For my religions class, I was required to write an essay stating why we should study world religions. I decided I was lazy and opted to use that as my post tonight, even though I wrote on religions recently. This is a little bit more organized and formal, but I hope you find it interesting nonetheless.
Religions tend to be important parts of many cultures. Whether a religion is the foundation of a government, the foundation of a historical movement, or a lifestyle, civilizations throughout the world have systems infused with religion. In addition to being such a central part of life for billions of people, religion and the study thereof is significant because of its impact on the individual and its impact on groups of people, including politicians, scientists, and artists.
Students who choose to study religions have a great advantage over students who do not. In studying world religions, students enable themselves to explore not only the religions they may study, but also themselves. As students tend to be more impressionable given their age, they are at a crucial time in their life when exploration of self is necessary. To critically consider religions other than the ones with which they are already familiar can assist a student in asking helpful questions to determine what faith, if any, is the right one for him or her. This makes studying world religions important to the individual student, who may find a religion they prefer to practice over the one with which he or she grew up. Thus, studying world religions allows for and encourages self-exploration, a valuable aspect which few disciplines offer.
Because religions tend to be rather philosophical and often complicated, students also gain better critical thinking skills when studying world religions. People typically learn their own religions over a great deal of time. Students, however, attempt to understand much of a religion in a short period of time. Therefore, they must be able to think critically about the religion which they study. Students may find they require critical thinking skills when considering a religion's creation myth, a concept of afterlife, or a ritual. The ability to think critically is not only useful in studies of religious matters, but in all other areas of study as well.
Students who study religion also have an opportunity to become better citizens of the world. Those who choose to reach out and learn about another religion, and thus another culture or subculture, actively show the participants of that religion that they are trying, at the very least, to better understand the culture or subculture. By showing a desire to understand, students promote concepts of peace and cooperation.
As wars, many of which are caused by religious differences, continue to destroy the lives of millions, it is more important than ever that peoples reach out to understand each other before punishing each other for differences. Attempting understanding is the first step toward respect. If students try to make this first step, peace will come more easily as more and more people come to understand. As students will learn for themselves, they will also have the benefit of being able to teach and correct others about misunderstandings regarding other unfamiliar religions. Such understanding will spread and thus so will peace.
By advancing understanding of other religions and thus assisting the existence of peace, cultures will be more able to trade technological and cultural aspects. Should people who work in sciences and technologies better understand each other through their religious cultures, that they will be better able to work together is likely. If such cooperation exists, technological advancement would happen more rapidly and efficiently than it does now. Some may argue that this relationship would diminish the competition which is often evident between cultures to be the most technologically advanced in any given area. However, such a relationship does not inhibit friendly competition while also encouraging cooperative actions.
The same concept applies to cultural advancements as well. If by studying religions artists are better able to understand artists of other religious cultures, they are more likely to trade cultural ideas and thus artistic media and movements will blend to create art that is of the world rather than of a specific place. This art will, in turn, invite more people to understand the cultures infused into the work of an artist of their cultural home.
Studying world religions has many benefits, both for the individual and for the greater good. Students who decide to study world religions can become more able to think flexibly and critically as well as assist the world in becoming a more peaceful and well-rounded place. Through education, people of the world can correct their misunderstandings of others and thus go on to be on friendlier terms. This leads to a more fulfilling individual and community life.
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