"धर्म" का संशोधनहरू बिचको अन्तर

Some historically Christian countries, particularly those in Europe, have experienced a significant decline in Christian religion, shown by declining recruitment for [[priest]]hoods and [[monastery|monasteries]], fast-diminishing attendance at [[church]]es, [[synagogue]]s, etc. Explanations for this effect include disillusionment with ideology following the ravages of [[World War II]], the materialistic philosophical influence of [[scientism|science]], [[Marxism]] and [[secular Humanism|Humanism]], and a reaction against the exclusivist claims and religious wars waged by many religious groups. This decline is apparently in parallel with increased prosperity and social well-being. It appears increasingly common for people to engage in far-ranging explorations, with many finding spiritual satisfaction वाहिर of organized churches. This is a demographic group whose numbers are growing and whose future impact cannot be predicted.

In the [[संयुक्त राज्य अमेरिका|United States]], [[Latin America]], and Sub-Saharan [[Africa]], by contrast, studies show that Christianity is strong and growing stronger, and many believe those areas to have become the new "heart" of Christianity. [[Islam]] is currently the fastest growing religion, and is nearly universal in many states stretching from West Africa to Indonesia, and has grown in world influence in the West. Hinduism, Buddhism, and Shintoism remain nearly universal in the Far East, and have greatly influenced spirituality, particularly in the United States. Explanations for the growth of religion in these areas include disillusionment with the perceived failures of secular western ideologies to provide an ethical and moral framework. Believers point to perceived terrors such as [[Nazism]], [[Communism]], [[Colonialism]], [[Secular Humanism]], and [[Materialism]], and the havoc wreaked by such movements around the world. Particularly vehement in this regard are Islamic fundamentalists, who view Western secularism as a serious threat to morality itself. They point to perceived decadence, high rates of divorce, crime, depression, and suicide as evidence of Western social decline, which they believe is caused by the abandonment of Faith by the West.

* '''"Experience or emotion"''': For many, the practice of a religion causes an emotional high that gives pleasure to them. Such emotional highs can come from the singing of traditional hymns to the trance-like states found in the practices of the Whirling Dervishes and Yoga, among others. People continue to associate with those practices that give pleasure and, in so far as it is connected with religion, join in religious organizations that provide those practices. Also, some people simply feel that their faith is true, and may not be able to explain their feelings.

* '''"Supernatural connection"''': Most religions postulate a reality which includes both the natural and the supernatural. Most adherents of religion consider this to be of critical importance, since it permits belief in unseen and otherwise potentially unknowable aspects of life, including hope of eternal life.

* '''"Rational analysis"''': For some, adherence is based on intellectual evaluation that has led them to the conclusion that the teachings of that religion most closely describe reality. Among Christians this basis for belief is often given by those influenced by [[C.S. Lewis]] and [[Francis Schaeffer]], as well as some who teach young earth Creationism.

* '''"Community and culture"''': Organized religions promote a sense of community. The combination of moral and cultural common ground often results in a variety of social and support networks. Some ostensibly "religious" individuals may even have a substantially secular viewpoint, but retain adherence to religious customs and viewpoints for cultural reasons, such as continuation of traditions and family unity. Judaism, for example, has a particularly strong tradition of "secular" adherents.

* '''"Spiritual and psychological benefits"''': Each religion asserts that it is a means by which its adherents may come into closer contact with God, Truth, and Spiritual Power. They all promise to free adherents from spiritual bondage, and bring them into spiritual freedom. It naturally follows that a religion which frees its adherents from deception, sin, and spiritual death will have significant mental health benefits. [[Abraham Maslow]]'s research after [[World War II]] showed that [[the Holocaust|Holocaust]] survivors tended to be those who held strong religious beliefs (not necessarily temple attendance, etc), suggesting it helped people cope in extreme circumstances. [[Humanistic psychology]] went on to investigate how religious or spiritual identity may have correlations with longer lifespan and better health. The study found that humans may particularly need religious ideas to serve various emotional needs such as the need to feel loved, the need to belong to homogeneous groups, the need for understandable explanations and the need for a guarantee of ultimate justice. Other factors may involve sense of purpose, sense of identity, sense of contact with the divine. See also ''Man's Search for Meaning'', by Victor Frankl, detailing उनका experience with the importance of religion in surviving the Holocaust. Critics assert that the very fact that religion was the primary selector for research subjects may have introduced a bias, and that the fact that all subjects were holocaust survivors may also have had an effect. According to [http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/p001078.html], "more longitudinal research with better multidimensional measures will help further clarify the roles of these [religious] factors and whether they are beneficial or harmful".

