CIA 3

ENGLISH
TOPIC: Can a Religion Preach and Practice Theism with Love Alone?
Religious belief systems connect humankind to spirituality. Religion is a set of cultural
systems, belief systems, and worldviews that connect humankind to spirituality and, in some
cases, moral principles. Many religions contain narratives, symbols, rituals, and sacred
histories that are supposed to provide meaning to life or explain how life or the cosmos came
to be. Morality, ethics, religious laws, or a preferred way of life are often derived from their
assumptions about the universe and human nature. Many religions have clergy, a definition of
what constitutes loyalty or membership, congregations of laity, regular meetings or services
for veneration or prayer, holy places, literature, etc. There are, however, examples of faiths
that lack any or all these organizational, beliefs, or practice characteristics.
Most prominent world faiths are not built on violence. The Christian Bible's New Testament
makes it quite plain that Christians are not to obey the Law of the Old Testament, which
occasionally dictated violence in the harsh terrible reality of the ancient past. Christians are to
treat people with peace and love wherever possible, even to the point of death. The New
Testament, on the other hand, is a book for actual people living in the real world, and it
contains a lot of violence. Unfortunately, to have peace and protect others, violence must
frequently be met with more violence. The world would not function that way if we had
enough peace and love. However, the New Testament makes it plain that the world will never
be truly calm. Even if God governs here for a thousand years, evil will remain and will lash
out in violence as soon as the thousand years are through.
Believing in God is one of the ways to express religion. Religion practices theism. However,
religions do not just adhere to theism. There are several instances where religions involving
in violence in the name of God. History demonstrates how religions have encouraged
violence against other religions. Evil acts like the slave trade, apartheid, colonialism, etc.
were also backed by religions. So, it can be said that religions do practice non-social
activities.
Having faith in God is good for a person. But, having a strong religious faith is enough to
force a person to get motivated and involved in violent activities. Religions that practice
theism with love in an extreme way can also lead to violence. For instance, Islam is a religion
that has a lot of faith in God and has been involved in violence in the name of jihad ISIS.
Religions also force people to convert from one religion to another is also a result of having a
strong belief in God. Which is a very violent activity a religion can do. So, it can be said that
having a strong belief in God also spread hatred.
“True religion is real living; living with all one’s soul, with all one’s goodness and
righteousness” by Albert Einstein. As rightly said by Einstein true religion is all about living.
We may not be able to prevent the world from eventually devolving into violence but we can
still contribute to making the world a better place. Religions must stop spreading violence
and must practice liberty, equality, and fraternity among people. So, it can be said that
religions must try to preach and practice theism with love.