well.. my day started off early today... with a lecture starting at 0830 am... my Sociology lecture. haha.. kinda like tt module... it studies the society, the relationships between people in the social context.. and looking at societies outside the box.... And today, was on the Ideas of Karl Marx... As the lecture went on, woah... i must say i strongly agree on sumthing he wrote in his books:
" Why people need Religion - the 'opium' of the people?"
(hmmm... so wat can u derive frm this qn? i'll leave tt for ur thots ;) )
haha... and so came his ans to tt qn: People create religion to deal with the REAL misery which confronts them. Right then, I felt as if i was enlightened or sumthing, cos I do share the same sentiments!! from then... i had been thinking ..... Am I a Marxist?? well i'm very much a realist myself too you know... ;D
Well watever *shrugs shoulders* can't be too sure too haha!
after socio, its my econs lecture... boring~! the module itself is boring already..... and imagine this... it is taught by a lecturer who only laugh at his own jokes and always puts on a dull face.. *argh!* total disaster i tell you!!
" Why people need Religion - the 'opium' of the people?"
(hmmm... so wat can u derive frm this qn? i'll leave tt for ur thots ;) )
haha... and so came his ans to tt qn: People create religion to deal with the REAL misery which confronts them. Right then, I felt as if i was enlightened or sumthing, cos I do share the same sentiments!! from then... i had been thinking ..... Am I a Marxist?? well i'm very much a realist myself too you know... ;D
Well watever *shrugs shoulders* can't be too sure too haha!
after socio, its my econs lecture... boring~! the module itself is boring already..... and imagine this... it is taught by a lecturer who only laugh at his own jokes and always puts on a dull face.. *argh!* total disaster i tell you!!
But i was in jovial mood... cos next i noe, i will be at the movies!! woo hoo!!!
well i must say it does haf a fair amount of *ahem* to earn tt R21 rating...
but at the same time, for me, as most of these sex workers are foreigners, i felt sad for them...
*clears throat* ok after that, i and tt fren went home shortly after tt... lol!!
ok b4 i go... in conjunction with my first R21 movie experience (lolx!! yes.. yes.. laugh all u wan), i haf a R21 question tt i brought up to my fren during my journey home and onto you:
"Is Sex the basis/base stone of everything we do in life?"
Discuss. (25 Marks)
4 comments:
First we have to examine how we define 'sex'. Yes, its an action. but how do one view it? A responsible for mankind to multiply? A desire and pleasure?
Sex, to me is an union of 2 different gender. Male and female. All things under the sun reproduce, creates and progress because of the union of the 2 opposite. - Yin and Yang. Its the basic instinct for man, to reproduce. Well, this is explained in a very primitive and original way.
Let not forget 'desire' as well. It gives pleasure to human. Anything has a limit, overdoing it, damage your health, affect your lifestyle. Man must know how to curb their desire too. It is the ability to control our ability makes us 'superior' in the animal kingdom. Desire is a 'by product' of sex. Sex has a much important role, to reproduce.
At the bottom line, man existance is to grow up, form a family, reproduce. To effective achieve this goal, and also to reap the highest ultility, you have to work hard for it. Therefore, studying, working hard, earning money etc are all part of it.
Some people will say, as a reason, are we all working towards this 'sex'(reproduce)? Yes and no.
Yes, thats main thing, to continue the human species. However, we have to understand, many things its not only the ultimate goal matters, the process matters too. Starting a family, having kids is the main goal, but there are many other things, that need our concern and attention as well. The process includes alot of other factors, that we must go through, endure, enjoy and experience. All these need to take into consideration as we are not 'sex machines'.
However, at the end of the day, some people may choose not to have kids, but did not say they choose to refrain 'sex'. Well, this lead to another discussion, whereby 'sex' in this context, does not refer to the sacred task of reproduction but literally refer to a kind of pleasure only.
At the bottom line, the 'norms' are presence, on sex and its context but individual are not entirely puppets, although very much influenced by social norms, they can still, at a certain point, make their own decisions.
After posting my comments on the 25 marks question, i would like to discuss the earlier point made by Johnny.
I rely on Emil Durkhiem's idea on this. Religion is NOT entirely opium. It can be ABUSED as a kind of opium but its characteristic is NOT only to serve as an opium.
Marx's point of view is incomplete and lack of proper understanding on the term 'religion'.
What is religion? Marx, during his era, underwent the exposure is very much different from other parts of the world and also different from us.
During the scientific revolution, the Church(religion) pose as one of the greatest threat to the scientific revolution people. The issue of the world is round, the moon, the planets etc are all contradicting to the Church doctrine.
However, look at the other end of the world, is it the case? Science is always opposing religion and vice versa? The answer is NO. In fact, complement each another!
Buddhism, started off as a study of the human mind and behavior, self cultivation to achieve a higher morality and wisdom.
For the Chinese, do note that the great physicians, Hua Tuo, Zhang Zongjing, Sun Simiao were all Taoist patriarchs.
Officers in the Imperial court that studies the stars, planets, earth etc rely on doctrines that in fact are consider sacred religious text now (taoism).
Famous strategist - Jiang ziya, Zhang Liang, Zhuge Liang, are all Taoist that rely on religious book like I Ching to give advice and find answers in life.
The Chinese has merged worship, culture and the study of natural phenomenon, healthcare etc together to form a set of belief and knowledge. Some researchers have found that in fact, Buddhism and Taoism are more 'scientific' then western beliefs.
In the search of elixer, ancient priests indirectly discovered chemistry and physic in China. To study spirits and spiritual world, the priests studied the geographical knowledge of the world and china.
