Waqar Ahmed (2016-11-0230)
Mr. Hamza Khalil
SS 100 - Writing and Communication
Section 4
November 23, 2012
Religion Poisons Everything The article “Religion Poisons Everything” is an excerpt from the book “God is not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything” written by Christopher Eric Hitchens (1949-2011), a British American. Christopher Hitchens is a well-known author, journalist and religious critic. He was born in a Christian family but converted to atheism in his boyhood. He started his journalism in London but later on he moved to United States and continued journalism. As a writer, he worked with Slate Magazine, The Atlantic, Vanity Fair, The Nation, The Times Literary Supplements and London Review of Books. “God is not Great: How Religion
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His convincing writing and appealing technique are very beneficial in making this article more persuasive. He uses science as a weapon of convincing his readers. People believe in scientific reasoning and judge everything on the basis of scientific knowledge. That is why he starts his article by taking a very strong position by comparing religions with science and claiming that “religions have misrepresented the origins of man and cosmos”. Analyzing his claim in the light of science, it seems to be true as science do not believe in non-physical things. Science has not provided any proof of the existence of the God and angels. This point is more attracting for atheists as they only believe in logical and ethical reasoning. Furthermore, he argues that the belief of hell and heaven is no more than “blandishments and threats”. This claim is verified by science as there is no physical existence of these things in the light of science. He appeals the religious believers that they should believe only those things that can be proved scientifically and logically and they should not follow things blindly as science gives reason behind every phenomenon and satisfies the human beings on the basis of logic. That is why he succeeds in convincing his readers to a great extent due to the practice of logical …show more content…
Today this is a fact that even within a specific religion, there are many sects. For example in Christianity, Protestants and Catholic are major sects. Similarly in Islam, Sunni and Shiyah sects are prominent. These sects even fight against each other. In the history, there is a prominent example that during the reign of Elizabeth I in 1559, Catholic practice was made illegal (Pritchard 3). So Hitchens’ claim is true to a great extent. Similarly, different religions start fighting against each other without any genuine reason and do not bother to settle their dispute in a peaceful manner that gives birth to turmoil in society. So this point strengthens this article to a great
When different political views and spiritual beliefs are put together, the consequences behind that mixture are often dire and it ultimately results to violence. He emphasizes the importance of learning the past as well as the most up-to-date events of these particular religions. Kimball does his best to explain why those types of problems tend to occur, but he also gives us insight as to how these problems can be corrected, which could lead to a better hope for the future. All it takes is people of good faith as well people of goodwill to come together to speak aloud against the fundamentalists.
Sebastian Castellio best shows this perception in Document 1. The French Theologian paints a direct correlation between the lack of stability of a territory with the advent of differing religions or denominations (Document 1). Castellio’s point of view most likely stems from his experiences as a French Protestant and how his views led to his exile from France and how two religions resulted in a civil war in France. Spain under Philip II also maintained the importance of religious uniformity for political stability and strength. Pere Oroming’s painting of the expulsion of the Moriscos clearly illustrates this concept (Document 6).
In order to focus on the foundation of religions, locations and time of events are limited to the minimum. It “does not attept to give a rounded view of the religions considered.” (p.2) It tried to do reasonable justice to several perspectives instead of attempting to catalogue many types. When he decides which view to present, the guideline
Introduction: In the text by Eboo Patel “Acts of Faith: The Story of an American Muslim, the Struggle for the Soul of a Generation,” Patel focuses on living in a diverse faction full of religious prejudice in a world full of materialistic outlooks. At the same time he intertwines his personal experiences and provides a remarkable account in which he says that growing up in America as a Muslim led him to discover the importance of cultural pluralism, the acceptance of all religions, and his huge account that all Muslims aren’t extremists. He believes in ethnocentrism; religions should be able to coexist without feeling that one religion is superior than the other. In a world where the forces that seek to divide us are strong, Patel thinks the meaning of pluralism is that the differences
Even if the narrative of the film is the long story of the creation and resurrection of mankind, it is nonetheless true that this is not strictly a religious or scientific account. That is what Kubrick meant when he described the theme as an oxymoron— a “scientific definition of God.” It is why the film encompasses more time than perhaps any other film made, for no less a period could contain such expansive narrative ideas from evolution itself or prophetic religion. Yet this religious-science emphasis does not begin to exhaust the meanings of the film.
