Santa Claus is believed to be
all knowing and all seeing- a slight threat to children to make sure they
behave. If you are good- you are rewarded with bountiful presents on a special
day called Christmas. If you’ve been bad- you get a piece of coal.
Gods and deities
are believed by many people to be omnipresent beings regarding all of your
thoughts and actions. If you are good, at the end of your life, you are
rewarded with eternal life. If you’ve been bad- you’re sent to hell.
The reason there are uncanny similarities
between Santa Claus and God is because they both have the same purpose: to
instill a moral conscience in the minds of people everywhere.
Religion was first created as an answer
to all the questions of the unknown. This is still true for religion but it has
also served as a great tool for our world. Even though every religion has its
oddities and differences, when you get to the bare bones- it’s all about
improving ourselves and others. Religion is so important for our world today
because it serves as a set of moral laws for the world. On purpose or not, the
creation of a divine being has helped make the world a better place.
Which is why as an atheist, I am a huge
supporter of religion. Some people, without religion, would have no incentive
of being ethical. If the promise of eternal life was proved untrue, many would
revert to immorality- creating a chaotic violent world.
The one flaw of religion is its radical side
effects. Using out-dated scriptures as justification of violence and harassment
is reason enough to question the potential that religion has. Destruction of
masterpieces, burning of scriptures, and the death of billions has all been due
to a disagreement in beliefs. How do we preserve the culture and moral compass
religion provides while purging the extremist urges?
We have to get rid of the idea that there
is one god that is better than all. We have to stop the segregation of
religions while still celebrating specific spiritual traditions. Instead we
have to realize it is not about which god you believe in, but the purpose of
your religion. If you look at all religions they are essentially the same if
you take out the specifics. If one is motivated to do great things because of
their god, in no way should they be penalized for believing in them.
Mairead, this is an interesting post. I like how you write the first two paragraphs in a parallel format. I had never really made the connection that Santa is just another type of deity, a deity for kids. The ideas you present are provocative. Unfortunately, in this particular post, I find the writing to be less than engaging. You make a couple uncharacteristically bad stylistic decisions. First, you use very simple and boring verbs. Second, you rely extensively on the passive voice. Third, you switch between pronouns. Are you writing to your audience, or are you writing about "us" collectively. You switch back and forth between the first and second person narrative perspectives, and that confuses me. I don't quite understand your decision to use dashes instead of commas. You don't make any glaring grammatical errors, which is good. The style, though, lacks life.
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