RELIGION: A systemic view 1)4)
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Many authors have insisted on the etimology meaning of religion: re-ligere which means basically "interconnect".
From such a viewpoint, religion is a typical systemic social device, of a universal character.
All religions creeds, of whatever kind, offer similar characteristic traits:
- offering a set of beliefs, values, commandments, myths, ritual practices and standardized behaviors
- imposing them as conditions to become and remain a member of the religious bethren
- excluding as "heretics", "infidels", or "renegates" those individuals who do not adhere to or do question the credo
It is thus clear that:
- the basic elements of any credo lead to an also basic psychological similarity among millions of individuals
- such uniformity fosters a sense of community membership in the thus conditioned individuals
- the shared credo creates specific community structures and ushers ordered collective behaviors
- those individuals who do not share the credo are generally excluded from the community and easily become rejected outcasts and may even be killed.
On the other hand, the existence of different religious groups of such characteristics explains rivalries, proselytism, fundamentalism, fanaticism and culture conflicts
Categories
- 1) General information
- 2) Methodology or model
- 3) Epistemology, ontology and semantics
- 4) Human sciences
- 5) Discipline oriented
Publisher
Bertalanffy Center for the Study of Systems Science(2020).
To cite this page, please use the following information:
Bertalanffy Center for the Study of Systems Science (2020). Title of the entry. In Charles François (Ed.), International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics (2). Retrieved from www.systemspedia.org/[full/url]
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