TAOISM
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Taoism, along with Confucianism, is one of the two major
indigenous religio-philosophical traditions that have
shaped Chinese life for more than 2,000 years.
Taoist philosophy and religion have found their way into all
Asian cultures influenced by China, especially those of
Japan,
 Korea,
 Vietnam.


Buddhism is the third important tradition that influenced China.
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No civilization is monochrome.
In China, the classical tones of Confucianism
have been balanced by the spiritual shades of
Buddhism and by the romantic hues of Taoism
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Taoism and Confucianism
- There is a tendency among scholars today to draw a less
rigid line between what is called Taoist and what is called
Confucian.
The two traditions share many of the same ideas about
man, society, the ruler, Heaven, and the universe - ideas
that were not created by either school but that stem from a
tradition prior to either Confucius or Lao-Tzu.
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Circling around each other like yin and yang
themselves,
Taoism and Confucianism represent the two
indigenous poles of the Chinese character:
Confucius
represents the classical,
Lao-Tzu the romantic.
Taoism teaches:
 Follow the flow
 Be natural and spontaneous
 The secret of happiness is to stop controlling things and
people around you!
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To experience the Tao, one must let go and pursue the path of
non-interference (wu-wei):
“do nothing and nothing will be left undone.”
The best teacher is the example of water that flows with the
natural forces and circumstances yet can overcome all
obstacles.
TAO CHIA and TAO CHIAO
Taoism has
- a philosophical dimension called TAO CHIA
- a religious dimension (TAO CHIAO)
Religious Taoism (Tao Chiao) has many components, especially
the quest for
longevity, prosperity, and posterity
through a variety of rituals
1.
Veneration of ancestors
2.
Worship of gods by prayers, incantations, sacrifices
3.
exorcism
Rituals of longevity include
1. Breathing exercises
2. Vegetarianism
3. Simply not eating

Exorcism and healing process
1.
The Taoist priest first ascertains the person’s animal
sign from the year of his birth
Takes a paper image of that animal (for instance a dog, if
the person was born in the year of the dog)
By means of prayers and incantations, he transfers into
the paper image of the animal any illness or evil present
in the person
and then burns the image
2.
3.
4.
Founder of Taoism:
 LAO-TZU
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

(Lao Zi, 604B.C.)
“the Old Fellow,”
“the Grand Old Master”
“Old Sage”
A shadowy figure
We do not know his name!
 He never preached,
 did not organize or promote his religion.
Sacred Text:
 1.
TAO TE CHING
DAODEJING
(=The Way and Its Power)


A small volume of five thousand characters
Can be read in half an hour or a lifetime
2. The second classic of Taoism:
“ZHUANG-ZI”
 Book attributed to ZHUANG-ZI or
CHUANG TZU (365-290 B.C)


DOCTRINE OF TAOISM
Doctrine and Taoist Values
 1.
The Tao
 2. The Man of Tao
 3. Wu-Wei
 4. Pacifism and Militarism
 5. Art of Government
 6.
Naturalness, Spontaneity
 7. Follow the Flow, slow down, Let go
 8. Humility and the rejection of
competition and “big ego.”
 9. Rejection of “conventions.”
 10. Centrality of Love
The Spirit of Taoism
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Follow the flow
Be natural and spontaneous
The secret of happiness is to stop controlling things and
people around you!
Be simple and humble
=> The highest calling for humans, argued the Daoists, is
not state service, but retreat into the mountains where
the reality of the Dao can be felt more clearly.
The Spirit of Taoism
(in ten points)
The Spirit of Taoism
1. A LESSON IN APOPHATIC THEOLOGY
(Against Anthropomorphism, and Civic Religion)

“God is Ineffable”
 “The
Tao that can be expressed
is not the Eternal Tao”
(Tao Te Ching)
The aim of the TAO TE CHING is to express the nature
of the Tao.
But the book begins with a mind-boggling paradoxical
language:
 The true Tao cannot be spoken or
adequately defined,
 The Tao that pervades all reality
can be known only
through silence and
through experiences that transcend words.
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The Tao is the ultimate Reality
As such it is transcendent, beyond the reach of human
understanding and human language.
By its nature the Tao transcends all human concepts and
forms of thought.
It can’t be understood
It can’t be named.
“The Tao that can be named is not the true Tao.”
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The Dao is the prime source of creation from which the
yin and yang forces emerge in ever-shifting harmonies.
Dao determines all things
And flows naturally as the mysterious and spontaneous
energy (Te) of the universe, functioning without the will
or purpose of a creator god.
The Tao expresses itself in 3 ways:
 1. The way of ultimate reality
 2. The way of the universe
(Nature’s orderer)
 3. The way of human life or human heart
2. WU-WEI
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WEI= Action
WU = not
= “inactive action,”
= “creative quietude.”
= “the way to do is to be.”
The man of wu wei “works without working.”
Does not mean “do-nothingness” or “inaction.”
WU-WEI
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The supreme good is like water,
Which nourishes all things without trying to.
It is content with the low places that people
disdain.
Thus it is like the Tao

(chap.8).
WU-WEI
 “Nothing
in the world
 Is as soft and yielding as water:
 Yet for dissolving he hard and inflexible,
 Nothing can surpass it.
 The
soft overcomes the hard;
 The gentle overcomes the rigid.
 Everyone knows this is true,
 But few can put it into practice.
(Tao Te Ching, chap.78)
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3. SPONTANEITY
=>Follow the flow,
be natural and spontaneous.
 Take water as your teacher.

