Personal Motion of Religion

Religion has always been a double-edged sword: one

side destroys you while the other release you. As much
as it created a purpose for our existence, it engulfed us
in a bubble of fanaticism. Religious convictions can be
not only life affirming but also life denying. I believe that
this differs according to each individual’s background,
upbringing, and beliefs. Indeed, the same religion might
have a life affirming influence on one individual but a
life denying influence on another one. More
interestingly, religion might have these two opposing
influences on the same person at different stages of his
life. This variation stems from our personality traits,
whether we tend to be more optimistic or pessimistic,
our educational background, and our life role models.
Ultimately, religion might end up serving whatever fits
each person’s expectations. For the optimistic who has
been raised in a caring family that teaches the
importance of religion, faith will encompass the
meaning of existence and the will to survive. However,
for the pessimistic who has grown up in a neighborhood
where religious minorities are persecuted, faith is just a
burden that might limit life. Therefore, our experiences
and expectations shape the influence of religion on us.
Being part of a conservative Christian family, I have
always witnessed religion as an imperative player in the
process of sickness and death.
 Summary of Peter Berger’s The Sacred Canopy

It is convenient and comforting respond to unfortunate

and even devastating ‘fate’. The pain becomes bearable
to those who suffer because it is all part of a bigger
plan, it is more than ‘you’. This concept is also built
upon an irrational fundamental attitude, “the surrender
of self to the ordering power of society.”(54) The
problem of theodicy does not end at that. The use of
God as an shield works on believers, but not on
nonbelievers. The question “ why bad things happening
to good people” still cannot be answered fo the
nonbelievers, a common critique of religion itself.
Religion has worked really to create and maintain the
reality. Berger explains that it is because religion
legitimates effectively. "Religion has been the
historically most widespread and effective
instrumentality of legitimation.