Research Paper on Religion
Are the religious institutions created by man still necessary today in order for humans to have faith, to have religion? John D. Caputo says in his book On Religion that the answer to this question is no. He doesn’t say that the religious institutions that we have today should be destroyed or that religious institutions of any kind are bad or evil, not at all. Caputo is very religious, as can be inferred throughout his book, but he is also a philosopher, he sees the possibility of having religion without religion. His theory follows on the notion that God, as a concept, is the possibility of the impossible, that “ human experience, I am contending, comes alive as experience by and through the impossible.” (Caputo, Pg 109). The impossible is defined by Caputo as being outside the possible, it is the unseen, unforeseeable, unknowable future. But this doesn’t by itself lead anyone away from the structured religions, man’s religions, that we have now to the unknown, ultimate religious truth. Man has a need for religion, he created religious structure because “ there is a deeply religious element within us all” (Caputo, Pg. 109), and this element allows us to believe, have faith, outside of our religious institutions. Being in this post-secular age as Caputo calls it, we as humans are believing in the impossible again, more and more but in order to further our understanding of ourselves we must learn from the past, something from the secular age in order to live with religion without religion. Caputo calls this understanding a religious truth.
Is this the next step in the evolution of religion. Are humans realizing the all too human flaws in their divine religions. Is Caputo’s idea of religion without religion, “ no churches, synagogues, temples, or mosques as such, that nothing like the traditional religions is to be found, and that there is evidently no traditional priest class.” (Caputo, Pg 84), is it conceivable? Caputo talks in his book about Star Wars, the motion picture, and its modern retelling of religious ideals and how it models a society that lives with religion but with the structures of religion.
Does this idea really encompass the idea of God as having the face of man or a more eastern God. God as a force flowing inside and out and around everything, only to be directed by our love or hate. This is not a new idea by any means but Caputo argues for it passionately and defends his notion of God, the possibility of the impossible, but is religion without religion possible?
__________________________________________________________Is this the next step in the evolution of religion. Are humans realizing the all too human flaws in their divine religions. Is Caputo’s idea of religion without religion, “ no churches, synagogues, temples, or mosques as such, that nothing like the traditional religions is to be found, and that there is evidently no traditional priest class.” (Caputo, Pg 84), is it conceivable? Caputo talks in his book about Star Wars, the motion picture, and its modern retelling of religious ideals and how it models a society that lives with religion but with the structures of religion.
Does this idea really encompass the idea of God as having the face of man or a more eastern God. God as a force flowing inside and out and around everything, only to be directed by our love or hate. This is not a new idea by any means but Caputo argues for it passionately and defends his notion of God, the possibility of the impossible, but is religion without religion possible?
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In order for this idea of religion without religion to fully take hold the religions of the world are going to have to concede that they are not the ultimate truth. But is it even conceivable for the catholic church to say that it is not divinely right, or any religion for that matter. “ The faithful need to concede that they do not cognitively know what they believe by faith in any epistemologically rigorous way.” (Caputo, Pg. 111). This is the first step to what Caputo calls a religious truth. I say a religious truth because Caputo sees the biggest mistake religion has made is to say it has the One and Only Truth, all capitalized. But it is not as simple as not believing traditional religion, it is about understanding that no one has the answers and that it is foolish to believe that God would choose a certain group of people, a certain language and a certain region of the earth as holy, or better than everyone else. Caputo calls this understanding “ a truth without knowledge” (Caputo, Pg 111), this means that within each religion lies the truth but not the complete truth. But if man has no organized religion isn’t he an atheist, wouldn’t life seem hopeless? Caputo doesn’t destroy religion however, he just wants to clean the picture up a bit. The truth comes from accepting all sides and refining the essence of something, this is what Caputo is arguing for. “ I am arguing for a radical and inescapable fluctuation or ‘undesirability’ between what we have called here the tragic and the religious sense of life.” (Caputo, Pg 124)
The movie Star Wars is used as an example of a world where there is a religion without religion.
The force is the word given to this religion without religion, “ I allow the force to flow freely through me,” (Caputo, Pg 82). This follows closely with his Caputo’s view because even though there are the Jedi Knights who believe in the power of the force they do not have a book of rules to follow in order to please the force. They just exist with the force and with the force the impossible becomes possible. But this view of religion with out religion is very eastern in religious origin, even Caputo admits it. “ The basic religious schema of Star Wars is rather Eastern than Judeo- Christian.” (Caputo, Pg 83), this leads us to believe that not only must we concede that our religion and faith might not be correct but we also must give up the idea a man-like God and rather adopt the idea of God a Force.