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=> “Let go!”
=> “Do nothing and nothing will be left undone”
To experience the Tao, one must let go and pursue the path of noninterference (wu-wei).The best teacher is the example of water that
flows with the natural forces and circumstances yet can overcome all
obstacles.
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4. SIMPLICITY AND HUMILITY

Be humble, and you will remain entire.
Be bent, and you will remain straight.
Be empty, and you will remain full...
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=> “The secret of the good life
is to stop trying to control
the world around you.”
5. ON THE FOLLY OF RULES AND REGULATIONS
 Do away with learning, and grief will not be known.
 Do away with benevolence and eject righteousness,
And the people will return to filial duty and parental love.
(Tao Te Ching, chap. 19)
=> Taoist felt that the Confucians harmed society through the imposing
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of rules and artificial practices that interfered with humanity’s natural
inclinations.
Its political message was to return to primal simplicity,
with the state interfering as little as possible with the lives of the
people.
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6. ON WISDOM

A. Do away with sageness and eject wisdom,
And the people will be more benefited a hundred times.
 B.The
sage does not display himself;
therefore he shines
 He does not approve himself;
therefore he is noted.
 He does not praise himself;
therefore he has merit.
 He does not glory in himself;
 therefore he excels."
7. “The Best Soldier is not Soldierly.”
 The best fighter is not ferocious;
 The best conqueror does not take part in war;
 The best employer of men keeps himself below them."
8. ON GLOBAL LEADERSHIP
“Because of not daring to be ahead of the world,
one becomes the leader of the world.”
9. The art of government

A good government does not impose preconceived
pattern on people's lives, does not meddle in people's
affairs, or interfere with their activities, but will seek only
to prevent harm from being done and will allow each to
prosper and flourish in his own way.

A leader is best
When people barely know that he exists.
Of a good leader, who talks little,
When his work is done, his aim fulfilled,
They will say, “We did this ourselves.”
(chap. 17)

In ruling men the sage serves Heaven, therefore he must
rule with moderation and kindness
The government should be like the Tao :
It must seek the people's good, not its own.

ART OF GOOD GOVERNMENT
 "Govern
a great State
as you would cook a small fish.”
 “In ruling men and in serving heaven,
the sage uses only moderation.”
(Taoist teaching)

The best government is the one that
governs least.
“The more laws and regulations are given, the
more robbers and thieves there are.” (chap. 57)
 “When the government is blunt and inactive, the
people will be happy and prosperous.” (chap.58)
 “The people are hard to rule because their
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officials meddle with affairs, therefore they are
hard to rule.” (chap. 75)
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"The people starve because their officials take heavy taxes from
them, therefore they starve.
10. Pacifism
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Taoism is radically averse to violence and
militarism.
In China the scholar ranked at the top of the social
scale, and Taoism is responsible for placing the
soldier at the bottom.

For Taoism,
“the way for a vital person to go
is not the way of a soldier.”

Lao-Tzu taught that
“Only one who recognizes all people
as members of his or his own body
is qualified to guard them…
Heaven arms with compassion
those whom she would not see destroyed.”

“One who would guide a leader of men

in the uses of life
will warn him against
the use of arms for conquest.
Even the finest arms are an instrument of evil:
an army’s harvest is a waste of thorns.”
(Tao Te Ching, chap. 30)
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 “Weapons
are the tools of violence;
 All decent men detest them.
 Weapons are the tool of fear;
 A decent man will avoid them
 Except with the utmost restraint…
 Peace
is the highest value…
 He enters a battle gravely,
 With sorrow and with great
compassion,
 As if he were attending a funeral.”
(Tao Te Ching, chap. 31).
TAOIST IDEAL PERSONHOOD
The Man of Dao
 Is different from other humans
 Is deeply humane
 Is guided by
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1. Love
2. Deep Wisdom
3. Simplicity, humility (no big ego)
4. Balance
5. Harmony
6. Patience.
The Ideal Personhood
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The Ideal man
The man of Tao is very different from other men. He
judges things by altogether different standards. He
looks at every event from the perspective of eternity :
The man of Tao clings to the Yin rather than the Yang :
- He knows the masculine and yet keeps to the
feminine,
- Thus he becomes a channel drawing all the world
towards it.
CENTRALITY OF LOVE:
 The perfect man is godlike...
 The man of Tao returns love for great hatred
 I have three treasures. Guard and keep them:
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The first is deep love,
the second is frugality,
and the third is not to dare to be ahead of the world.
To the good I act with goodness
To the bad I also act with goodness
Thus goodness is attained"
"The sage is always a good savior of men
And no man is rejected”
Because of deep love, one is courageous;
because of frugality, one is generous;
because of not daring to be ahead of the world, one becomes the leader of the
world.”
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The best soldier is not soldierly;
The best fighter is not ferocious;
The best conqueror does not take part in war;
The best employer of men
keeps himself below them.
HUMILITY and SIMPLICITY


Following the analogy of water, the Taoists reject
all forms of self-assertiveness and competition.
Their almost reverential attitude toward humility
led the Taoists to honor hunchbacks and cripples
because of the way they typified meekness and
self-effacement.
Humility
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The ax falls first on the tallest tree.
“He who stands on tiptoe
Doesn’t stand firm.
He who rushes ahead
Doesn’t go far:
He who tries to shine
Dims his own light.”
(Tao Te Ching, chap.24)
Be humble,
and you will remain entire.