* '''"Practical benefits"''': Religions may sometimes provide breadth and scale for visionary inspirations in compassion, practical charity, and moral restraint. Christianity is noted for the founding of many major universities, the creation of early hospitals, the provision of food and medical supplies to the needy, and the creation of orphanages and schools, amongst other charitable acts. Many other religions (and non-religious organisations and individuals, eg: humanistic [[Oxfam]]) have also performed equivalent or similar work.

*'''"Logical Contradiction"''': Many major world religions make the claim that they are the one true religion, and that all other religions are wrong (see [[Religion#Exclusivism|Exclusivism]]). Logically, either one exclusive religion is right and all the others wrong, or else all exclusive religions are wrong. Since the vast majority of people believe in a religion they were taught before they were old enough to make a rational choice, it is more rational to reject all exclusive religions rather than to accept one for no better reason than an arbitrary [[birth]].

*'''"Logical Irrelevancy"''': Many people use logic to render religion pointless, regardless of their belief in the existence of God. God, by definition, cannot fail—ergo—God is successful. Therefore we can say and do anything we want without ever being a failure, because we are a reflection of a perfect universe created by God.

* '''"[[Guilt]] and [[Fear]]"''': Many atheists, agnostics, and others see religion as a promoter of fear and conformity, causing people to adhere to it to shake the guilt and fear of either being looked down upon by others, or some form of punishment as outlined in the religious doctrines. In this way, religion can be seen as promotional of people pushing guilt onto others, or becoming fanatical (doing things they otherwise wouldn't if they were 'free' of religion), in order to shed their own guilt and fear ultimately generated by the religion itself. The "others" in this case being non-adherents to said religion. According to people who share this view, this can take forms such as: people looking down on others based on their non-adherence, to people preaching that others need something the religion can provide, all the way to global war.

* '''"Irrational and unbelievable creeds"''': Some religions postulate a reality which may be seen as stretching credulity and logic, and even some believers may have difficulty accepting particular religious assertions about nature, the supernatural and the afterlife. Some people believe the body of evidence available to humans to be insufficient to justify certain religious beliefs. They may thus disagree with religious interpretations of ethics and human purpose, and theistic views of [[creation belief|creation]]. This reason has perhaps been aggravated by the protestations of some [[Fundamentalist Christianity|fundamentalist Christians]].

* '''"Restrictiveness"''': Many religions have (or have had in the past) an approach that produces, or produced, practices that are considered by some people to be too restrictive, e.g., regulation of dress, and proscriptions on diet and activities on certain days of the week. Some feel that religion is the antithesis of prosperity, fun, enjoyment and pleasure. This causes them to reject it entirely, or to see it as only to be turned to in times of trouble.

* '''"Self-promotion"''': Some individuals place themselves in positions of power and privilege through promotion of specific religious views, e.g., the [[Osho|Bhagwan/Osho interlude]], [[Reverend Moon]] of the [[Unification Church]] (sometimes called Moonie movement), and other controversial [[new religious movement]]s pejoratively called [[cult]]s. Such self-promotion has tended to reduce public confidence in many things that are called "religion." Similarly, highly publicized cases of abuse by the clergy of several religions have tended to reduce public confidence in the underlying message.

