Some of the presentations in class today raised a number of questions for me specifically regarding religion and its ability to help create a utopia. While I understand the point that religion has helped to unite groups of people in the past, I don't think that instituting a universal religion would lead to utopia. Perhaps the intent would be to unify the population, but wouldn't universal religion backfire? Forcing a particular set of beliefs on everyone would only serve to divide society more, causing rebellion and discontent. The result would be a number of smaller opposing groups instead of one unified population. In this way, religion acts as a disunifying factor, instead of a unifying factor.
Also, shared religion does not necessarily produce peaceful, utopian communities. The most relevant example of this today is the terrorist organization Al-Qaeda. Essentially, Al-Qaeda is an organization of people sharing the same beliefs; however, the result is not a utopian like society. They use their religious beliefs as a justification for terrorist actions in an effort to spread Islamic regime. As the council on foreign relations writes, "Al-Qaeda considers itself as the vanguard of the Islamic movement."Thus, members see their actions as a kind of "global jihad" or holy mission.
Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale is another example in which religion creates a kind of dystopia, instead of a utopian-like society. In this novel, leaders use religion to justify the creation of a society in which certain women are forced to become "baby breeding machines." The Bible is read daily and manipulated to justify their form of society. Here religion does unify the community, but the result is a disturbing, very dystopian society.
So while religion may serve to create peaceful communities in some cases, it certainly can backfire and create dystopian societies. It seems to me that religion is not an effective method of establishing a kind of utopia, but what do you think???
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2 comments:
I think that you bring up a really good point. I agree with you that forcing a religion onto a group of people really would not generate peace in this day and age. I think that, however, like Laurel shared in her presentation, that if the people were joined by a common desire for a universal religion like the amish or the monks, it could definitely work out. It's just the difference in forcing people into something and saying its right and allowing people to form their own according to what they believe. Human nature is to defy being forced into something, so i agree with you. A strict religious community enforced by pressure would not create a very sustainable utopia at all.
I completely agree. Although Laurels presentation was very well presented, it raised the same question for me as well. Everyone being the same religion can't always work out. Our world has many different religions and in that does not create dystopia. In fact it's probably one of the only things people can truly hold on to as an individual. I'm not sure forcing people to change their beliefs and what they have faith in will create unity, it will most likely "backfire" like you said. What religion would become universal? That might even create war! Unity definitely comes into play when there is a group of people together with the same beliefs (church), and that creates a utopia in itself. But everyone changing might be asking for too much.
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