Be bent,
and you will remain straight.
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Be empty, and you will remain full...
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The sage does not display himself;
therefore he shines.
He does not approve himself;
therefore he is noted.
He does not praise himself;
therefore he has merit.
He does not glory in himself;
therefore he excels.
=======>> fin <<========
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In order to better grasp the Chinese vision of
genuine personhood, we have to look at the two
fundamental indigenous religions of China, Taoism,
and Confucianism, and at their critical notions of
1. Chun-Tzu (in Confucianism)
2. The Man of Dao (in Taoism)
3. Yin-Yang

The nature of a Chun-Tzu or that of the Man of Tao
is better defined by the Chinese conception of an
“ideal society” and its notion of the ultimate reality
defined by


1. Tien and Tao
2. Yin-Yang
 1. Simplicity,
 2.
Balance
 3. Harmony
 4. No “big ego,”
 5. Patience.
 6. Humanness
10. Love and humaneness

I have three treasures. Guard and keep them:
The first is deep love,
 the second is frugality,
 and the third is not to dare to be ahead of the world.

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Because of deep love, one is courageous;
because of frugality, one is generous;
because of not daring to be ahead of the world, one
becomes the leader of the world.”
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- Wisdom religions
- way of life for the scholarly and governing class
- A religious conception of Government
- Harmony between Man, nature and Heaven
*Taoism focuses the attention on cosmic nature
Confucianism focuses on human nature
A LESSON IN APOPHATIC THEOLOGY
(Against Anthropomorphism, and Civic Religion)



“God is Ineffable”
“The Tao that can be expressed
is not the Eternal Tao”
(Tao Te Ching)
Major Characteristics of Chinese Religions:
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1. Martial Art of the Spirit of Tao (Wu WEI)
2. YIN-YANG (and the Quest for Balance)
3. The concept of T’IEN and Sage King
- T'ien (Sky or Heaven)
 - T'ien Ming (the mandate of Heaven)

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4. Belief in the interconnectedness
of everybody and everything.
5. Ancestor Veneration
6. Divination
T'ien Ming (the mandate of Heaven)
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Chinese culture maintains that a person is good
when his heart follows “the way of Heaven.”
Likewise Chinese believe that when a government
becomes morally corrupt, it looses the support of
T'ien and the legitimacy to rule. The ruler rules only
by the will of God and God gives his mandate only
to the just, or the sage king.
Fundamental Spirit of Chinese Religions:
 1. Simplicity,
 2. Search for Balance
 3. Search for Harmony
 4. No “big ego,”
 5. Patience, “slow down.”
Yin
Yang
YIN-YANG DOCTRINE
 “Yin-Yang” worldview is central to
both Taoism and Confucianism,
 and constitutes the soul of the
Chinese character.
 Drawn from an ancient tradition, this
doctrine was formulated during the 4th
century B.C. in the form now known to
us.

According to this elaboration the doctrine of YinYang is the view that everything in the universe
is composed of two different but complementary
cosmic forces.
 As
the Chinese symbol shows Yang and Yin
interpenetrate one another.
 Yang represents
a hillside illuminated by
the sun,
 while the character for Yin is the hillside in
the shade.
“Yin-Yang” is the doctrine of
“the harmony of opposites”:

YANG is male, bright, warm, active, positive.
It is embodied in the sky, summer, the sun, day.
 The Yang principle is the male side of reality.
It is central in all those things that are hot, dry, bright, or
active.
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YIN is
- female,
 shady or misty,
 cool, passive,
 negative.
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It is embodied in the earth, winter, the moon, night.
The Yin principle is the female side of reality.
It expresses itself in things that are dark, cool, and moist.
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Yang is born at the winter solstice,
and waxes until it reaches its apogee at the summer
solstice.
Yin is born at the summer solstice,
and waxes until it reaches its apogee at the winter solstice.
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It is not that one of these forces is bad and the
other good.
Neither is superior to the other, and neither is
better than the other.
Both are essential and indispensable.
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Both forces are necessary and are present in
everything that exists.
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All objects in the universe, including male and
female human beings, are made up of both.
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Evil results from an imbalance between them.
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Each of us is an ever moving blend of Yin-Yang. The
interaction extends beyond this world.
Even heaven and earth are linked together:
heaven is Yang and earth is Yin,
and the two are inseparable.
Yin-Yang is everything,
 Yin-Yang is in everything.
Even the Tao is both male and female, according to Lao-Tzu.
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I. The four Religious Traditions of China
Chinese culture is marked by four main religious traditions:
1. The traditional folk religion
2. Taoism
3.Confucianism (had state patronnage)
4. Buddhism
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
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Taoism, along with Confucianism, is one of the two major indigenous
religio-philosophical traditions that have shaped Chinese life for more
than 2,000 years.
Taoist philosophy and religion have found their way into all Asian
cultures influenced by China, especially those of Japan, Korea and
Vietnam.
Buddhism is the third important tradition that influenced China.