This is not a criticism according to Caputo because he doesn’t see God as a being, he asks himself throughout the book what do I love when I love my God? But in the last chapter he changes this to How do I love when I love my God? “ For love is a How, not a what.” (Caputo, Pg 134). This is the purest idea of God that Caputo can conceive, a God not only of love but one that is love. When we help someone it doesn’t matter if we do it for itself or for God, it comes out of love and love is God. “ The meaning of God is enacted in these multiple movements of love,” (Caputo, Pg 140), this is why even though the idea of no religion, or religion without religion may not be new but it still has validity.
“ It is we who are to be translated, transformed, and carried over into action.” (Caputo, Pg. 141). God is an action, a deed, God is all around us and inside each of us. That is the most important statement that religion without religion can make but the understanding of its truth and the extent to which it is heard is impossible to know.
In order for this idea of religion without religion to fully take hold the religions of the world are going to have to concede that they are not the ultimate truth. But is it even conceivable for the catholic church to say that it is not divinely right, or any religion for that matter. “ The faithful need to concede that they do not cognitively know what they believe by faith in any epistemologically rigorous way.” (Caputo, Pg. 111). This is the first step to what Caputo calls a religious truth. I say a religious truth because Caputo sees the biggest mistake religion has made is to say it has the One and Only Truth, all capitalized. But it is not as simple as not believing traditional religion, it is about understanding that no one has the answers and that it is foolish to believe that God would choose a certain group of people, a certain language and a certain region of the earth as holy, or better than everyone else. Caputo calls this understanding “ a truth without knowledge” (Caputo, Pg 111), this means that within each religion lies the truth but not the complete truth. But if man has no organized religion isn’t he an atheist, wouldn’t life seem hopeless? Caputo doesn’t destroy religion however, he just wants to clean the picture up a bit. The truth comes from accepting all sides and refining the essence of something, this is what Caputo is arguing for. “ I am arguing for a radical and inescapable fluctuation or ‘undesirability’ between what we have called here the tragic and the religious sense of life.” (Caputo, Pg 124)
The movie Star Wars is used as an example of a world where there is a religion without religion.
The force is the word given to this religion without religion, “ I allow the force to flow freely through me,” (Caputo, Pg 82). This follows closely with his Caputo’s view because even though there are the Jedi Knights who believe in the power of the force they do not have a book of rules to follow in order to please the force. They just exist with the force and with the force the impossible becomes possible. But this view of religion with out religion is very eastern in religious origin, even Caputo admits it. “ The basic religious schema of Star Wars is rather Eastern than Judeo- Christian.” (Caputo, Pg 83), this leads us to believe that not only must we concede that our religion and faith might not be correct but we also must give up the idea a man-like God and rather adopt the idea of God a Force.
This is not a criticism according to Caputo because he doesn’t see God as a being, he asks himself throughout the book what do I love when I love my God? But in the last chapter he changes this to How do I love when I love my God? “ For love is a How, not a what.” (Caputo, Pg 134). This is the purest idea of God that Caputo can conceive, a God not only of love but one that is love. When we help someone it doesn’t matter if we do it for itself or for God, it comes out of love and love is God. “ The meaning of God is enacted in these multiple movements of love,” (Caputo, Pg 140), this is why even though the idea of no religion, or religion without religion may not be new but it still has validity.
“ It is we who are to be translated, transformed, and carried over into action.” (Caputo, Pg. 141). God is an action, a deed, God is all around us and inside each of us. That is the most important statement that religion without religion can make but the understanding of its truth and the extent to which it is heard is impossible to know.
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Warning!!! All free online research papers, research paper samples and example research papers on Religion topics are plagiarized and cannot be fully used in your high school, college or university education.
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___________________________________________________________Warning!!! All free online research papers, research paper samples and example research papers on Religion topics are plagiarized and cannot be fully used in your high school, college or university education.
If you need a custom research paper, research proposal, essay, dissertation, thesis paper or term paper on your topic, EffectivePapers.com will write your research papers from scratch. Starting at $12/page you can order custom written papers online. We work with experienced PhD. and Master's freelance writers to help you with writing any academic papers in any subject! High quality and 100% non-plagiarized papers guaranteed!
