Slide 11: Does Religion Give Us Individuality?

Slide 1 There has been an increasing amount of debate regarding the importance of religion. Many believe that religion gives us hope and purpose, thus essential in our daily lives. However, in a world where individuality is sought after, religion is the most difficult hindrance that prevents us from moving forward. Slide 2 Many countries have begun to see the flaws and faults of religion, thus the reason of the dropping percentage of population defining themselves with a religion.

Slide 3 Church attendances of Christian is dropping since the the 1990s. Less than 20% of Christians attending churches faithfully every Sunday. It is even predicted that in 2050, church attendance would be half of what it was in 1990. Does not these statistics show

But do religion give us individuality? There are many reason why religion is losing its grips on the general population. Slide 12 One reason is that the perception of religion can be negative and judgemental. Many people believe that religion makes people narrow minded, restricting our thoughts through outdated ideology. Slide 13 One of them being the belief of the elusive idea of the “chosen one”. Calvinist talks about “God’s elect,” believing that they themselves are the special few who were hand picked by God before time. This ideology have been coexisted with human civilization all around the world. People had believed that leaders and kings were direct relative of the ethereal entity. Slide 14 As an example, Japan who still believed that their emperors were Gods in human form until the end of World War Two had Slide 16 committed mass suicide to please their emperor. After Japan lost to America, America forced the Slide 17 Humanity Declaration on the emperor. This declaration forced the Emperor to deny the concept of him being a living god. Why was it possible for one individual to have such power over the masses? Even though the idea of godly descendants have only brought destruction and tragedy? Slide 18 It is because religious beliefs makes us helpless. Religion controls their devouts with a religious filter in their thinking process. It is simply assumed that everything is fate and controlled by the higher power, preventing us from searching for the meaning and mystery in life. Slide 19 To an extreme extent, it can be simply summarized that religion is a result of cultural