Religious Ethics, Liberation Theology, Taoism and Confucian Virtues - Essay Example

Religion Journal Confucian Virtues Summary According to Confucianism, the essential duty of any human being is to do the right thing in one’s life rather than worrying about the next world. Confucianism tends to dwell on the creation of a society that is just and moral. Such a society is constructed on the foundation of mutual respect that involves, evincing respect for each other, respecting the culture and tradition, respecting the salient social institutions. Confucianism holds that the most important way of instilling respect in any society is through the inculcation of rituals and traditions that people affiliate to and respect. Rituals in case of Confucianism varied from being semi religious routines to the way people met and interacted with each other. As per Confucianism, the construction of a moral society depended on the extent to each individual affiliated to and abided by the salient morals. Reflection It does come out as being strange that one of the most ancient world religions like Confucianism does remain silent about the notion or concept of a higher power. It is really interesting to note that the crux of Confucian thought does tend to focus on the creation of a social moral order. However, one does wonder as to the moral order that Confucianism talks about does mean subservience to the existent order, or did it allow for original and individualistic thought and action? It is indeed interesting to note that Confucian virtues do aspire for the creation of a society where people respected one another and cared for each other. Does it leave a scope for competitiveness and personal ambition? Taoism Summary Taoism did originate in China about two thousand years ago. Taoism does regard Tao to be the quintessential source of and the principle underlying all order in the universe. Taoism is a religion marked by both a profound sense of unity symbolized by Tao as well as the interplay of opposites marked by Yin and Yang. As far as morality is concerned, Taoism does affiliate to a relativistic view in the sense that it does belief that there do not happen to be and sacrosanct moral values, and that the morality imminent in a situation did depend on the circumstances attendant on that situation. Taoism does not regard death as the ultimate annihilation of the individual but does regard death to be a transformation from one state of existence to other. Reflection While Taoism talks about Tao as being the source of all order, when wonders as to whether Tao does have any peculiar or specific attributes? It is indeed interesting that Taoism talks about reconciling the opposing forces as depicted by the forces of Yin and Yang. It does allow an individual to reconcile the opposing tendencies within oneself like competitiveness and a caring nature, selfishness and a sense of sacrifice, greed and generosity, etc. However, one wonders as to what are the principles which if practiced and followed do lead to such reconciling of the opposites within the human psyche? The other thing that is very interesting is that Taoism does affiliate a notion of immorality in the sense that it believes that the death is a transformation from one state to other. Than what is complete annihilation according to Taoism? Liberation Theology Summary Liberation theology does tend to focus on interpreting the Christian theology with relation to the experiences of the suppressed, marginalized and the poor. It does attempt to interpret the quintessential message inherent in the bible and the key Christian doctrines in relation to the experiences of the marginalized and sidelined sections of the society. It would not be wrong to consider liberation theology as the religion of the poor. Liberation theology does affiliate to a gospel of the early Church when the Church did happen to be utterly decentralized in a political, economic and social context. Liberation theology seeks to configure the eventual relationship between political activism and Christianity, especially with relation to poverty, human rights and social justice. It tends to interpret and visualize theology from the perspective of the suppressed and poor people. Reflection In a way it would not be wrong to say that the liberation theology does tend to divest theology of its pristine and mystical nature and imbue it with a sense of politicization and radicalism. One wonders whether it is alright to attempt such a blending of politics and religion. Is not religion considered to be a source of solace and comfort for those who are ill treated by the world? If the religion is radicalized to the extent that it does get interpreted in the context of social justice and oppression, would not it divest religion from being a source of peace and comfort to those who are harassed and troubled by the world? Is it alright to attempt such a politicization of theology and religion? Religious Ethics Summary Ethics do signify the standards of human conduct that individuals and groups do tend to abide by. There does is an intimate relationship between ethics and religion in the sense that each religion does tend to uphold an ethical system of its own. Ethics of conduct tend to define the kind of life that people do need to live while ethics of personality define the type of person an individual ought to be. If on the one side there is an approach towards ethics that upholds a system of sacrosanct principles and norms, there is another approach towards ethics that happen to take into consideration the eventual consequences of the actual actions being performed by individuals or groups. In a historical context, religious ethics have always been vulnerable to being interpreted in a political, economic and societal context. Religious ethics do aspire to create a social order that does function in consonance with the salient values of any specific religion. Reflection Reading about religious ethics and as to how ethics do happen to be vulnerable to individual predilections and the situational antecedents, this has indeed left me somewhat confused. For instance if one takes into consideration the relationship between religion and ethics, than what is the right thing to do, to abide by the specific ethics upheld by the religion one does affiliate to or to take into consideration the human imperatives and situational nuances while deciding on the right course of action in a given situation? It is a fact that each and every religion does tend to propagate an ethical system of its own. Than are not ethics open to being interpreted in a relative context? Can there be anything like inviolable ethics in a world marked by such diversity? Read More