Allie Celender

February 9th 2015

World Religions
1,121 Words

For my topic for the semester I decided to choose world religions. Religion is
something that I have grown up around and while I myself am not religious I still am
affected by the choices other people make from their religions. I chose world religions as
my topic because it is something I have found interesting, I believe it provides an insight
into the human mind, and it has a long connection to history. I think that choosing a broad
topic was the most logical decision as well as making sure I found the subject matter to
be interesting.
I find different religions to be very interesting as it is a subject that has had a
dramatic effect on human life and history. In history courses I noticed that religion was
often the motivation behind massive changes in history and culture. I also found religion
to be very interesting to me because it showed the complexity of the human mind. We
would learn the about crusades where the devout were killing people and pillaging towns,
all in the name of a religion that forbids these very things. It was fascinating and yet
perplexing to learn how something like religion, which most people agree expresses your
moral values and ideals, and how over time it could become something that was more
about politics and power. One of the most interesting powers in religion to me is the
Catholic Church. Both of my parents were raised Catholic and so I attended the lengthy
Catholic masses every Sunday. I remember as a child observing that besides my
grandparents no one in my immediate and extended family was very devoutly Catholic.
We all attended church and if I asked anyone I knew they would say of course they
believed in God, but it felt as though there was an unspoken level of I believe in the
general idea and religion, but not all the ideas of the church. I found this to be
interesting considering that religion often meant to be the end all of how you should live

your life, but as time goes on and modern culture and opinions change so is the attitude
towards religion. This makes me think that religion is almost a reflection of humankind.
I see religion as being a reflection on the complexity of human kind. This relates
back to growing up in Catholicism and seeing the hypocrisies within the very church I
attended. A church that has publicly stated that homosexuality is wrong had multiple
high-ranking individuals sworn to chastity in the church accused of performing
homosexual and pedophilic acts. The same church that encourages not living in excess
and to always give to the poor also owns the very impressive and luxurious Vatican, a
structure that if its contents and the property were sold could possibly solve world hunger
or poverty. I do not mean to critique the church or the religion, but instead look at these
hypocrisies as lessons of the human mind. I think that these glaring problems speak more
to the point that the human mind is an immeasurably complex thing and that our thoughts
and actions often conflict. I think this is also why I find religion so interesting, because if
you look at religion it speaks to humans fears, wants, and desires. Whenever someone is
grieving or if someone is facing problems in their life people always say they will keep
them in their prayers and to have faith. I think this is evident in showing how religion
helps people find meaning to the troubles of life. Religion helps comfort people and
answer those questions like Why did this happen to me? I think no matter what people
believe in or worship it helps them find meaning in problems by giving an answer to
questions that cannot be answered so easily.
I think this is especially true in the belief of karma, an idea in Hinduism and
Buddhism that your actions good and bad will have a direct effect on your life. I think
that this idea fulfills humans want for everything to be fair. It allows for people to feel

rewarded for the good things they have done and also to feel that there will be
punishment for those who do bad things onto them and others. Another idea is one that
arises most often in Christianity when there is a terrible tragedy. Whenever there is a
massive disaster or a death and people wonder that question, Why did this have to
happen? a common phrase people reply is that God works in mysterious ways. This
belief allows people to answer the question while also allowing people to continue to
believe that everything does happen for a reason, giving comfort to those in a time of
grievance or tragedy. I think that religion these examples show that religion reflects what
humans are most afraid of. For every belief in a religion there is a reason why someone
may have felt subconsciously this would help him or her be able to live more relaxed and
give life more reason. I find this to be fascinating as it gives an insight to the
subconscious of the human mind, which influences human action. I believe this great
influence may explain why religion impacted history so much.
I think religion impacted human history because religion is seen as a moral guide
for people and in most religions why exactly we are alive and what to do in that time to
live a good life. Because these are all very serious and important things that are essential
to human life and thought it influences peoples actions greatly. Religion is so important
people go to war for it, die for it, and it completely effects the culture of the world. This
is true in looking at the reasoning behind peoples actions. What you wear, eat, and do
can be influenced by religion. In some religions such as Islam women are encouraged to
dress modestly and cover their hair. In some religions there are animals that are sacred
and must not be eaten, as well as practices for how to treat these animals.

I find my choice for religion to be a good choice for me personally. World

religions differ greatly but they all carry the same importance to those who worship. I
chose world religions as my topic because it is something I have found interesting, I
believe it provides an insight into the human mind, and it has a long connection to
history. Religion is a fascinating and important subject that shows a glimpse in the true
nature of humans and has shown importance over history.