Why Study Religions?

Dr. Rey,

Why study religions? I mean we are in an advanced civilization where we don't need to look to the "stars" or consult some superstition or old belief system. we have science and logic to fill in the gaps right?


-Anonymous

Anonymous,

Thank you for presenting such a complex question! I am, quite frequently,  asked why it's important to study and/or analyze belief systems and my answer is always tailored to the inquirer so that my perspective will be better understood - quite obviously, this medium forces me into a slightly more creative position than I'm accustomed to, but I'll try to condense my usually elaborate answer into a more concise and direct response to your inquiry by posing a rather poignant question to you: What aspect of human life is not impacted by some belief system in one way or another? To take this point further, I would also have to ask whether or not any human being has ever lived who was not, in some way or another, impacted by the belief system that either they or someone else ascribed to?  Consider acts of compassion or hatred, kindness or terrorism, civility or discord; what should reveal itself rather quickly (once one turns their attention to the subject of motive) is a directive supported by the Canon, Clergy or Creed of some belief system or another. This sort of an understanding should yield far reaching consequences for multiple academic disciplines like History, Psychology, Sociology, Anthropology, Archaeology, Linguistics, Legal Studies, Political Science,  Economics, Biology and many, many more. To understand Religion is to understand Humanity - the two, up to this point in human history, are inseparable. While logic and science are exceptional tools for us to utilize in our ongoing effort to better understand ourselves as well as the universe that we find ourselves in, they will never be fully capable of answering the questions that some humans tend to ask and they will also never be fully capable of satisfying the desire some humans have for simply accepting the supposedly unknown or unknowable. 


I hope this answers your question and I look forward to hearing from you again!