Introduction
When Jesus was hung on the crucifix, when Mohammed was tortured on the grounds of Arabia and when Moses walked on water, nobody would have believed that it would be so easy for the world to forget about the miracles of these apostles and their message to mankind. However, as we progress, science makes the human mind reconsider its roots and origin, which were at one time considered established by God through his messengers and more and more people believe in the miracles of science rather than the miracles of God. This paper aims to investigate the role of religion in the modern world. Further, it will discuss how the approach of different religions is different. For that purpose, this paper will compare and contrast the views of Islam and Christianity on the role and status of women.
What is Religion? What is its Role in the Modern World?
Religion is a collection of interrelated beliefs and ideas, given by some higher authority or by a person of deeper insight than the common man. Mankind has been gifted with reasoning and logic. Therefore, it would be impossible to convince him of something unless proof was provided of the speaker’s intellect and magnificence. The giver of the beliefs has to be a higher authority – somebody man can look up to. If he has some characteristic that man cannot explain with his reasoning, man will believe whatever explanations that authority provides him. Further, these beliefs and ideas are supposed to regulate one’s conduct. Whether it is Buddhism or Christianity, they all give basic rules of morality and social conduct. In fact, to be considered a complete religion, a set of beliefs must be so complete that it does not leave any questions unanswered.
A number of religious futurists believe that science undermines the role of religion. Man has, since the beginning of time, searched for answers to the questions regarding evolution of man and the process of life and death. Sigmund Freud, a revolutionary psychoanalyst, wrote in his book The Future of an Illusion that religion results from man’s desire to see the “fulfillments of the oldest, strongest, and most urgent wishes of mankind” (Freud, S., 1989). Freud believes that man seeks only the fulfilment of his own material desires and, thus, religion must promise reward for compliance. Freud views religion as a result of man’s father complex, where a man seeks a father figure who will protect man from the cruelties of fate, and who will reward man for good behavior.
It is believed that with the progression of time, men are losing their need for such explanations and protection. Science is replacing religion as the father figure, providing means of protection against hazards of all kinds. In the past, miraculous men of God inspired awe in men through miracles and protected men from disasters. In today’s world, one finds other explanations for miraculous events, forcing one to consider the possibility of a deception – a scientific miracle feigned as an act of God. Further, science increasingly acts as the protector, with the innovation in medicine and technology that makes people feel more secure than they would feel if they uttered a prayer for protection.
According to Kober (2002), the role of religion was as a unifying factor in the past. ‘Religious identity’ was synonymous with nationality and existence of multiple religions was considered to be a weakness of a nation. This religious attribute of nationalism gave rise to movements that caused the breakup of Soviet Russia, Yugoslavia and sub-continent India. National struggles today are increasingly based on religion.
Religion is even the core factor in the greatest struggle of the world today – War against Terrorism. War against Terrorism is basically a struggle between ‘the forces of religious tolerance and intolerance’ (Kober, S, 2002). Religion, in this case, is used as a false flag for politically motivated violence. It is believed that religion is not the cause of violence and division of the world; violence is committed in the name of religion by people who have ulterior motives.
Brewer (1986) is of the view, however, that religion does not cause secularism. He believes that it allows for the integration of people. Religion solves global problems of general economic inequality by encouraging people to be charitable with aid. The incentive of virtue and spiritual uplift is enough to encourage benevolent behavior. Further, he believes that it unifies people in communities so that they have a sense of belonging to a community.
Wilber (2006), however, in her book Integral Spirituality expresses the view that spirituality is still significant for the development of a man in the modern world. He tries to reconcile modern science with the fundamental principles of basic religions. He believes that religions have lost their credibility because they choose to remain ignorant and aloof from the progress of the world. Wilber suggests that the only way in which people can be brought back to spiritualism, in order to benefit from the peace that comes with it, is through an integration of scientific elements with religious principles.
Status of Women: Christianity versus Islam
The second part of this paper aims to analyze the role of women in the two religions which appear to be extremely different to an observer. Western societies, which practice Christianity, appear to have a very liberal attitude towards women, granting them equal rights to every liberty and luxury. Eastern, Islamic societies have portrayed a very conservative attitude towards women, confining them to the four walls of the home and giving them a status that is lesser than that of men.
However, the Bible itself declares that woman was made from ‘the rib of man’ (Genesis 2: 22). The Bible strongly suggests that it was Eve who tempted Adam to eat the forbidden fruit. ‘The man said, “The woman you put here with me – she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”’ (Genesis 3: 12). The Koran, on the other hand, places equal blame on both Adam and Eve for the sin.
The bible has, in various instances, claimed that a woman is equal to man. The bible asks a woman to be submissive to her husband and a husband to fulfill his wife’s needs. In fact, the Bible emphasizes the equal status of men and women in the following verse: ‘You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have been clothed with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.’ (Galatians 3:26-29).
However, Islam believes women to be of a lesser status than men. This is clear from the fact that in Islam, a woman’s testimony is equal to half of that of a man’s testimony. This is illustrated in the following verse of the Koran: ‘And call to witness two witnesses of your people; but if there be not two men, let there be a man, and two women of those whom ye shall judge fit for witnesses: if the one of them should mistake, the other may cause her to recollect.’ (The Cow: 281). Further, a woman is not allowed to choose her husband without her parents’ permission and she cannot divorce the man until he wishes to divorce her.
Conclusion
The role of religion is being degenerated in today’s world with more and more people adopting science and logic as their religion. Religion has always provided man with peace of mind and it has reconciled different opinions and different people under the name of God. It has also defined code of conduct that everyone must abide by. One shudders to imagine what chaos would erupt if religion were ever to completely disappear.
References
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