Taoism and Confucianism

- There is a tendency among scholars today to draw a less rigid line between
what is called Taoist and what is called Confucian. The two traditions share
many of the same ideas about man, society, the ruler, Heaven, and the
universe - ideas that were not created by either school but that stem from a
tradition prior to either Confucius or Lao-Tzu. Circling around each other like
yin and yang themselves, Taoism and Confucianism represent the two
indigenous poles of the Chinese character. Confucius represents the
classical, Lao-Tzu the romantic.

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KEY CONCEPTS OF CHINESE RELIGIONS
1. TIEN
2. TAO
3. YIN-YANG
Ten Major Characteristics of Chinese Religions:


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1. Belief in “the Path of Heaven”
2. Belief in Divination, Exorcism, Magical
Power.
3. Veneration of the Ancestors
4. Quest for Harmony and Balance
 5. Belief in the interconnectedness
 of everybody and everything.
 6. “Following the Flow”:
Trust in the virtues of “ naturalness, ”
“ simplicity ” and “ Patience. ”
( “ slow
down,” if you want to achieve happiness).

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7. Rejection of “Big-Ego.”
(trust in the virtue of simplicity)
8. Belief that true Strength resides in “Weakness.”
9. Focus on the value of “Education.”
10. Belief in the need for Ethics in Government. (The
Mandate of Heaven).
Ten key Concepts of Chinese
Religions
 1.
TIEN
 2. TAO
 3. YIN-YANG
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4. CHUN-TZU (the Princely or Noble man) :
5. Ren or Jen (good heart)
6. WEN
7. WU-WEI
8. LI (good manner toward others)
9. TE
10. HSIAO
Seven Major Doctrines
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1. The Ultimate Reality (TIEN and TAO)
2. “Yin-Yang” and the Doctrine of Five
Elements
3. Doctrine of the Mean
4. Doctrine of “Five Relationships.”
5. The Art of Good Government.

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6. Attitude toward Material Goods
7. Genuine Personhood:




-
Shun-Tzu and the Man of Tao,
The Destiny of Man
The rectification of names
(The Five Relationships)
THE TAO (DAO)

TAO = THE WAY

- T'ien (Sky or Heaven)
- T'ien Ming (the mandate of Heaven)

Tao =
=
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the way of Heaven
the way of the universe
The path of men (Ren Tao)
must follow
the path of Heaven (T'ien Tao)
To follow the Tao means
to be in harmony
 with the ancestors and the spirits,
 with the forces of yin and yang and the five
elements.
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4.CHUN-TZU (the Princely or Noble man) :
5. Ren or Jen (good heart)
6. WEN
7. WU-WEI
8. LI (good manner toward others)
9. TE
10. HSIAO
The Importance of Religion
Today.

“The twenty-first century is witnessing
a resurgence and globalization of
religion. Around the world, religion has
become an increasingly more
important and pervasive force in
personal and public life, and faith and
politics now play a powerful role in
international affairs.”
(John L. Esposito, Darrell J. Fasching, Todd Lewis, World Religions Today.
New York: Oxford University Press, 2002).
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1.One God, many Gods, No God
2. Patriarchal and non Patriarchal
3. A divine model based on a human family:

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Trinity
Gods and Goddesses
The Divine Paradox:
Immanence
GOD ad extra,and
ad nosTranscendence
GOD in se

DEUS
SAGUNA Brahman
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IMMANENCE
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GOD OF Abraham
Isaac and Jacob,
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Deus ex Machina
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The Husband of the Widow
The Father of the Orphan
DEITAS
NIRGUNA Brahman
TRANSCENDENCE
GOD OF The Philosophers
Deus Otiosus
APOPHATIC THEOLOGY
(Against Anthropomorphism, and Civic Religion)

“God is Ineffable”
 “The Tao that can be expressed
is not the Eternal Tao”
(Tao Te Ching)

THE RELIGIOUS WORLD
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METEMPIRICAL WORLD
METAPHYSICAL WORLD
THE WORLD OF THE INVISIBLE
THE SUPERNATURAL REALM
THE WORLD OF THE TRANSCENDENT
THE “BEYOND” (life after death)
The Sacred Space
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1. Sacred Space/Places
2. Sacred Time
3. Sacred Beings
4. Sacred Body Parts
5. Sacred Attitude, Behavior
6. Sacred food,drink
7. Sacred Clothes
8. Sacred Objects
9. Sacred Art, Music, Dance
10.Sacred Language
SACRED SPACE AND PLACES
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Churches, the Holy of Holies,
Snakes, Animals, Birds, …
plants, mountains, rivers, lakes,…
Crossroads
The Religious Universe
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Supranatural beings:
-
God,
Goddesses,
devil,
spirits,
ancestors,
saints.
1. THE CONCEPT OF GOD
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1.THE ABSOLUTE
2.THE TRANSCENDENT
3.THE SUPRANATURAL BEING
4.THE ULTIMATE REALITY
5.PROVIDENCE
6.DIVINITY
7.DEITY
8.SUPREME BEING
9.THE CREATOR
10.THE GROUND OF BEING
THE CONCEPT OF GOD
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11. THE GREAT SPIRIT
12. THE INFINITE
13.THE ALPHA AND OMEGA
14.THE INVISIBLE
SOME NAMES FOR GOD