The issue on whether religion and science can work together has been debatable for centuries. Neil DeGrasse Tyson in his article the Perimeter of Ignorance argues that science and religion cannot coexist. In his article, the author explains that religion is all about the Bible and the Bible primarily focuses on the explanation of the origin of the world. He puts forth the point that this concept is far different from what science is and that they do not complement each other. This essay intends to prove that religion and science can work together with no issues.
Religious differences in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart One of the definitions of introduction is a formal presentation of one person to another, in which each is told the other's name. Sometimes done in a different manner, this form of communication is similar throughout many cultures. In the novel Things Fall Apart two forms of religion and believe clash.
He points out that the Bible cannot be taken literally because sometimes it can be interpreted in different ways. The Bible was written for the common people and illiterate to understand, and to prove his point he mentions that the Bible gives God a body like ours while theologies believe God has no such features. He moves to his main point about who has the authority to determine what is true and untrue. He argues that what is scientifically proven will to understand the Bible true meaning.
By staying on the New York Time’s web page it can be found that he has written many articles related to politics and culture in America. Also on the “Columnist Biography” page of the NY Times it is stated that he had started working for them in the year 2003, the same year he wrote “Love, Internet Style.” At this time, he had probably only written
A common questioning of a higher power beyond the physical realm lingers in society: Who and what is God?. However, many of these theological questions cannot be answered until we, of course, die. Due to human’s innate curiosity to understand the forces beyond their own, especially in terms of religion, humans find their own reasons to believe in God in the process of discovery. Religion is a sense of belief and worship to praise a higher power (God), and it provides a guide for human beings to have the opportunity to come together and live as one image of God’s children. “Imagine There’s No Heaven” is an article in which Salman Rushdie, the author, presents an atheistic view where religion is pointless, and a higher being is non-existent.
Religion in Western civilization has undoubtedly played a pivotal role in shaping and developing Western society. Regardless of the form of religion, such as polytheism or monotheism, people in ancient societies believed in a God or Gods. This belief in a higher power was an important part of human progression and expansion. Religion was the backbone of Western civilization and has always been a very important foundation of culture, schooling, philosophy, art, and social interaction. Before Judaism and Christianity, philosophers such as Aristotle ponder the thought of a higher power and in his book Metaphysics wrote about eternal motion was an unmoved mover.
Week Outline Preliminary Thesis Statement: Religion is an essential constituent of any civilization with a unique spiritual pathway. Main Point: Religious spirituality establishes the framework for human social and cultural development. 1. Topic Sentence:
These two historical but sacred pieces of writing also happen to show that there is an explicit conflict between religion and science. The Old Testament shows this as displaying the fact that a supernatural being created the natural world. According to Frederick Seller, this supernatural being acts “frequently to intervene in his creation, to make things act in contradiction to their natures.” The New Testament says that it is unscientific and that the world was created by a causally impossible events or miracles. Two examples of these miracles are Mary giving birth as a virgin and Jesus walking on water.
Lennox is a popular Christian apologist and scientist who goes everywhere around the world to speak of the interface between science and religion. Also like Dawkins he pursued his lifetime career of science. But Lennox has arrived at different conclusions and understandings than Dawkins throughout his career. “It is the very nature of science that leads me to believe in God,” Lennox says. It is to believe that the obsessive study of science and the world, is the source that fuels him to move closer to God.
RELIGION CAUSES MORE HAARM THAN GOOD TO SOCIETY Religion according to the oxford dictionary is the belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power especially a personal God or gods. Every human being in one way or the other belongs to a particular religion. Since religion makes us worship one God then it should be binding all of us. Actually it is not, it rather tears people apart day in and day out .It is true that religion has influenced society positively in diverse ways, but the bad outweighs the good. Thus I think religion causes more harm than good to the society.