Essay on Religions
Religion comprises an integral part of the social life. However, in spite of the diversity of religions, there are certain similarities, which make all religions looks alike. The similarity of religions is driven by objective factors, such as their common origin and evolution. On the other hand, religions remain different but the difference between religions is determined by local specificities mainly, which have determined the specific religious teaching. In this regard, it is possible to refer to the world’s major religions, such as Christianity, Islam and Buddhism, which seem to be absolutely different and even hostile to each other, at first glance, but, in their essence they remain the same and similar to each other. Therefore, religions are similar because they emerge and evolve on the ground of the same principles, while differences are determined by local cultural specificities mainly.
In fact, proponents of the difference between religions make their judgments about religions on the ground of their superficial observations of the current development of various religious movements. In other words, they make their judgments about religions on the ground of their current experience judging by ends rather than causes and major drivers of religions. This is why proponents of the difference between religions can hardly give any plausible explanation why religions belonging to absolutely different cultures have substantial similarities. For instance, Islam and Christianity even have the same prophets, like Jesus Christ known in Islam as Isa. Moreover, even norms and beliefs are similar. In this respect, it is possible to refer to the gender discrimination, which can be traced in Christianity, Islam and Buddhism. Proponents of the difference between religions cannot give a plausible explanation to all of these issues as well as many others, which imply the common origin and similarity of religions.
However, the common origin and similarity of religions do not mean that they all originate from one time and place. Instead, the similarity of religions is the result of the common principles which contributed to the emergence of religions and their development and evolution in the course of time. To put it more precisely, all religions emerged under the impact of the natural environment of people. To understand the reason for the similarity of religions worldwide, it is important to trace the origin of the religious worldview and evolution of the major religions in the course of time.
In the distant past, people lived in the hostile natural environment, which phenomena they could not reasonably explain. Naturally, thunder and lightning triggered the horror of people in face of the power of nature. They could not explain it reasonably and their imagination helped them to explain those natural phenomena in the unnatural way. In other words, they attempted to give some supernatural explanation to natural phenomena, which they witnessed in their regular life. However, as human knowledge was extremely limited and narrowed down to the life of their own community. This is why often people interpreted natural phenomena, which became the main source of their early religious views, from their human standpoint (Flood 114). They could not explain the change of night and day, the change of seasons, birth and death and many other phenomena. This is why they attempted to explain natural phenomena by extrapolating human relations on them. For example, they attributed the change of life and day or the change of season by the change of life and death, which was particularly evident in the interpretation of the fertility of land, which people compared to the fertility of women. In such a way, they attributed features of humans or living beings to unanimated objects and phenomena. Thus, animism emerged. In this regard, explanations people gave to various phenomena were different but they were similar in their nature, in their attempt to explain the surrounding world from the human perspective. This is why, animism as the early form of religion had the common ground, the attempt of humans to explain the surrounding world by extrapolating human relations on the surrounding world.
Steadily, human religious views and beliefs changed and evolved. In the course of time fetishism emerged as the way of the association of inanimate or non-human objects like trees, rocks or animals with a spirit of deceased ancestors of people (Warraq 139). They worshipped those fetishes because they associated them with their ancestors. And again, even though fetishes were different but they had the common ground: people associated their fetishes with their ancestors, whom they could communicate with by means of those fetishes. Similarly modern religions have different concepts/fetishes but they serve to the common purpose of the communication between humans and God/deity.
Complicating human social relations and the first rise of scientific knowledge contributed to the growing complexity of religious views leading to the emergence of polytheism, when people believed in different gods, which were actually transformation of various fetishes, which were united into one religion as human society became more complex because former tribes were united in more complex unities as first states emerged.
Eventually, monotheism emerged, which became the ground for modern world religions. To put it more precisely, monotheism was the attempt to unite people in their belief to one god. Such a shift toward one god only contributed to the unification of people and prevented numerous internal conflicts in ancient and later medieval states. In such a way, religion, as it is now, became a powerful tool of the ideological control over large masses of people. They used different context but they were the same in principle. They had one God that normally encouraged the support of the existing social order and acceptance of one’s social standing as it was (Vidal 153). As a result, religion, either Christianity, or Islam, or Buddhism promoted the idea of the existence of one God and respect to the existing social order that was and still is the major reason why religions were and some are still supported by some governments. The close integration of religion into the public consciousness made people believe in their specific religion only, but believers became incapable to identify their religion with other religions.
Thus, religions, in spite of their seeming difference, are all the same. They have the common origin and use similar principles. This is why either Christianity, or Islam, or Buddhism, or any other religion have, in their essence, similar principles, which help people to find balance in their life, to accept their life and themselves, to take their life for granted and enjoy it without trying to rebel or change the existing social order.
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