1. GOD, GOTT, DIEU, DIO, DIOS,..
2. YAHWEH, EL, ELOHIM,ADONAI,
SHEKINAH,
3. ALLAH
4.T’IEN (China)
5. KAMI (Japan)
6. BRAHMAN (India)
4.WAKAN-TANKA
5. AMMA, LEZA, VIDYE MUKULU,
UNKULUNKULU

“What does it mean to have a God, or :What is God? A God is that from
which we should expect every good and to whom we should have recourse
in every distress... That to which you attach your heart and on which you rely
is in fact your God.” (Martin Luther in his Grosser Katechismus).
1. the Alpha and omega of human’s
existence and all life in the world;
the source and end of all existence,
the origin and goal of our life.
 2. the Ultimate Reality.



3. the ungrounded ground
of all reality that sustains
and moves everything.
4. the Supreme Good in which
all finite goods participate, and which
is the ground of all these goods.

5. the Ultimate End
that directs and orders all things.

6. The Ultimate Meaning
of human existence.

God is






the Supreme, the Ultimate,
the Absolute reality,
Source and Goal of all existence,
Alpha and Omega.
The Supreme Good, Happiness,
Eternal Peace and Rest.

-God is “id quo maius cogitari nequit”
“That than which nothing greater can be
thought,” that which is greater than
anything that can be thought.
(Saint Anselm of Canterbury).
“God is what concerns us ultimately”
(Paul Tillich).
“God is ‘the’ reality determining all else”

(R. Bultmann)


“God is the holy mystery
 which is the term and origin of man
 and which is present in loving freedom
 as that which is nameless

and which is not at our disposal, and at whose disposal we exist”
 (Karl Rahner)

“God is the holy mystery
 which is the term and origin of man
 and which is present in loving freedom
 as that which is nameless
 and which is not at our disposal,


and at whose disposal we exist”
(Karl Rahner)
JESUS-CHRIST








27 different titles given to Jesus in the New Testament:
The Christ, The Anointed One, the Messiah
The Savior (“Soter”)
The Son of God
The Son of David
The Son of Man
The Good Shepherd
The Light of the World
JESUS-CHRIST


The image of the invisible God
The First Born of all Creation

“ The full story of religion is not rose-colored;
often it is crude. Wisdom and charity are
intermittent, and the net result is profoundly
ambiguous.
A balanced view of religion would include human
sacrifice and scapegoating, fanaticism and
persecution, the Christian Crusades and the holy
wars of Islam. It would include witch hunts in
Massachusetts, monkey trials in Tennessee, and
snake worship in the Ozarks. The list would have
no end.”
(Huston Smith, The World’s Religions.
HarperSanFrancisco, 1991; p.4)
OBSTACLES TO
GENUINE RELIGIOSITY





1. PHILAUTIA (Michel Foucault)
2. ETHNOCENTRISM
3. PATRIOTISM, NATIONALISM
4. COLONIALISM, IMPERIALISM
5. MILITARISM and MACHIAVELLIANISM





6. SEXISM
7. ANTISEMITISM AND RACISM
8. SOCIAL DARWINISM
(EVOLUTIONISM)
9. THEOLOGIES OF ELECTION
10. EXTRA ECCLESIAM NULLA SALUS
RELIGION, MACHIAVELLIANISM AND
PATRIOTISM


1. THEOLOGY OF ELECTION
(Ideology of Chosen People)
Supreme Madness
2. EXTRA ECCLESIAM NULLA SALUS
GOOD CHARACTER IS THE
ESSENCE OF RELIGION
Iwà Lesin
(Good Character is the essence of
Religion)
Yoruba, African Traditional Religion
Epistemological Foundation:
Our Methodology

In order to better understand the nature of
Religion and its role in our world, we shall use a
method which is
* Interdisciplinary

* Intercultural



(Multicultural rather than Ethnocentric)
* Holistic.
KEY METHODS USED
1. PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
 2. SOCIOLOGY OF RELIGION
 3. POST-MODERNISM
Deconstructing Power and Hegemony
< Avoir-Pouvoir-Savoir >
 4. Post-colonial Epistemology

Decolonization of knowledge about God, Religion, and People’s history.
Challenging Animism, Paganism, Primitivism

5. Feminist Paradigm
Deconstructing the lies of Phallocratic Theology, and Patriarchy.

Philosophy of Religion








-Biblical Foundation of Critical Thinking (p.73)
-Philosophy (p.75)
-Allegory of the Cave (pp.76-77)
-Apology of Socrates (pp.78-80)
-Voltaire the Laughing Philosopher (pp.81-82)
-“What is Enlightenment” (Kant, pp.83-87)
-Michel Foucault (p.88)
-Francis Bacon (p.90)
Sociology and Philosophy of Religion
Religion, Hegemony, and economic domination.
Sexism, Colonialism, and Imperialism.






-Mudimbe, Eboussi, Balasuriya
(pp.7-8; 101-106),
-Martin Luther King, Cheikh Anta Diop (p.135)
-Theology of conquest (p.152)
-Weber, Conrad, Achebe, Marx (pp.4-8)
-Machiavellianism (p.95).
-Patriotism (p.97).



