Concepts of Immortality Within Religion and Beyond

Faith and Religion

I totally agree with the statement that because traditional "religious" systems do not offer universally acceptable beliefs, scientific understanding of the nature and humanity should guide the development of human social and personal values. The world cannot function on faith of religion alone. Religion, and especially faith, is a necessary part of what humanity needs for themselves, and they provides a path some people need to be generally moral or "good". But religion can be misleading and overbearing with its messages and connotations. Religion is incredibly biased, and therefore cannot always be trusted.

Here's an extremist example. If a particular religion said that trees were the creation of a devil to try and break out from the underworld, and followers of this religion ran around destroying trees in the name of god and faith, the planet would be in ruin. We need science to step in and say, the trees provide life to us, the root systems simply allow them to absorb and store precious water they need to grow. Then the people can say oh….. and stop killing trees. (if only it were that easy). Also, there would arise serious cultural issues, if for example, another religion worshipped the trees. Conflicting beliefs are common among organized religions, and often lead to serious conflicts.

Social and personal values need some of this scientific knowledge to preserve and function in our world. We need them to communicate and rationalize with one another. People say that the science of mathematics is the one universal language with which we can communicate. Well, what would we do if one day an extraterrestrial being set down, and all we had to work with for communication was religious ideas and context? They would probably classify us as beings of extremely lower intelligence and blow up our planet. Science and faith (or religion) create balance, like a societal yin and yang. We need both to function in our world, one for ours souls, and the other for our survival.

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