as a human failing that must be resisted; a theist will explain it as one way in which God has 'made us for himself', given us tendencies that lead us to him." (year of pub, p.no.) (Thesis)

People adhere to religion for a number of reasons. Religion values morals and ethics. Religion teaches people to live in co-operation, peace, tolerance and harmony. Gives purpose to life. Religion also has convincing 'beginning of life' and an 'after-life explanation'.

Euthanasia, cloning, abortion etc were never an issue before religion brought it up. A manipulated conclusion from Chris Pritchard article "Euthanasia practiced more by Aus. doctors claiming 'no religion', says that religious doctors practice morals and ethics more than non-religious doctors.

The survey of 683 doctors, published in the Medical Journal of Australia, was conducted by New South Wales State's Newcastle University. One in three respondents admitted to acting illegally by intentionally speeding up the death of a patient with high-dose painkillers.

The poll found religious affiliation a "significant predictor" of attitudes to euthanasia.

More than 46% of respondents who specified "no religion" said they had given drugs in doses greater than those required to relieve symptoms with the intention of hastening a patient's death. But only one in five Roman Catholics (19%), just over one in three Protestants (34%) and one in three Jews (33%) said they had acted similarly.

Henry Morgentaler strongly feels that "the decision to have an abortion is clearly an extremely moral choice; it is a choice that liberates, empowers, and benefits women and society." The religious right and the anti-abortion movement are very understanding to these facts and do their best to do what is moral and ethical. Like education in a university enriches the brain with knowledge, religions enrich the heart with morals to help people differentiate right and wrong. According to Gilbert and Phi Delta, "Religions do nothing less than construct the metaphysical and moral foundations of civilizations. They have provided "guidance" and "paths" to the good life since the dawn of civilization." The two writers think it is important to have religion in schools because it brings moral education. Moral standards affirm human dignity and rights which allow people to treat others in the same way they wish to be treated. It also enables people to live a fulfilling life, and make a democratic and civilized culture possible.

Although religion preaches morality, ethics, responsibilities etc, all morals and ethics have been breached today and an alternative to religion is being sought. Not even religions are unified today. For example Christianity

Humans are always in the quest for the unknown. Their intelligent nature makes them question beyond the dark. The search for Man's purpose on earth has led him to find logical explanations for beginning of life and after-life possibilities. Many religions provide convincing explanations for these questions. The most common explanation comes from a belief in an all powerful 'god' who created the universe and mankind. These are explained in holy books of religions through stories or facts. According to the Book of Genesis in the Bible (Christian), Torah (Judaism), and Quran (Islam) Adam was the created first by god and then Eve was created to be his wife. Bible claims that god created the world in six days. While some major religion like Buddhism ignores a godly creation, most major religions like Christianity, Islam, Judaism etc has its own logical explanation for the beginning of life.

Scientific theories like the "Big Bang theory" and the "Theory of Evolution" oppose the religious views on emergence of life. The big bang theory is the most dominant theory about the origin of the universe. According to the big bang, the universe was created sometime between 10 billion and 20 billion years ago from a cosmic explosion that threw matter in all directions. First proposed by the Belgian priest Georges Lemaоtre (1927), it states that the universe began with the explosion of a primeval atom. The big bang theory also explains why distant galaxies are travelling away from us at great speeds and the existence of cosmic background radiation.

The theory put forward by Charles Darwin in the 19th century, brought an end to blind beliefs. The idea of evolution was suggested by the Greeks many centuries ago, but it was not until the 19th century that a clear explanation was brought about by Charles Darwin.