RENDERING. Богатова С.М - 36 стр.

tury began with the expulsion of Muslim rule from Spain with the re-                           INTERNAL CRITICISMS OF RELIGION
conquista of 1492. It ended roughly with the Spanish triumph over the
                                                                                     Internal criticisms of religion have their basis in the imbalance
Ottoman fleet in the battle of Lepanto in 1571.
                                                                              that occurs when one aspect or one understanding of religion is allowed
       In our own day, national struggles in the Mideast and South Asia
                                                                              to dominate the rest. Heresies have arisen when one way of understand-
are increasingly acquiring a religious dimension. These overtones make
                                                                              ing has been developed without balancing it with another. In the devel-
already difficult problems even harder to resolve.
                                                                              opment of doctrines concerning the nature and person of Christ within
       Now does this relate to perhaps the greatest religious struggle in
                                                                              Christianity, for example, heresies arose when a particular model (e.g.,
the world today – the war against terrorism? Evidently, at its core it is a
                                                                              that of fatherhood and sonship) was believed to be capable of infinite
war between forces of religious tolerance and intolerance.
                                                                              development. The model of the Father-Son relationship was pressed
       What is even more fascinating is that this present battle has its
                                                                              too far, and the Son was subordinated to the Father in a way inconsis-
origin in the effort by the United States to combat the Soviet Union in
                                                                              tent with Christian orthodoxy, thus leading to what became heresy.
the Cold War. And it was the United States of all countries which de-
                                                                              Sectarianism develops when religious insights are associated exclu-
liberately – and in furtherance of its own strategy and tactical objective
                                                                              sively with one particular doctrinal or theological phrase, such as justi-
– decided to utilize the explosive tool of religious fanaticism in the cur-
                                                                              fication by faith, or with one particular theological view regarding reli-
rent era.
                                                                              gious practices; e.g., baptism. Because religion is at once infinite and
       «Thousands of freedom fighters from more than 40 countries
                                                                              mysterious, it is important that religious belief does full justice to a
were welcomed, trained and armed by the United States to fight against
                                                                              wide variety of approaches.
the Soviets in Afghanistan during the 80's,» writes the retired Pakistani
                                                                                     Another criticism of religion has been that it has tended to be
General Mirza Aslam Beg in Pakistan’s Nation. And he adds: «Those
                                                                              overintellectual; and when this trait has been combined with moral lax-
Muslim fighters now form the core of the global resistance, which turns
                                                                              ity and factional rivalries, it has led to protests about the arrogance of
to places where Muslims are being brutalized.»
                                                                              intellectualized religion, often leading to the opposite error of suppos-
       According to Beg: «This wave of Islamic revival may be termed
                                                                              ing that belief does not matter as long as common sentiments are
by any name – clash of civilizations or the new world order. Behind all
                                                                              shared. Religious believers have not always recognized that for the
these movements there is a latent dynamism, which points toward the
                                                                              most part their belief explicates metaphors, images, and symbols.
resurgence of Islam, which is an unmistakable reality the world has to
                                                                              Though ways of religious reasoning are appropriately informal and
gracefully acknowledge, because the process cannot be reversed.»
                                                                              variegated, having their origins in a multitude of images and symbols,
       History does not repeat itself exactly, but there are patterns to
                                                                              it nevertheless is considered a religious duty to produce the most reli-
human behavior. The national and religious disputes of the 16th cen-
                                                                              able overall discourse based on the various images and models.
tury ultimately led to horrible wars before the principle of tolerance
                                                                                     The fundamental difficulty of all religious understanding, how-
was accepted. And that tolerance resulted probably more out of exhaus-
                                                                              ever, is to balance intelligibility and mystery. If the intelligibility is
tion than conviction.
                                                                              neglected, religious belief can become dishonest and religious men can
       All of that should give us a moment to pause. If history is repeat-
                                                                              lose integrity; if mystery is neglected, there may be splendid contro-
ing itself then the first decades of the 21st century may be very trou-
                                                                              versy and exercises in logical appraisal, but the heart of religion will
bled, indeed. Just remember that the 16th century was also an era of
                                                                              have disappeared.
globalization, as trade expanded, discoverers explored – and ideas
                                                                                     The basic difficulty of all religions and of historical religions in
spread rapidly following the introduction of printing presses.
                                                                              particular is to effect a constant rebirth of symbols in changing cul-
       The Globalist, August 7, 2002 (5014 символов)
                                                                              tures. In the course of time some of the most powerful images and

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