Theories and Methods

For centuries, religion has existed to create cultural beliefs and a system of morals to influence their institutions. Religion is believed to have constructed entire nations, fund their economy, established eating habits, so on and so forth. This is what is known as 'relativism'; a theory used by anthropologists to help explain and map out cultural pasts through their religions. Humans often interpret their realities in accordance to their religion. However, what happens when humans have aged in an era of time where 'free thought' comes in conjunction with 'free speech' and 'free study'? Such is an upheaval to the previous speculations of how religion once was; which today could cause implicati¬ons of great proportions, good and bad. Myths can be powerful, scary, or inspiring; but almost all of today's existing myths occurred hundreds of thousands of years ago. All we have to go by are the stories written by hagiographers during each of their existing eras. But many laities simply accept them as potentially believable facts. Being said, any religion could instill continuous and irrelevant arguments. However, one could deconstruct a religion by studying the origins of a their myths and comparing them with proven facts. However, morals are all relative in any developing society so it's important to show neutral respect for them. This viewpoint is what is known as "Methodical Agnosticism", which instills critical thinking with empirical facts. Though it may seem intimidating, it could very well instill peace amongst cultures, as long as people are willing to be humbled.

However, every approach to methodical thinking has its pros and cons. The implications of studying religion methodically could arise both negative and positive new viewpoints. It is a controversial fact that all religion cannot prove evidence to their myths and that all meaning to their morals is constructed in relation to it. So what drives us in a modern day society to simply accept them as part of our lifestyle so easily? Part of individual thought is to help cognitive personalities grasp hold of augmented realities. As William James once quoted, "Religion...is a man's total reaction upon life-" and by Sigmund Freud, "Religion is an illusion and it derives its strength from the fact that it falls in our instinctual desires." If what Sigmund Freud says is true, then one major implication upon all religious beliefs suggests that it is molded by human behavior with any given situation.

Many of the implications that could be potentially discovered in religion could be disapproval of many sects. A 'threat' on a religion that could potentially be disproven has often promoted fear amongst clergies of many demographics and could therefore cause them to 'react'. In the independent documentary "The God Who Wasn't There" by Brian Flemmings, a Christian extremist group calling themselves "Christian Soldiers" organized many book-burnings that they felt contradicted the teachings of the bible. These extremists today exist under a new name "Soldiers for Christ" which expresses a very militaristic approach to teaching Christianity. Another controversial example could be expressed in the documentary "Ancient Aliens" of A&E networks could instill a 'discovery' to the origins of myths. Through out the first episode, scientists have uncovered ancient technology of flight from ancient Egypt dating thousands of years before the 'Wright Brother'. Could aliens be our gods?

But these methods of analyzing religions have also proven beneficial from a humanitarians' standpoint. Often old religious laws that established social caste systems often oppresses certain races, gender, and social status. Slavery was considered an appropriate practice for centuries. For example, in the Christian NIV Bible, I read than an entire chapter listed under "Exodus" is dedicated to the social standings of owing a slave properly in accordance to God. To go against a religious text may have made Abraham Lincoln seem blasphemous to his local clergy. But despite the text, Abraham Lincoln sought to abolish slavery as a government law. Traditionally, this mindset followed throughout many modern day societies and views it as an inhumane practice.

So what good is religion if all we can do is potentially arise new examples of thought and theories? Would we benefit without it? Controversially, many would say yes. But human thinking is constantly evolving and changing and it's important to accept things as they come along. But we cannot forget about our origins and how they have impacted our lives today. You may be deeply into science fiction and the belief of aliens, but the potential of phenomenon's being supernatural vs. being scientifically explained are just as plausible as each other. Using Mythological Agnosticism, a devotee of a religion could discover and uncover hidden secrets. It is important to know that all religious texts were written by the interpretation of their writers.