Religion is not an isolated thing flying in a
spiritual vacuum.
It is rather the faith of concrete human beings
whose existence is rooted in a complex web of
cultural, spiritual, intellectual, economic, and
political situations.
Believers are citizen of Heaven and Citizen of
Earthly Nations.


TEXT AND CONTEXT
Every Spiritual Text is grounded in a social,
economic, and political Context.


THUS RELIGION HAS TO BE APPROACHED
FROM SEVERAL ANGLES.
Only then can we grasp its tremendous power in
shaping people’s attitude toward cultural,
political, and economic institutions or ideologies.



There is more to Religion than Religion, than a
direct relationship with the Transcendent.
Religion is more than the simple Love of God.
Religion is a totalizing way of being in the world,
a general way of feeling and understanding who
we are and our place and role in the World.







See the Definitions by
1. Clifford Geertz
2. Emile Durkheim
3. Max Weber
4. Karl Marx
5. Jung and Freud
6. Leonard Swidler

ETYMOLOGY
RELIGERE
>= TO LINK
RELIGARE

RELIGION IS A RECIPROCAL CONNECTION
(RELATIONSHIP) WITH THE TRANSCENDENT.

Orthodoxy + Orthopraxis
(Knowledge + Behavior)
RELIGION is
 - The EXPLANATION of
 - the ULTIMATE MEANING OF LIFE,
 - Based on the notion of the

TRANSCENDENT,
 - And how to LIVE ACCORDINGLY.
Orthodoxy + Orthopraxis
(Knowledge + Behavior)
Worldview + Program for Action
Religion is a system of symbols and worldview
that is powerful in establishing long lasting
moods and motivation in people.
Religion is the self-consciousness and Selfesteem of people.
Religion is
the general theory of this world, the conception
of a general order of existence
The encyclopedic compendium of our
knowledge about the world,
The logic of the world in popular form.







Religion is
The world’s enthusiasm
The world’s moral sanction,
The world’s basis of consolation and justification.
The heart of heartless world
The soul of soulless conditions.
It provides hope and psychological tranquility and
reassurance. (see Achebe, Weber)
When a man who is happy compares his position with
that of one who is unhappy, he is not content with
the fact of his happiness, but desires something
more, namely the right to this happiness, the
consciousness that he has earned his good fortune,
in contrast to the unfortunate one who must equally
have earned his misfortune.
Max Weber, The Sociology of Religion.
(Boston: Beacon Press, 1993).
Our everyday experience proves that there
exists just such a psychological need for
reassurance as to the legitimacy or
deservedness of one’s happiness, whether this
involves political success, superior economic
status,… or anything else. What the privileged
classes require of religion, if anything at all, is
this psychological reassurance of legitimacy.

Max Weber, The Sociology of Religion. (Boston: Beacon Press, 1993).
Chinua Achebe:

“Colonization may indeed be a very complex affair, but one thing is certain: You do
not walk in, seize the land, the person, the history of another, and then sit back and
compose hymns of praise in his honor. To do that would amount to calling yourself a
bandit. So what do you do? You construct very elaborate excuses for your action. You
say, for instance, that the man in question is worthless and quite unfit to manage
himself and his affairs…
Chinua Achebe in African Commentary, vol.1, n0.2, Nov.1989.

If there are valuable things like gold or diamonds which you are
carting away from his territory, you proceed to prove that he
doesn’t own them in the real sense of the word – that he and they
just happened to be lying around the same place when you
arrived. Finally, if worse comes to the worst, you will be
prepared to question whether such as he can be, like you, fully
human.”
Chinua Achebe in African Commentary,
vol.1, n0.2, Nov.1989.



The conquest of the earth, which mostly means the taking it away from
those who have a different complexion or slightly flatter noses than
ourselves, is not a pretty thing when you look into it too much. What
redeems it is the idea only. An idea at the back of it; not a sentimental
pretence but an idea; and an unselfish belief in the idea-something you
can set up, and bow down before, and offer a sacrifice to.
Conrad, Joseph, Heart of Darkness, in Adler, Mortimer J., ed., Imaginative Literature.
Great Books of the Western World (Chicago, London: Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc., 1994); p.137
4.THE HUMAN PREDICAMENT


1. SIN, EVIL
2. SUFFERING (DUKKHA),
THE LACK OF PEACE OF MIND
 3.
MORTALITY
 Solution: Salvation, Redemption,
Nirvana, Enlightenment,
Liberation from Samsara.
WORSHIP: MEN’S RESPONSE
TO THE CREATOR






1. TALKING TO GOD
2. PRAISING GOD
3. GIVING THINGS TO GOD
4. GIVING MYSELF TO GOD
5. GIVING MYSELF TO GOD
by giving myself to my Neighbor
THE BUSINESS OF WORSHIP






1. PRAYER
- SONGS, DANCE, TRANCE, TEARS.
- INVOCATIONS
- PRAISING GOD’S NAME
- DEMANDS for Health, Posterity and Prosperity; and
curse for the enemies.
- Meditating and reading Sacred Texts
The Business of Worship



2. SACRIFICES
- BURNING ANIMALS, BIRDS, …
- PERSONAL SACRIFICE: FASTING
(Giving up food, drink, sleep, time, leisure and sexual
activities; modesty of eyes …)
TRUE
WORSHIP
SPIRITUAL WORSHIP: JUSTICE
“I abhor the pride of Jacob, I hate his castels…
I hate, I spurn your feasts,
I take no pleasure in your solemnities;
Your cereal offerings I will not accept,
Nor consider your stall-fed peace offerings.
Away with your noisy songs!
I will not listen to the melodies of your harps…
Let justice surge like water, and goodness like an
unfailing stream.
(Amos 5,21-24; 6,8)
Spiritual Worship (Isaiah 58, 2-7):
“Like a nation that has done what is just and not
abandoned the law of their God; they ask:
Why do we fast, and you do not see it?
Affict ourselves, and you take no note of it?
Lo, on your fast day you carry out your own
pursuits, and drive all your labourers.







