Question

What is role of human life in religion? what is it that makes something recognizable as religious? (Back up specific examples from at least 2 different religions).

Answer 1

• The religious attitude is always based on the belief that there exisits an all embracing ,transcedental,moral law and that we human beings are bound to submit to its commands.We may define religion also as an all round movement in the light of faith in one God and a sense of responsibility for the formation of thought and belief, for the promotion of high principles of human morality for the establishment of good relations among members of the society and the elimination of every sort of undue discrimination.
• What we call the "religious attitude " is the natural outcome of man's intellectual and biological constitution.Man is uanbale to explain the mystery of life ,the mystery of birth and death,the mystery of infinity and eternity.His reasoning stops before impregnable walls.He can therefore,do two things only.The one is to give up all attempts at undersatnding life as a "totality".In this case man restricts himself by relying only on the external experiences alone which limitizes his conclusions to their spheres.This enables him to understand the single fragments of life,which may increase in number and clarity as rapidly or as slowly as human knowledge of Nature increases and always remains in fragments or we can say a very little knowledge regarding the facts.
• This grasp of totality remains beyond the methodical equipment of human reason.This is the way how natural sciences go.The other possibility which exists side by side with the scientific approach is the way of religion.
• Religion provides a sanction for the principles of morality like justice, honesty, righteousness, brotherhood, equality, virtuousness, tolerance, sacrifice, help to the needy and other kindred virtues. These are the virtues without which, not only our life will lose its order and normalcy but it is very likely to be turned into a chaos.
  
• Religion strongly opposes every discrimination based on color, race or class, because it regards all human beings as God's creatures and every country as God's country. According to it, all enjoy God's love and kindness equally and as such, all are equal.According to the teachings of Islam, no man can be superior to another man on the basis of his color, race, descent, language or class.
• In the Islamic approach, life is a divine gift and bestowment to every individual. It has priority and is heading all the human rights. It would be useless and meaningless to talk about any rights before this right has been provided for a society's individuals.
• The fundamental of the value of the human life, is the value of human's existence as well as malice and viciousness of killing (assault on man's life).
• Therefore killing a person is not considered assault on a man's life, but a murder and assault on the reality of humanity and fading away viciousness and indecency of murder.
• Christianity views all life as precious, but human life as sacred. This conviction informs and determines the Christian's attitude toward nature and toward human beings.
• God is the sustainer and owner of life; therefore life is precious. God did not abandon His creation when He completed His creative work. Scripture teaches that He is an active sustainer of life. Through the laws of nature instituted at Creation and through humanity's stewardship over the earth, God sustains life indirectly. But the Bible underlines God's active and direct involvement, and the total dependence of living creatures on His activity. We can say, therefore, that sacredness is Godlikeness, a reflection of Him, and that humanness is Godlikeness as well, and a reflection of Him.