As religion has become the crux of our class discussions, it brought me to wonder WHY these philosophies were created. Why did men spend days, years, lifetimes writing stories, rules and guidelines for living? It seems that at this time, just like us- curious students, people were searching for answers. Questions of creation, life and existence were all arising in ancient societies. And although some of these religious have different responses and solutions, they all look for compassion and an ethical compass. Interpreting these religions holistically, it’s evident that “Ranked a great virtue in numerous philosophies, compassion is considered in all the major religious traditions as among the greatest of virtue” (106). In my early years of Sunday school, my teacher pointed the similarities between Hindu god Krishna and Jesus Christ. For one, Krishna and Christ sound awfully alike. Both claimed to be the descended version of God. Both Krishna and Christ’s mother were believed to be virgins. There are several other similarities but what is interesting is that although modern society seems to find these religions at polarized ends, their original epistemologies are quite alike.
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| Similarities between Christ and Krishna are more than coincidental http://dinc666.blogspot.com/2010/06/list-of-good-informative-sitesblogs.html |
But beyond textual comparison, Hinduism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism etc. etc. have a common theme of extending compassion through virtue. Hindus and followers like Guadiya Vaishnavism “prayed to the Lord Krishna asking him to “deliver all conditioned souls” because his “heart breaks to see the sufferings of all conditioned souls” (107). And although these philosophies aim to spread peace and love, religion has sparked some of the cruelest acts on this planet. As early as the crusades to the India-Pakistan turmoil in Kashmir, modern interpretations of religion has brought violence, patriarchy, discrimination and even Speciesism.
Obviously I have not fully educated myself on all these religions, but from what I have read, most religious texts endorse that “Emotion, though often dismissed, plays a crucial role as well. Feelings of outrage or revulsion, sympathy or compassion are important to the development of complete moral sensibilities” (357). In Genesis, as a class we discussed the possible patriarchal undertone in the tales. Under some biblical interpretations, Eve’s punishment was more stringent than Adam’s. Furthermore, she was supposedly created by the ribs of Adam and given life when God, “Concerned that man was alone and lonely in the garden, God decided to make a "helper fit for him" and brought before him "every beast of the field and every bird of the air” (Witcombe). And although Islam has sparked controversy today regarding its ideologies towards women and the female body, the Qu’ran actually seems most nondiscriminatory. The Qu’ran recognizes both women and men as equal when quoted: “Men shall have a portion of what the parents and the near relatives leave, and women shall have a portion of what the parents and the near relative leave, where there is little or much of it; a stated portion” (144). In Qur’an and the veil: Contexts and Interpretations of the Revelation, the author argues that the idea of veiling women was not an original rule in the Qu’ran. Goto says, “Though the word hijab appears seven times in the Qur’an, only two references pertain to women- one is a partition that Maryam, the mother of Jesus Chrused used” (Goto 282). In fact, the book explains that early hadith collections, another Islamic scripture, it that says that “Both women and men were ordered to “cast down their looks” in the interest of modesty” (Goto 287). Finally, the Qur’an teaches love and peace towards all of God’s creations. This alludes to compassion towards animals because “The Qur’an states that all creation praises God, even if this praise is not expressed in human language” (116).
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| The Qur'an seeks equality, however politically motivated groups have used the book as symbol of hatred and retaliation |
Rather than critiquing the ancient texts of religion, we must instead look at how these texts are interpreted in modern society. Many people have justified actions through religious motivation. Certainly, writers of the books thousands of years ago had no intention of spreading violence and hate.
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| Stop religious warfare http://www.heavingdeadcats.com/2009/01/03/20-reasons-i-am-godless/attachment/12172793211671/ |
Christopher Witecombe “Eve and the Identity of Women” http://witcombe.sbc.edu/eve-women/5eveserpent.html
Emi Goto, Qur’an and the Veil: Contexts and Interpretations of the Revelation: p.282 and 287.
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