Religious Other towards Harmony of Life

Abstract

Religion is one of the deepest dimensions of complex forms of human life, and most human beings find religious identity important today even in the wake of scientific and technological innovations and a market driven society. In all corners of the world and in all eras of history, people have wondered about the meaning of life, its origin and goal, and often the answer came in the form of religious beliefs and practices. Religions make fundamental claims regarding the ultimate concerns of life. Wittgenstein observed, “To believe in a God means to understand the question about the meaning of life. To believe in a God means to see that the facts of the world are not the end of the matter. To believe in God means to see that life has a meaning.”1 The capacity for believing is as important as reasoning for human survival, growth and development; it is the basis of human relations. We live by beliefs, though we search for the truth, as there are in our lives many more truths that are simply believed in than are acquired by way of scientific or personal verification. Religion is a fundamental human way of living in the world in relation to fellow human beings and God; it also shows who we are and how we ought to live. According to Wittgenstein, “… a religious belief could only be (something like) passionately committing oneself to a system of coordinates. Hence, although it’s belief, it is really a way of living, or a way of judging life. Passionately taking up this interpretation.”