Fundamentals of Religion

fundamentals of religion

Every society on earth, for all history, has practiced religion. Secularists from East to West wish it were not so, as secularists always have. From Voltaire to Richard Dawkins, some men wish religion would go away. And yet it does not. Keep reading to learn the fundamentals of religion.

By Mark D. Harris, MD, MPH, MBA, MDiv, ThM, PhD, DBA

My doctoral dissertation for my PhD in world religions compared the militancy of Buddhism, Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, and Islam. The research demonstrated a moderate direct effect but large indirect effect of religion on militancy. Far more than just promoting or discouraging militancy, however, religion impacts every part of our lives. Religion impacts the lives even of those who deny having a religion. Knowing the fundamentals of religion, as well as the specifics of each one, explain much about the world we live in.

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Old Religious Movements

A compendium of book reviews on common texts in Animism, Native American religion, African religion, and others. 

By Mark D. Harris

Man is and has always been incurably religious, much to the chagrin of the secularists, atheists, materialists, and naturalists who wish religion would go away. Many of these skeptics cannot understand why people in the 21st century still believe in these “fairy tales”, while religious believers cannot understand why people don’t believe in these “eternal truths”.

The MD Harris Institute has sections on Islam, the Religions of India, Buddhism, New Religious Movements, and other topics. However there are important religious movements not included. Animism, the ancient belief that everything has a spiritual essence that must be addressed, underlies all ancient tribal religions and is a large part of the practice of many major religions such as Christianity and Islam. Ancient mythologies such as Greek, Roman, Norse, Egyptian, and Sumerian, played an important role in history.

This section will include information on religious movements not included in other sections. Let us know if you have specific areas that you wish to know about.

Animism

Book Review – Aztec Thought and Culture

Book Review – The Portable North American Indian Reader

Book Review – The Religions of Oceania

book-review-understanding-folk-religions

Book Summary – African Religions and Philosophy