A blog on social issues related to GS. Must read for sociology students. It can be helpful for interview preparation too as the topics are discussed in question answer format.
Thursday 4 December 2014
Essay: New Cults and Godmen,Threat to Traditional Religion
Very tricky topic. You handled it well. Good explanation of how cult can emerge as religion. But you could have used examples from other religions as well like Islamic clerics - some who promote peace harmony and others who promote terror. Also is it safe to write about not yet decided cases like Asaram, Ramdev?
I tried making a rough sketch Instances i could think of was about Bhindranwale to show negative impact of religious cult. In positive role of cult, i could think of Vivekananda, Ramkrishna Paramhansa and Mother theresa. But i couldn't think of a cult replacing a religion. My conclusion was almost same as yours. This is what i came up with as conclusion
" Religion continues to play an important role in 21st century. It provides emotional and psychological stability in this fast paced world. Religious cults come and go but religions that have existed for several millennia will continue to live on"
Yeah bharath I didn't mention the positives of cult. Its a big mistake. Also, I didn't go into cults related to other religion. It is again a big omission. Ramdev I have not mentioned any criminal charge but Asaram need to be written carefully. I could have mentioned nityanand and others. Regarding your point of converting cult into religion I will say that even buddhism and jainism were cults when they started. For that matter Islam and sikhism were also cults. Now they have become world religions. In future a new cult which is strong enough to challenge these world religions will become another world religion. Thanks for pointing out the omissions. Your feedback is very useful.
Nice essay.. But I observed that some Godmen and their organizations are tried to maintain Multi-Religious faith and their impact is that they maintain Harmony and peace in the world by awaring society about true facts(Scientific-Spiritual based) Eg. Sant Nirankari Mission is one of them , In this mission , they are aware people's at local to international level by giving spiritual knowledge of various religions.. Hence , l conclude that they are able to Build up the Feelings of National integration..
Very tricky topic. You handled it well. Good explanation of how cult can emerge as religion. But you could have used examples from other religions as well like Islamic clerics - some who promote peace harmony and others who promote terror. Also is it safe to write about not yet decided cases like Asaram, Ramdev?
ReplyDeleteI tried making a rough sketch Instances i could think of was about Bhindranwale to show negative impact of religious cult. In positive role of cult, i could think of Vivekananda, Ramkrishna Paramhansa and Mother theresa. But i couldn't think of a cult replacing a religion. My conclusion was almost same as yours. This is what i came up with as conclusion
" Religion continues to play an important role in 21st century. It provides emotional and psychological stability in this fast paced world. Religious cults come and go but religions that have existed for several millennia will continue to live on"
Yeah bharath I didn't mention the positives of cult. Its a big mistake. Also, I didn't go into cults related to other religion. It is again a big omission. Ramdev I have not mentioned any criminal charge but Asaram need to be written carefully. I could have mentioned nityanand and others. Regarding your point of converting cult into religion I will say that even buddhism and jainism were cults when they started. For that matter Islam and sikhism were also cults. Now they have become world religions. In future a new cult which is strong enough to challenge these world religions will become another world religion. Thanks for pointing out the omissions. Your feedback is very useful.
DeleteNice essay..
ReplyDeleteBut I observed that some Godmen and their organizations are tried to maintain Multi-Religious faith and their impact is that they maintain Harmony and peace in the world by awaring society about true facts(Scientific-Spiritual based)
Eg. Sant Nirankari Mission is one of them , In this mission , they are aware people's at local to international level by giving spiritual knowledge of various religions..
Hence , l conclude that they are able to Build up the Feelings of National integration..