Yes, your fast ends in quarrelling and fighting, striking
with wicked claw.
Would that today you might fast so as to make your voice
heard on high!
Is this the manner of fasting I wish,
Of keeping a day of penance:
that a man bow his head like a reed,
and lie in sackcloth and ashes?
Do you call this a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord?
This rather, is the fasting that I wish:
Releasing those bound unjustly,
Untying the thongs of the yoke;
Setting free the oppressed,
Breaking every yoke;
Sharing your bread with the hungry,
Sheltering the oppressed and the homeless;
Clothing the naked when you see them, and not turning your
back on your own.”
(Isaiah 58,2-7)





Spiritual Worship (Isaiah 65,1-7)
I was ready to respond to those who asked me not, to be
found by those who sought me not.
I said: Here I am! Here I am! To a nation that did not call
upon my name.
I have stretched out my hands all the day to a rebellious
people,
Who walk in evil paths and follow their own thoughts…




People who provoke me continually, to my face, offering
sacrifices in the groves and burning incense on bricks,
Living among the graves and spending the night in
caverns, Eating swine’s flesh, with carrion broth in their
dishes,
Crying out, “Hold back, do not touch me; I am too sacred
for your!”
These things enkindle my wrath, a fire that burns all the
day…





Lo, before me it stands written;
I will not be quiet until I have paid in full
Your crimes and the crimes of your fathers as
well, says the Lord.
Since they burned incense on the mountains, and
disgraced me on the hills, I will at once pour out
in full measure their recompense into their laps.”
(Isaiah 65, 1-6)

3. SPIRITUAL WORSHIP:

“In praying do not babble like the pagans,
who think that they will be heard because
of their many words. Do not be like them.
Your Father knows what you need before
you ask him.”
(Matthew 6, 7-8)
THE BUSINESS OF WORSHIP

