Religion

TOK Assignment:

Religion

By definition, Religion is a system of human thought which usually includes a set of narratives, symbols, beliefs and practices that give meaning to the practitioner's experiences of life through reference to a higher power, deity or deities, or ultimate truth. It is the devotion to something or someone that a person regards as a supreme being.

There is this saying that "Never discuss religion or politics” as discussions over these two result in a great deal of controversy and heated debate providing no real conclusion except the different perspectives on religion which can cause misunderstandings in relationships. Such topics are avoided, especially religion so as maintain harmony in relationships. Even the language that one uses while talking about one’s own or someone else’s relationship should be appropriate so as to avoid offending others. When one shares their perspective on religion, it releases all kinds of issues that can be dealt with. The religion you follow is a sort of identity especially culturally as it defines you background and heritage. Hence the need for most people to follow religion.

Often when the religion is discussed, heated debates start off. Therefore when you are proving a point, it is necessary to support your belief with an experience in order to present your point more strongly. Religion often depicts emotions depending on the kind of person you are and the beliefs you possess. The religion you follow shows what type of a person you are, what do you believe in and the reason why you believe in it.

According to me God has always existed. I believe in the existence of God, a supreme being above all of us. But religion as most people believe, is the path towards finding God. Practicing religion is done in order to reach that one Supreme entity. It is a way of channelizing your beliefs towards that Supreme entity. People generally tend to believe that religion leads to God but that may not necessarily be the case. These people perform innumerable rituals and customs in order to what they think,“ appeases GOD”. It is a belief that has been fed into us from the very beginning that there is God and he is above all and in order for him to help us or see us, we pray as well as perform all sorts of rituals. It is difficult to question the existence and normally people refrain themselves from doing so.

However there are books and journals written on past occurrences that allow people to believe in God and devote themselves to him but how reliable are these sources? Infact even when ritual or “ havans “ are going, the priest narrates real life stories about the existence of God and how by performing this ritual, one will be able to see God or a miracle will happen.

Therefore religion becomes this fallacy, this sort of thing people follow in order to make that connection with God. Religion becomes the path to meet God. Also religion allows us to reach out to something that may perhaps help us answer our questions. It has become a depending factor, a support system on which people rely on. It is a permit to allow people to perform certain acts and base it on the name of religion. For example most people fast for seven days without knowing the reason as to why they are fasting in the first place. They have no real knowledge as to why a fast is performed. They just follow this custom on the pretext of doing it for God.

There are other people who think that religion is an obligation, whether it is directed towards you family, a person or even the society. Then there are those sections of people who believe that religion is a way of finding God in you. It could be true, as people have experienced God – like miracles. Following religion correctly will help you find the right path to God. There are also those section of people who convert to religion from another one or become religious from holding a non –religious stance. This is possible but conversion occurs when someone find the religion appealing to their emotions. For example Richard Gere converted to Buddhism as he found their ideals common to his thoughts about God.

Now there are different religions all across the world. Sometimes you choose your religion or you follow what your ancestors have followed. For example if you are born a Hindu, you are bound to continue to follow the Hindi customs and rituals. There is rarely any questioning as to why one should be doing this. Also religion helps bring people closer together forming an unshakeable bond. It brings peace and serenity to one’s mind knowing that perhaps there is a force that is watching over them and guiding them in an unknown way. Most people pray in order to get a miracle to happen or when one needs something. Can this be defined as following a religion correctly?

People continue to change their stance and beliefs as they grow and learn more about all religions. Ones perception and opinions continue to, as they grow older. Therefore is a system of faith and which brings about a feeling of absolute dependence. It is a "cultural system" which was dominant for most of the 20th century and continues to be widely accepted today.

Surrogates

Surrogates is a science fiction film. It is based in the future, in the year 2017, where technology has advanced to such an extent that human beings are using these remote – controlled robotic bodies known as “ surrogates”, designed as better – looking versions of their human operators. However humans live in near – total isolation, rarely leaving the safety and comfort of their homes due to these surrogates. Because people are safe all the time, and damage done to a surrogate is not felt by its owner, it is a peaceful world free from fear, pain, and crime. But it is not reality. It’s a fake world controlled by robots devoid of any human emotions.

