Читать книгу Search Engines - Jon Jonsson - Страница 10

Most nations can come together and try to solve the CO2 problem, or the AIDS problem, or the "financial meltdown," for example. But when it comes to our biggest problem, we have a totally divided house. As people or nations, we do not see eye to eye on this nagging problem. Old religious wars and cultural pride have devastated any mutual trust. There is no agreement on what happens to us in death. That means we are uncertain whether we will continue on or not. Any discussion across cultures about religion is an old minefield. This divides us into very isolated groups. The whole outcome is a confusing offering of many solutions, most of which are quite contradictory in nature. We get perplexed and defensive over faith, mainly because local religion gets slowly tied into tribal history and traditions. Ethnic religions are handed down through the centuries. Sometimes the end result of a religion is all but a collection of sentimental ceremonies. The "death problem" is slowly forgotten about in all the decorated rituals. So instead of a common understanding to a universal problem, we have many cultures coming up with their own local solutions. The ethnic flavor can be so strong that the belief system is not inclusive to outsiders. The basic purpose of a religion is to explain death to us. It should also help us to comprehend our journey and our Maker. It could even prepare us for the next life. It should be as simple as that.