* '''"Dulling of the mind against reality"''': [[Hegel]], [[Feuerbach]], and [[Karl Marx|Marx]] developed atheist views that reality is sometimes painful, there is no God to assist people in dealing with it, and people must learn to deal with problems themselves in order to survive. Per this view, religion in modern times, while it may decrease pain in the short run by providing hope and optimism, in the long run hinders the ability of people to deal with their problems by providing false hope. Hence in 1844, in ''Contribution to the Critique of Hegel's'' 'Philosophy of Right', Marx said of religion, "It is the [[opiate]] [most likely in the traditional sense of an [[opium]]-like drug] of the masses." [http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1843/critique-hpr/intro.htm]

* '''"Unsuitable moral systems in mainstream religions"''': Some argue that simplistic absolutism taught by some religions impairs a child's moral capacity to deal with a world of complex and varied temptations which, in reality, is different from what they have been brought up to believe.

* '''"Unappealing forms of practice"''': People can form a negative view, based upon the manifestations of religion, e.g., ceremonies which appear boring, pointless and repetitive, arcane clothing, and exclusiveness in membership requirements.

* '''"Tensions between proselytizing and secularizing"''': Increasingly secular beliefs have been steadily on the rise in many nations. An increasing acceptance of a secular worldview, combined with efforts to prevent "religious" beliefs from influencing society and सरकार policy, may have led to a corresponding decline in religious belief, especially of more traditional forms.

* '''"Cause of division and hatred"''': Some religions state that certain groups (particularly those that do not belong to the religion in question) are "inferior" or "sinful" and deserve contempt, persecution, and even death. For example, some [[Muslim]]s believe that women are inferior to men. Some [[Christian]]s share this belief. At the time of the American [[Civil War]], many Southerners used passages from the [[Bible]] to justify [[slavery]]. The Christian religion has been used as a reason to persecute and to deny the rights of homosexuals, on the basis that God disapproves of homosexuality, and by implication homosexuals [http://www.godhatesfags.com 1]. Many people believe that those who do not share their religion will be punished for their unbelief in an [[afterlife]]. There are countless examples of people of one religion or sect using religion as an excuse to murder people with different religious beliefs. To mention just a few, there was the slaughter of the [[Huguenot]]s by French [[Catholics]] in the [[Sixteenth Century]]; [[Hindu]]s and [[Muslim]]s killing each other when [[पाकिस्तान|Pakistan]] separated from India in 1947; the persecution and killing of [[Shiite]] Muslims by [[Sunni]] Muslims in Iraq and the murder of [[Protestant]]s by [[Catholics]] and vice versa in [[Ireland]], (both of these examples in the late [[Twentieth Century]]); and the [[Israeli-Palestinian conflict]] that continues today. According to some critics of religion, these beliefs can encourage completely unnecessary conflicts and in some cases even wars. Many [[atheist]]s believe that, because of this, religion is incompatible with world peace, freedom, civil rights, equality, and good government.

Adherents of particular religions deal with the differing doctrines and practices espoused by other religions in a variety ways. All strains of thought appear in different segments of all major world religions.

People with exclusivist beliefs sometimes typically explain other religions as either in error, or as corruptions or counterfeits of the true faith. Examples include:

* Christian scripture states that Jesus said: "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father but through me." John 14:6.

* Islamic scripture states: "O you who believe, do not take certain Jews and Christians as allies; these are allies of one another. Those among you who ally themselves with these belong with them. Surely Allah does not guide the unjust people." Qur'an 5:51. and "O you who believe, do not befriend those among the recipients of previous scripture who mock and ridicule your religion, nor shall you befriend the disbelievers. You shall reverence GOD, if you are really believers." Qur'an 5:57

* Hebrew scripture states that God said to Israel through Moses: "You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself. Now, therefore, if you will obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my own possession among all peoples; for all the earth is mine, and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation."

People with [[inclusivism|inclusivist]] beliefs recognize some truth in all faith systems, highlighting agreements and minimizing differences, but see their own faith as in some way ultimate. Examples include:

**Rabbinic tradition asserts that the basic standard of righteousness was established in a covenant with Noah: anyone who keeps the seven commandments of this covenant is assured of salvation, no matter what their religion. This is standard Jewish teaching for the past two thousand years.