This movie starts with Agent Tom Greer ( Bruce Willis) who is an FBI agent who, through the use of his own surrogate, investigates the first murder in years: Jarod Canter, a college student and the son of Dr. Lionel Canter (James Cromwell), the original inventor of surrogates, who uses multiple surrogates himself. The case grows more complicated, however, when several police officers are murdered when their surrogates are destroyed, something which is not supposed to happen, as the human operator is normally safe from the damage done to his/her surrogate. This is a movie where science plays with humans. What science meant in the 20^th century is very different from the science in today, in the 21^st century. Science is being wrongly used; it is being abused on the pretext of technological advancement. But what is not being taken into consideration is that science is an area of knowledge, if used wrongly then the consequences can be harsh. This is what is highlighted in the movie.

The technological advancement in the movie is great. A robotic body controlled by a human mind is a futuristic concept. But it is not reality. The emotions of a human being are not taken into consideration. The entire movie is based on the movements of these robots, not their feelings. Therefore the language they speak is solely what the mind of their human being counterpart is thinking. They have no such mind of their own. They are technically brainwashed by their real counterpart. The only language that they speak is what is being told them to do.

What this movie shows is how a defect in the system can lead to such a big problem that human beings are being controlled by their robotic counterparts. It highlights the issue of how one man Agent Greer has to solve this problem. The tagline of the movie is appropriate. It states that “ how do you save humanity when the only thing that’s real is you? How to save humanity is being questioned in the movie. This is a reflection of ethics. Is it ethical to create a robotic masterpiece? Many religious organizations would be against the creation of the ultra powerful robotic counterpart of man. This movie questions the idea of creating a robot in the first place. Is it really necessary? The repercussions are highlighted in the latter part of the movie.

There are two opposing teams in the movie. One is the creator of the surrogates, Dr. Lionel Canter ( the original inventor) and the other the Dreads, a group of humans led by a mysterious man known only as The Prophet (Ving Rhames) who is against the use of surrogates. But what happens is that Jarod is killed and the suspect is a member of the Dreads. The main suspect is Miles Strickland who uses the OD to kill Jarod and the rest of the 5 police officers tracking him. Greer himself barely escapes death by the weapon. Although his surrogate is physically damaged, it is able to pursue Strickland before it is destroyed by the Dreads. Although there are robotic characters present in the first, they are able to convey the emotions of the human counterparts.

Later in the movie we get to know that the original creator of the surrogates was a paraplegic and hence he felt the need to construct a robotic figure in order to fulfill his own demands. Therefore his need for this creation was justified but for the others to abuse such sensitive technology was not right and unethical. Misuse of science was unethical.

Therefore this movie has two different perspectives in it. One is the creator who created for the sake of filling that void he had, due to him being a paraplegic and the other was to advance in science and ultimately abuse this area of knowledge for one’s own advantage putting whole human race in danger.

On the whole this movie is about how mind is clouded by emotion or perception therefore it has a great impact on reason and language. However, without perception, thinking will not take place and thus reasoning will not come into the picture. Thus perception is important. Similarly emotion is important as without it creative thinking and reasoning will not be possible. The creator was driven by emotion whilst creating the surrogate. Without emotions life will be monotonous, which is seen through the surrogates. Emotions serve as a part of the bases for language. Gestures and expressions are done to express emotions and thus convey the message. When Agent Greer and his wife communicate, they did via their surrogates therefore showing lack of emotion. Without emotions, life is redundant. Thus it will be preferable, to reason out a problem without jumping to conclusions however, emotions should not be shunned as they too play an important role in one’s life.

Therefore this movie shows how each emotion, perception , reason and language are interdependent and how they affect the human race. Surrogates starts off with dull lifeless robots driven by reason and language but in the end they are destroyed in order to allow emotion and perceptions to settle back in human race.