The examples of science and spiritual coming together can go on and on. Who knows, in future, if spiritualilty is proven, its a branch in science! lolz.
well, at the bottom line, 'religion' is the way of life, affect our culture, tradition and shaping social norms. Beside science, it has 'power of influene' over human way of life.
One thing, in the study of many things, one needs to dig deep enough to uncover HIDDEN truth and codes. Many times, things are not what they seems to be. There may be more then meets the eye.
well.. first of all, let me first add tt the qns weren't aimed at anything or anyone.. they are meant to be open ended qns... =D
Well jeremy, very well explained... i absolutely haf no qualms on wat u've said.
well.. maybe i'm a free-thinker, so i may haf different views on religions. however, i do, sumtimes, sit down and comtemplate the meaning of religion and like Marx, why people need religion in their lives.
haha.. of cos the first thing starkly embeded in my impression of religion is tt of the limitations imposed by the religion and the practices.. tts sumthing i dun understand since young. haha..
well.. in conclusion, religion though distant to me, it will remain as a fascinating thing to me and theres much for me to explore...
yea... thanks for commenting... haha at least i noe sumone is reading my blog~ =D
yoz..woo jia jia. well said. Well, to me religion is totally fascinating as well. Which sparks me researching it for almost 10 yrs. (1 more yr to 10 yr).
Dun be mistaken that because of my status (u all know), i be biased in my research.
To be frank, i see religion in a many different scope. Religion to the west, is often a direct opposition to science. Religion to the east, is your root, culture and not necessary totally opposed to science.
TCM, was flamed as non-science, backward, but now, it been research in universities. How would one feel, if i tell you, majority of TCM theories, are also Chinese religion's doctines, which is the part on human body.
Western religion focused only on the relationship with God, worship, worship and worship. the 'Book' is the supreme truth and they focus on Biblical theories.
Eastern religions however, focused on research, thinking process and many trail and errors. Now, scientist have been trying to find medicine to prolong life. thosuands of yrs ago, many ppl attempted and failed. But in the process they discovered many things.
Since we are in Asia, we focus on Eastern religion(s). Definately all religions have elements of spiritual and supernatural. This, is still unproven by science yet. But the question is, is it the only way, to prove its logic and ratioanlity only by science? Are we positive sure, that science is absolute? Science to me, is important, but it stumble to questions on the defination. What is science and what is 'non-science'? If tommorrow, Angels are proven by science as a living entity in X dimension/planet. Then automatically, believing in Angels is no longer purely religious alone.
Religion, is in fact, like what Durkhiem mentioned, beside worship, divinities, it consist of social values, norms as well. To have social stablity, we need to have a system. In which the highest point -religion give its influecenc over culture, beliefs, attitude and ultimately behavior.
If we ever have a chance to dissect a particular rite, ritual, we can see its purposes are all rounded. Beside worship(respect), it has social and pschological implications, which many times proved to be reaping positive results.
A very good example is the 'uses' of temple. Purely a worship ground? The answer is no. From a socialogical point of view, it is the 'RC', 'CC' of the estate, village, town. It has great socialogical benefits.
Sociology, psychology are similar but still different from natural science. Religion precede over alot of different fields and areas which need to weight them all, in order to see that religion is an 'opium' or is it really useful.
It is precisly thay many, find religion 'rules' alien and puzzled. Its close to us, but we are stranger to them. Our mind start to find 'answers' ,but many times we result in finding answer that is only 'suitable' to our mind and heart. Which is subjective.
To fully explore different religion, look at it from a holistic point of view, culturally, historically. Bear in mind, we are still not at the heart of religion yet, we are merely discussing some immediate influence and benefits it act on mankind, socially, culturally an also other areas like healthcare, arts, moral values and medicine. All these are not spiritual, and yet, amazingly, they all based on the same fudenmentals in the religion!
Western medicine and TCM studies the human body different, different scope and ideas. But yet, both are beneficial to mankind.Concepts of religion like 'qi', 'yin and yang', spiritual forces are concepts, derived from examining the world from another point of view. Do note, that in ancient India, China, there is no 'science' (the term). Science and religion (spiritual context) are studied together.
Chinese worship the constellation but they study the milky way and name the planets at the same time.
Chinese invented and used the calculations in calendar, aiding farming but yet, use it in fortune telling.
Chinese studied the land, invented compass and used all these concepts in geomancy. e.g popular belief that the house sit facing south is the desired direction. true enough, the birthplace of this theory(fengshui) - China, a house facing south and a house facing other directions HAS a difference in temperature of at least 5 degrees.
Chinese search for immortalitly and indirectly contributed to chinese chemistry and invented various martial arts, qigong and meditation techniques.
Chinese, in their belief, to express their thoughts, contributed to arts, poetry. Famous poet - Li Bai, Du Fu are all priest in real life.
Admiral Cheng Ho, who sailed 7 times and went as far to the middle east and some researcher believed it was him, instead of columbus, discovered the 'new land' (north america). He in fact, a great voyager, explorer and learner man, actually hold Mazu, goddess of sea in high respect.
The above evidence show eastern religion(taoism) and western religions are totally different. In fact, the Church is(currently still) a opposition force to science.While eastern belief contributed in history of mankind in improving life of man.
The terrorist and some countries, still fight wars in the name of certain beliefs. which are western beliefs. one do not see anyone using eastern religion as a tool in terrorism.
There is much to explore in study of religion. Its not a superstitious issue, but its a research that stretched over the study of mankind, in history, culture, social.
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