SPIRITUAL WORSHIP
“When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites,
who love to stand and pray in synagogues and on
street corners so that others may see them…When
you pray, go to your room, close the door, and
pray to your Father in secret. And your Father
who sees in secret will repay you.”
(Matthew 6, 5-6)
EXPECTED OUTCOMES OF
According toSTUDIES
the Mission of Cal State
RELIGIOUS
Northridge, the goal of Religious Studies
is to train students
1. to know Religious Texts and to know
the problems and methods pertaining
to the interpretation of Sacred texts;
2. to think both empathetically and
critically about conflicting religious
claims;
3. to acquire knowledge about various
religious traditions;
4. to familiarize themselves with the
application of intercultural methods to
religious inquiry and analysis;
5. to understand the significant role
played by religion in our society.
THE GUIDING PERSPECTIVE OF OUR COURSE
THE GUIDING PERSPECTIVE OF OUR COURSE
UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS
(United Nations, 1948)
Article 2:
Everyone is entitled to all the rights
and freedoms set forth in this
Declaration, without distinction of
any kind, such as race, colour, sex,
language, religion, political or other
opinion, national or social origin,
property, birth or other status…
HUMAN RIGHTS AND FREEDOM
OF RELIGION
UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS
(United Nations, 1948)
Article 18:
Everyone has the right to freedom
of thought, conscience and religion;
this right includes freedom to
change his religion or belief, and
freedom, either alone or in
community with others and in public
or private, to manifest his religion or
belief in teaching, practice, worship
and observance.
THE GUIDING PERSPECTIVE OF OUR COURSE
“Dein Christus ein Jude
Dein Auto ein Japaner
Deine Pizza italienisch
Deine Demokratie griechisch
Dein Kaffee brasilianisch
Dein Urlaub türkisch
Deine Zahlen arabisch
Deine Schrift lateinisch
Und Dein Nachbar nur ein Ausländer?”
THE GUIDING PERSPECTIVE OF OUR COURSE
“It is a fundamental human
right, a privilege of nature,
that all human beings should
worship according to their
own convictions; one human
person’s religion neither harms
nor helps another. It is not
proper to force religions. It
must be taken freely, not
under pressure.”
(Tertullian, Church Father, in his A.D. 212 appeal
to the Roman Proconsul Scapula)
THE GUIDING PERSPECTIVE OF OUR COURSE
3. “No peace among the nations
without peace among the religions.
No peace among religions without
dialogue between the religions.
No genuine dialogue among religions
without an accurate knowledge of
one another.”
(Hans Kung)
THE GUIDING PERSPECTIVE OF OUR COURSE
4. “He who knows one, knows none.”
(Max Müller)
5. “It is not morally possible actually to go
out into the w orld and s ay to de vout,
intelligent, fellow human beings:
‘We are saved and you are damned’;
or, ‘We believe that we know God, and we
are ri ght; you believe that you know God,
and you are totally wrong.’”
Huston Smith, The Faith of Other Men
(New York: Harper Torchbooks, 1972); pp.130-31.
THE GUIDING PERSPECTIVE OF OUR COURSE
- “Gloria Dei Vivens Homo”
(Saint Ireneus)
- “Today more than ever, indeed,
the
bearing
witness
to
the
Gospel in a credible way is only
possible by commitment to the
rights of man.”
(Walter Kasper, theologian, 1988)
THE GUIDING PERSPECTIVE OF OUR COURSE
6. “In reality, there are no religions
which are false. All are true in their
own fashion; all answer, though in
different ways, to
the given
conditions of human existence. They
respond to the same needs, they play
the same role, they depend upon the
same causes. All are religions
equally, just as all living beings are
equally alive, from the most humble
plastids up to man.”
(Emile Durkheim)
THE GUIDING -PERSPECTIVE
OUR COURSE
“Difference ofOFopinion
within my
community is a sign of the bounty of
Allah.” (The Prophet Muhammad)
- “Let there be no
religion” (Koran 2:257)
compulsion
in
- “To everyone have We given a law and
a way… And if God had pleased, he
would have made (all humankind) one
people (people of one religion). But he
hath done otherwise, that he might try
you in that which He hath severally
given unto you: wherefore press
forward in good works. Unto God shall
ye return, and He will tell you that
concerning which ye disagree.”
(Koran 5: 48).
GUIDING PERSPECTIVE
“The study of religion
is now of much m o r e
urgent
usefulness
in
the politics
of t o d a y
than are economics o r
sociology "
(Mircea Eliade)
THE GUIDING PERSPECTIVE OF OUR COURSE
“Gloria Dei
Vivens Homo”
THE GLORY OF GOD
IS MAN FULLY ALIVE
(Saint Ireneus)
THE GUIDING PERSPECTIVE OF OUR COURSE
THE GUIDING PERSPECTIVE OF OUR COURSE
“The deeper the probings of
modern
scholarship,
the
more we realize that ‘the
history of humankind is a
single great river into which
a myriad tributaries flow.”
(Basil Davidson, The Search for Africa: History, culture,
politics. New York: Times Books,1994); p.19.
THE GUIDING PERSPECTIVE OF OUR COURSE
1. “The Unexamined Life is not worth living”
(Socrates)
“The Unexamined Religion is not worth believing.”
2. “What is most thought provoking
in our thought-provoking time
is that we are still not thinking.
We are still not thinking,
although the state of the world is becoming
constantly more thought-provoking.”
(Martin Heidegger, Was Heisst Denken?)
VIA SOCRATICA - VIA CHRISTI
VIA SOCRATICA-VIA CHRISTI
II. Major forms of Pseudo-Religiosity
The pseudo-religiosity of the “experts of religious
matters” was well articulated by the ancient
Rabbis of t he Talmud who classified the
Pharisees in 7 categories which illustre well the
false conception of Religiosity:
1. T h e
“shoulder
Pharisee”:
Hypocritical, he
ostensibly
carries his good deeds on the
shoulder in order to impress
others.
2. The “Wait-a-While Pharisee”:
When someone needs help from
him, he says “wait until I finish
talking to God, or performing
rituals.”
VIA SOCRATICA - VIA CHRISTI
II. Major forms of Pseudo-Religiosity
3. The “Reckoning” or
“Book-keeping Pharisee”:
He calculates virtue against vice.
He sins deliberately and then
attempt to cross off the fault by
adding a good deed to his list.
4. The “Bruised Pharisee” :
He breaks his head against a wall to
avoid looking at a woman or is so
ostentatious in his “humility’ that he
keeps shuffling his feet together and
wounding them in order to fight
temptations. And yet his mind is full
of lust and other evil thoughts.
VIA SOCRATICA - VIA CHRISTI
II. Major forms of Pseudo-Religiosity
5. The “Pestle Pharisee”:
He bends his head in sham humility
like a pestle in a mortar.
6. The “God-fearing Pharisee”:
His faith is guided not by love for
God, but rather by fear of
punishment.
VIA SOCRATICA - VIA CHRISTI
II. Major forms of Pseudo-Religiosity
The “Pharisee of love”:
This is the only authentic believer.
The fundamental lesson here is that
false “self-confidence” or “selfrighteousness”
and
hypocrisy
prevent people from discovering true
holiness and living a true faith. Only
love is the core of any genuine
religious attitude, and the ultimate
mark of the authenticity and
credibility of faith.
LOVE THE ESSENCE OF GENUINE RELIGION
GOD IS LOVE
“Beloved, let us love one another;
because love is from God; everyone
who loves is born of God and knows
God. Who ever does not love does not
know God, for God is love”
(1 John 4, 7-8)
“Those who say, ‘I love God,’ and
hate their brothers and sisters, are
liars; for those who do not love a
brother or sister who they have seen,
cannot love God who they have not
seen. The commandment we have
from him is this: those who love God
must love their brothers and sisters
also.”
(1John 4,20-21)
-
LOVE IS THE ESSENCE OF A GENUINE FAITH
LOVE IS THE ESSENCE OF GENUINE SPIRITUALITY