People with [[religious pluralism|pluralist]] beliefs make no distinction between faith systems, viewing each one as valid within a particular culture. Examples include:

Some believe that religion cannot be separated from other aspects of life, or believe that certain cultures did not or do not separate their religious activities from other activities in the same way that some people in modern [[Western culture|Western]] cultures do.

Some [[anthropologist]]s report cultures in which Gods are involved in every aspect of life - if a cow goes dry, a God has caused this, and must be propitiated, when the sun rises in the morning, a God has caused this, and must be thanked. Even in modern Western cultures, many people see supernatural forces behind every event, as described by [[Carl Sagan]] in उनका book ''[[The Demon-Haunted World]]''.

People with this worldview often consider the influence of Western culture to be inimical. They may claim that in the [[संयुक्त राज्य अमेरिका|United States]], in particular, people go to church on Sunday and cheat their neighbors the rest of the week. Others with this world view resist the influence of [[science]], and believe that science, or "so-called science", should be guided by religion. Still others with this worldview believe that all political decisions and laws should be guided by religion. This last belief is written into the constitution of many [[Islam]]ic nations, and is shared by some [[fundamentalist Christians]]. For example [[George H.W. Bush]], on [[August 27]] [[1987]] said, "No, I don't know that Atheists should be considered as citizens, nor should they be considered patriots. This is one nation under God."

In addition, beliefs about the [[supernatural]] or [[metaphysical]] may not presuppose a difference between any such thing as [[nature]] and non-nature, nor between science and what the most educated people believe. In the view of some historians, the pre-[[Socratic]] [[Athenian]]s saw [[science]], political [[tradition]], [[culture]], and religion as not easily distinguishable, but all part of the same body of [[knowledge]] and [[wisdom]] available to a [[community]].

[[Human]]s have many different methods which attempt to answer fundamental questions about the nature of the [[universe]] and our place in it ([[cosmology]]). What is reality? How can we know? Who are we? Why we are here? How should we live? What happens after we die? Religion is only one of the methods for trying to answer one or more of these questions. Other methods include [[science]], [[philosophy]], [[metaphysics]], [[esotericism]], and [[mysticism]]. Many people use more than one of these methods.

Christianity is the religion with the largest number of professed adherents, followed by Islam and Hinduism. These statistics show the number of professed adherents of the major world religions. In addition, approximately one billion people do not profess any belief in a religion (which includes [[Humanist]], [[Atheist]], [[Rationalist]] and [[Agnostic]] beliefs) . These figures are necessarily approximate.

<!-- NOTE: As of April, 2005, the numbers for Zoroastrianism have been revised upward signifcantly by Adherent (http://www.adherents.com/Religions_By_Adherents.html#Zoroastrianism) The reason is that increasing religious freedom has incresed the number of people publicly willing to identify themselves Zoroastrians. Until Adherents revises the number downward, please do not edit, or take your suggestions to Talk.-->

*Entities of some religious worldviews: [[angel]] – [[animal worship]] – [[demigod]] – [[demon]] – [[devas]] – [[devil]] – [[ekam]] – [[god]] – [[goddess]] – [[prophet]] – [[Sky Father|sky father]] – [[solar deity]] – [[spiritual being|spirit]]

*Other elements of some religious worldviews:[[Dharma Yukam]] – [[afterlife]] – [[chosen people]] – [[creation belief]] – [[End of the world (religion)|end of the world]] – [[evil]] - [[heaven]] – [[hell]] – [[karma]] – [[miracle]]s – [[moksha]] – [[nirvana]] – [[resurrection]] – [[revelation]] – [[soul]] – [[spiritual possession]] – [[supernatural]]

*Types of religions: [[ancestor worship]] – [[civil religion]] – [[folk religion]] – [[fundamentalism]] – [[mystery religion]] – [[New Age]] – [[paganism]] – [[shamanism]] – [[spirituality]] – [[totemism]] – [[animism]]

*[[Materialism|Materialism (Philosophy)]] - the view that the only thing that can truly be said to 'exist' is matter; that fundamentally, all things are composed of 'material'. Materialism is typically contrasted with dualism, idealism, and vitalism.