Religion is a fascinating matter. It fascinates me how different people have different ways of perceiving the universe and each of these people strongly believes that their way is right. People have argued and even fought over religion. It is one of those matters where people should just learn to ‘agree to disagree.’ My standpoint on religion is that nobody is quite sure of their beliefs but the majority of these beliefs are based on faith. There may be a few facts to support the theories but faith is the overriding factor (Hunsberger, Bruce, and Lynne M. Jackson 810). The problem is people tend to incline facts to their pre-conceived beliefs (Hunsberger, Bruce, and Lynne M. Jackson 808). Consider the scenario where an individual arrives home safely from work, one person may attribute this occurrence to God, another to Allah, and another may accredit the same occurrence to another god while others may believe there was no god behind the incident. Getting home is an undeniable fact, but the interpretations of this incident differ due to one’s religious affiliation or lack of one.
I agree with John Hick’s idea that in the future there is a great chance of people coming towards religion from a central ground as opposed to what exists nowadays where people approach the matter from their vast cultural backgrounds. Names such as ‘Buddhism’, ‘Islam’,’ Christianity’ and ‘Hinduism’ may cease to exist under these circumstances. The Dalai Lama does not agree with this theory. Both the Dalai Lama and John Hick, however, seem to agree that there are great similarities between the different religions in the world. They both agree that religions are directed at attaining personal eternal happiness and upholding virtues in society. If the religions have a common goal then I would argue that there are more or less the same.
The Dalai Lama uses the analogy of using different food tastes to make the food taste good to a certain individual. From this, one can clearly deduce that the foundation of all religions is the same. The difference is the diverse cultural backgrounds of the religions. The dominant culture of Christianity belongs to the European people (this applies to those living in Europe and those migrated to America and Australasia.) The dominant cultural beliefs integrated into Islam belong to the Arabic people while the main cultural beliefs embodied in Hinduism are Indian. Buddhism takes into account the culture of people from South Eastern Asia and parts of Northern Asia. (Hulsether, Mark 500)
The diverse cultures in the world are eroding especially in the younger generation. This has largely to do with social media and the mainstream media (Hines, Andy 18). People have integrated beliefs and lifestyles from these sources into their lives. This is clearly evident in the trends in fashion, hairstyles and the lifestyle choices people make. Things such as tattoos are considered taboo in many cultures but very many people have them nowadays due to influence from their favorite movie characters, artists or athletes (Hines, Andy 18). Females some time back could be shunned for wearing trousers but nowadays it has become normal.
With the knowledge that the cultures are quickly eroding and that religions are deeply engrained in certain cultures, it is safe to say that while the cultures depart so will the cultural background of the religions. This occurrence would lead either to secularization or people approaching religion from a common point as proposed by John Hick.People from time immemorial have always been religious creatures hence I believe people will still follow some sort of religion.
Nowadays people from all religions are incorporating techniques from Buddhism into their lives. Practices such as meditation, self-awareness and intensive concentration all stem from Buddhism. The Dalai Lama also agrees that people from all over the world are increasingly becoming fascinated with their ideas although these people have not changed their religious affiliation to Buddhism. When this process goes on for a long period of time one may foresee the assimilation of religions.
The idea of approaching religion from a common point is already being implemented heavily in the self-help community. Life coaches advise people on embracing their core values. They, however, stress that these values should be good. They insist that these values should be beneficial not only to oneself but also to the society. Many people are following this advice and it seems this is the type of religion that John Hick was referring to since there are no ethnic tendencies embodied in this model. If you look at the massive following these life coaches have on social media platforms you will realize they are really influencing the world. When this trend goes on for decades I think it may override the current religions. In this modern way, there are no set values that one must abide by as it is in the religions. One must only try and be the authentic self. Practices such as meditation are practiced and virtues from religions are upheld. The life coaches argue that by following the more traditional religions, one is told how to live and can no longer be the authentic self.
One may argue that the theist religions would not take part in this evolution. It is very critical to note that John Hick does not suggest that religions will cease to exist but what he states is that the assimilation may resemble the different denominations of the Christians. It does not mean that everybody will believe in God or everybody will not believe in God. It means that there may be differences but like in the various Christian dominations everybody accepts the other's differences since they all have a common end goal. If you take the various religions and remove the different cultural backgrounds it becomes crystal clear that all the religions are serving a common purpose. The parable of the blind men and the elephant as illustrated by John Hick goes to explain that all the religions are trying to explain reality and maybe each of these people is expressing the truth but a partial truth. Maybe when all these ideas are integrated we can now have the whole truth. It does not mean that anyone of them is wrong. When people accept this, and people are becoming more open-minded, then it is a matter of time before achieving a common standpoint on religion.
Another person may argue that people are shifting away from religion and in the future most people would not be interested in religion. Human beings are religious (Hunsberger, Bruce, and Lynne M. Jackson 811). I would argue that people especially the youth are turning towards what I call the modern religion. The one mentioned earlier that is being instigated by life coaches. I know people do not define this as a religion but religion can broadly be defined as a way of perceiving reality. According to this definition, it is safe to call the practice a religion. There is no cultural background behind this model hence there exists a common viewpoint from people from all walks of life. If you do not buy into this then you must at least acknowledge that the cultures of people are fast eroding. Bearing in mind the current religions stem from our cultures in decades to come people (both those who believe in religion and those who don’t) will view religion from a common ground. The point John Hick makes is that the customs belonging to different tribes and races in the different religions will cease to exist. This has nothing to do with the number of people either joining or leaving the religions.
I strongly believe in the future we will view religion from a common ground. I hope this will help solve the problem of people fighting over religion and killing each other because of their religious affiliation. The sooner people understand we are all one and are all trying to achieve the same goal of happiness the better. The Dalai Lama says that whenever an individual follows a religion to the letter he or she will reap great rewards in their lives. Let us all strive towards making sure that everyone has the freedom to worship and condemn violence due to any type of differences in the society.
Works cited
Hulsether, Mark. "Religion and culture." The Routledge companion to the study of religion (2005): 489-508.
Hunsberger, Bruce, and Lynne M. Jackson. "Religion, meaning, and prejudice." Journal of social issues 61.4 (2005): 807-826.
Hines, Andy. "Global trends in culture, infrastructure, and values." The Futurist 42.5 (2008): 18.
