One thing that was brought up in class is how currently, religion is much more important in eastern world than in western world which is perplexing because back when religion first started to be prevalent in the world, it was much more prominent in the western world. We did not go into depth about why it ended up working out this way however, what we do know is that back in the day when religion was first introduced in the western world Christianity was the main type of religion what was being practiced and the reason so many people believed in it was because they looked at it as an a gateway for explanation of all of the world events that were happening that they were experiencing for the first time. They were not able to explain things with science such as diseases, natural disasters and famines so they all turned to religion. Moving forward to present time in western civilization, we are now so advanced technologically and we have much more knowledge so people don’t have to turn to religion for the answers to all of the things we don’t know. Now if someone does not know something it is very likely that someone else does. This is where intellectuals come into play. There are intellectuals all over the world however, the work of intellectuals has had a major impact on western civilization as they are responsible for most of the technological progress that the western world has experienced over the years. Now looking at the eastern world, it is pretty safe to say that there are a lot more countries that are not very advanced technologically because they do not have the same resources as a lot of countries in the western world which is one of the reasons religion is much more prominent. It is interesting because based on my observations in general, people who are Christian in the western world don’t practice Christainity as seriously as say Islamic people in the eastern world practice Islam. It seems like most of the Christians in the west are baptized at a young age just because that is the norm and that is was peoples ancestry have been doing for years so they just follow along. So they are Christian on paper however, they do not live their life ever thinking about religion or following the values and beliefs that Christianity preaches. We as Islamics for the most part take their religion much more seriously to the point that if they break the rules of their religion, they are punished. I wonder how much of a factor the technological advancement of each region of the world is in relation to the seriousness of how each religion is practiced. I know that it is not the only factor as well so I am curious what other factors play a role as well and more specifically the factors that caused the shift from religion being much more prevalent in the west to the east.
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One reply on “Week 11 Blog”
I think that the comparison you make between technology and religion is interesting. Although we are more technologically advanced and practice religion less compared to our less developed counterparts, I think that this occurs because of what society values. I think that the United States places a larger emphasis on capital, therefore tends to neglect religion. Whereas in the East there is a bigger priority on family compared to capital, which leads to them practicing religion at a higher rate.
Additionally, I find it interesting that you stated that in the Western world religion is not practiced as seriously, but baptized. I think that in the Western world that tradition over the actual religious aspects are more important. Therefore, on the outside their lives can appear to be “perfect” because they are continuing tradition without putting in any of the work to carry on the traditions. Although we practice religion “less seriously” here in the West, I think that many remnants of religious practices can still be found in society. I think this speaks to the larger fact of how influential religion is. I think that religious ideas about marriage and children are still more prominent in society.