Religion In Our Culture

Hope and beliefs are the cornerstone of human self esteem, in order to see yourself as ‘good’ you must be able to see a future for yourself and have a hope that everything is going to turn out good. “Negative self-image and unrealistic expectations create insecurity and failure in life, causing frustration and hopelessness. This hopelessness is the main reason for depression.” (Kaustubh V. Yadav) People are in constant search of this hope and find many ways to believe in themselves or some other power. Religion in our culture is the main source of this hope and belief. This is seen in many ways, the amount of people affiliated with different religions, the government's reliance on religion and the credit that is related to religion in major …show more content…
Religion has always been a part of government and in our western culture it is very prominent. For years the amount of religion in the government is noticeable, from President Donald Trump claiming he is a Christian and then proceeding to verbally attack the Pope, to the laws put in place to protect practicing faiths of all kinds without oppression. With that being said, the government reflects the reliance of its citizens on religion for hope. In the middle of every American bill it says “IN GOD WE TRUST” showing the nation has God to help them, their hope is in him. Also, this same line is mentioned in the full version of The Star Spangled Banner and God Bless America is sometimes used in place of The Star Spangled Banner. In The Kite Runner the government and taliban are both openly Muslim, they rule based on those values and follow their prayers, scriptures and rules. They do this because they believe that if they follow the customs of the muslim religion, Allah, their God, will bless them. In the book, the stranger in Kabul says of the taliban to Amir, “Then the dogs feast and the day's boredom is broken at last and everyone says 'Allah-u-akbar!” (Stranger of Kabul) The Taliban says ‘Allah-u-akbar’ meaning ‘God is greater’, this is a symbol of their Muslim faith while in control of the country. Many politicians claim to affiliate with a certain faith, whether …show more content…
For example, somebody stubs their toe and blurt out a quick, “Jesus, that hurt!” An athlete just won their first gold medal at the olympics and in the interview make sure to throw in a “I just want to thank my family and God and all my supporters...” Weather these people are practicing a religion or not, they are quick to include religion. When watching an award show, almost everybody thanks the religion they identify with, because a major even they have hoped for their whole life, must have something to do with their God. For the 2015 Oscar academy awards, Vocativ.com counted the most “thanked” people from all the acceptance speeches. “Sixth on the list is God, who’s never produced, directed or acted in a film, unless you think he was working through Morgan Freeman in Evan Almighty.” (Vocativ) We see this with Assef when he says, “We are here today because the will of Allah...” (Assef Hope) He goes on to say, “[We] are alive and well here in Afghanistan...” (Assef Hope) He is showing that he has hope in Allah because he has provided for them in the past and will continue to provide in the future. Many people put their hope into their religion to give them success and make sure it’s at the forefront of their gratefulness. Religion is also turned to a lot when people have no hope left, a difficult health diagnosis, a dramatic loss of a friend or family member, or even