Do People Make Religion, Or Does Religion Make People?
Humans have walked the face of the earth for 200,000 years, questioning and trying to provide explanations for how the the world around them worked. For millennia, alongside humankind, the existence of religion has accompanied and brought humans to where they are right now, proposing the question: Do people make religion, or does religion make people? Even though humans have created religions to make sense of the surrounding world, the influence of religions has altered the lives of many because it offers spiritual comfort through how it promised a better life of salvation after death. The effects of religion on humans have been prominent ever since it existed, altering the lives of early humans to present human generations.
Before the time …show more content…
Early humans created religions in order to understand the world around them, to explain how and why natural events occurred. For example, according to the Tang Emperor Wu during the year 845 C.E. he stated that, “Now if even one man fails to work the fields, someone must go hungry; if one woman does not tend her silkworms, someone will go cold...Buddhist public temples and private chapels have reached boundless numbers...” (In text Citation) He is saying that his citizens are not doing work and are devoting their lives to Buddhism. The emperor’s citizens were devoting their lives towards Buddhism because there was an ongoing war in the Tang dynasty seeked for a way of comfort, which was through Buddhism where it offered spiritual comfort. Due to the fear of death or times of instability, religions are used as a main source of spiritual comfort which may result in over extensive devotion, thus entirely changing the life of that person. Since war during the Tang dynasty caused political instability and disunity, many started to seek spiritual tranquility through Buddhism. This is because Buddhism promised Nirvana and enlightenment by following the Four Noble Truths, which is: Suffering exists, Suffering arises from attachment to desires, Suffering ceases when attachment to desire ceases, Freedom from suffering is possible by
Before the time …show more content…
Early humans created religions in order to understand the world around them, to explain how and why natural events occurred. For example, according to the Tang Emperor Wu during the year 845 C.E. he stated that, “Now if even one man fails to work the fields, someone must go hungry; if one woman does not tend her silkworms, someone will go cold...Buddhist public temples and private chapels have reached boundless numbers...” (In text Citation) He is saying that his citizens are not doing work and are devoting their lives to Buddhism. The emperor’s citizens were devoting their lives towards Buddhism because there was an ongoing war in the Tang dynasty seeked for a way of comfort, which was through Buddhism where it offered spiritual comfort. Due to the fear of death or times of instability, religions are used as a main source of spiritual comfort which may result in over extensive devotion, thus entirely changing the life of that person. Since war during the Tang dynasty caused political instability and disunity, many started to seek spiritual tranquility through Buddhism. This is because Buddhism promised Nirvana and enlightenment by following the Four Noble Truths, which is: Suffering exists, Suffering arises from attachment to desires, Suffering ceases when attachment to desire ceases, Freedom from suffering is possible by