Wednesday, April 15, 1998
Religion should guide behavior
FAITH: Complexity proves God exists, humans must learn to accept
His laws
By Howayda Aly
Most of us remember reading the book, "Lord of the Flies," early
in our school years. Yeah, we all remember a whole bunch of kids
who were stranded on a deserted island. I remember all of that too;
however, what I remember most is something that I think is related
to a central part of our existence. In the book, the kids live out
what is everybody’s dream – a life with no restraints or rules. In
the end, those of us who continued reading were awakened coldly
from our dream (fantasizing about what life would be like if lived
freely, with no authorities, no rules and no restraints). As we all
saw, the conclusion was that order is needed or else chaos
prevails, where chaos is one of the steps leading to destruction of
the self or others.
To me, this book is an analogy, similar in some ways to
religion. In my opinion, religion is the order which provides the
rules and guidelines in order to live a life free of chaos. I’m
using Islam as a reference to help me illustrate my points because
it’s the religion I’m familiar with – not for the sake of raising
one religion above the others – as I feel that all religions
contain universal similarities regarding the basic notions of how
one should live in order to attain eternal bliss and peace.
To those who question the existence of God, I say, simply look
around you. Someone more powerful than the limited human being must
have created the powerful sun, the moon, oceans, trees and stars.
Even the miraculous creation of humans proves something much more
complex than simple "evolution" is at work.
In fact, even aspects associated with evolution contain
complicated and perfected details too elaborate to have just been
created out of randomness alone. Rather, it indicates that a higher
power planned and thought it out. Looking at the physical makeup of
the human being, one is left in awe at the way each single cell
knows exactly what to do as part of an intricate system that,
amazingly, allows one to see, walk, talk, hear and perform many
more wonderful human functions.
"God the most gracious … has created man, taught him speech
(and intelligence). The moon and the sun follow courses (exactly)
computed. And the herbs and the trees … Then which of the favors
of your Lord will ye deny?" (Qur’an: Chapter 55)
Assuming that one believes that God exists, I’ll go on to
discuss the benefits that a religion provides: The rules which
religion offers ensure that individuals have guidelines to ease the
process of living with others in this global community. Religion
helps individuals live a harmonious, peaceful life. From religion,
we garner ideas such as the fact that murder is wrong. If people
didn’t learn from religion that murder is wrong, then we would all
go on killing each other for every little inconvenience that
someone causes us.
Religion consists of other rules which guide human behavior,
such as the prohibition of drinking alcohol. The prohibition of
drinking alcohol isn’t just rooted in the principles of Islam but
in many other religions as well. People, however, have tended to
ignore that over the years – especially in the American
culture.
Not only has drinking become a social norm among many adults,
but it is a supposed rite of passage among teenagers at the brink
of adulthood.
I have tried really hard to understand what’s so fulfilling
about a person being in a condition where his mental state is
altered, especially when they aren’t sure of their actions while
they are under the influence. I didn’t find the answer, but I did
discover that often people either ended up feeling really sick or
they died as a consequence of drinking.
We don’t need headlines such as "Alcohol a factor in nearly half
of all violent crimes," (Daily Bruin, April 5) to remind us of the
negative outcomes associated with alcohol. We hear it every day in
the news – things ranging from reckless drunk driving to the rape
of someone who is under the influence.
When drinking was prohibited by religion, I am sure it wasn’t
done to make people’s lives harder and less entertaining, but
because the dangerous consequences of drinking were known. Thus,
one can clearly see the connection between how the prohibition of
drinking leads to a more harmonious life among individuals.
Another guideline offered by religion is the prohibition of
premarital sexual intercourse. With premarital intercourse, there’s
fear of sexually transmitted diseases. In monogamous relationships
– which religions stress – where premarital sexual relations are
discouraged, one can be sure of their partners, and all the chaos
and fear regarding HIV and other diseases would be diminished.
When one looks into what religion offers, one can write
endlessly about its benefits. Therefore, one cannot talk about
everything but merely scratch the surface and mention a few points
and leave the rest up to the reader to ponder.
This cannot be too hard because, as higher creatures, we can
think and make a difference in our lives. I realize that hardships
can lie in the fact that there is an infinite number of religions
and cultures, so one cannot expect to be handed the right
answer.
People must do the research for themselves. Hopefully all of us,
having done that, can fulfill our roles as disciplined, refined
creatures to help each other live a harmonious, chaos-free
life.