Critical thinking Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Critical thinking - Essay Example And this has come with so much military concerns. In other words, religion has been a fundamental part in the organization of nations' military policies and military campaigns. This paper seeks to argue that religion is a major cause of war. In order to undertake this discourse, it is important to identify the origins of organized religion. This will provide the basis for the identification of the important variables and undertake a comparison of the era before organized religion and the era after organized religion. In providing a background to what we will call organized-religion today, Wilson identifies that â€Å"Jesus did not call what he taught Christianity nor did Buddha call what he taught Buddhism† (2011 p62). This implies that what we call religion today evolved years after the founders of those groups died. In other words, these great teachers in history lived for a given philosophy and idea that was meant to improve the lives of people and get human beings closer t o the Creator. However, after these exemplary teachers died, people who came after them sought to spread their creed and spiritual beliefs. These individuals are the ones who can institutionalize religions and make it imperative for people to adopt those religions and live according to these fundamental ideals. With time, these â€Å"religionists† philosophize and put religion in a context that binds all people and all members of the community. This is because they feel that the teachings of the founders of the sect are universal and every human being must be forced to comply with those religious ideals in order. A further analysis of the emergence of religion indicates that the founders of these religions were mainly individuals with very modest visions and modest views. However, after they died, some people believed in the institutionalization of the religious views and in doing this, they got closer to people in authority and created a symbiotic relationship that made reli gion self-serving and a tool for the control of the masses and the wider sections of the society (Gooding, 2006, p45). As Karl Marx opines, religion is the opium of the people (Ott, 2007). In his writings, Marx challenged the status quo and he identified a lot of things about the abuse of religion, power and authority. In doing this, he provides a thesis that religion is used by the people in power and the people in authority to control the masses and get them to do what the leaders want. This observation of Marx can be identified in many societies ranging from the Far East to the Atlantic and down to the southern tip of Africa and the southern continents. Religion was used by people in authority to guide and to control the minds of people in society. In notable examples, religion was used to organize Empires. Caroll writes that Emperor Constantine unified Europe and kept the Roman Empire alive through the adoption of Christianity as a state religion (2012). It is worthy to note tha t Christianity was an outlawed religion that came with a death penalty in the Roman Empire before Constantine came to power. However, realizing that there were economic challenges ahead and there was pressure and rebellion from the â€Å"barbarian† tribes in northern Europe, Constantine decided to adopt Christianity to unify the masses and create a single code. Thus, through the Church, an organized religion was formed in Europe and this helped