I have pieced together and laid out the overall outline for my paper but I am confused on where to begin for two of the paragraphs. Many of my citations may be incorrect but I will correct those by the time the final draft is due. I feel as if I have too much information and I do not know where to start. I am thinking about writing the paper then adding in support from my sources at the end, what do you think? Any helpful comments or ideas are appreciated.
INTRO-
Catholicism works because it is provides an answer to questions that we inherently ask as people. What is the purpose of life? What am I? Where am I going? As people we have an innate desire to know and understand (still looking to choose a source for this). Catholicism is popular because it offers us a pleasing answer to the question: Can we live forever? The answer is yes in this case. Catholics have the ability to chalk life up to a stage on which they get to prove themselves. It gives them a goal, a cause (God), and a truth that if they buy into it they can defeat the ultimate fear: death. Why are people afraid of death? Well, to begin with, we do not know what happens when we die. The fear is uncertainty. There is no definitive proof that when someone dies he goes to heaven or hell. An alternative answer to the question may include the idea of hell alone. Nobody wants to burn in Satan’s fiery pit while he holds a 3-pointed pitchfork over your head. I am exaggerating, but the notion of hell induces fear in those who take up religions that include the idea of the underworld. This thought leads to another question: do Catholics do “good” things to avoid going to hell or because they are actually “good” people? Religion is good, especially in Catholicism, in how it is completely airtight in its logic if one chooses to accept the fundamental assumptions that it makes (Jesus, Resurrection, Incarnation...etc.). Catholicism, I would argue, does not cause the fear. The fear is borne out of humans not knowing or understanding what happens to us when one dies. Catholicism then, can become a breeding ground for this fear in that it simplifies what it means to be human, that is, it answers the questions of not knowing and misunderstandings of death with assumptions and statements that are presented as true that are improvable (though they make sense once accepted). Catholicism has become dealt with in fear by many faithful followers everywhere because of the uncertainty of life after death and this motivates them to accept the fundamental assumptions and act in ways they may not completely understand. In my research essay I will begin by explaining how humans acquired the idea of religion (and more specifically Catholicism). I will then proceed to offer what Catholicism does well and how its central messages of love and selflessness help people grow in relationship with one another and motivate them to a life filled with purpose. My central argument of the paper against Catholicism will then be supported: how people are able to accept fundamental ideas and teachings that Catholicism offers to its followers out of fear of the afterlife. My argument will be supported by breaking down Catholic practices of bible passage interpretations, sacraments, and ideas about “community.” Following my main argument I will describe how Catholics are able to live a good life without fear and explain how spirituality ultimately answers the questions about life’s meaning.
ORIGIN OF RELIGION-
Religion, from its very beginnings, took on three forms in the ancient Near East: polytheism, pantheism, and monotheism ( need help citing online source ). People created religion as a response to describe where they came from and where they thought they were going. It was a “security blanket” for the insecure soul to be able to fall back on something when his fellow man was not enough. Humans wanted something that would bring rain for their crops when their mere desire for rain was not enough. The need to describe nature and its mysterious beauty became essential to the human mind as more and more people became curious as to where everything came from and why it acted the way it did. Water randomly dropped from the sky out of fluffy white objects, why? It was the basic questions of natural phenomenon that inspired the most basic forms of polytheistic and pantheistic religion. Humans wanted a God that controlled nature so they themselves could also feel that control through worship and reverence. When nature turned against humans (thunderstorms, earthquakes, fire, etc.), people felt they had to make up for mistakes they had been making. Sacrifices were made out of fear that some higher power would spiritually come down and obscure human nature in a less-than-pleasing way for the humans. As religion took on a more specific structure and more in depth explanations were given for the reasons of religion, Judaism was created with rules and guidelines that allowed for structure in worship of one true God (Yahweh). Deeper questions were being asked as to the meaning of life and what happens when one dies.
ORIGIN OF CATHOLICISM AND HOW IT HAS BEGAN TO INSPIRE FEAR-
The story goes that God revealed himself to Abraham and thus the nation of Israel received the word of God. The Jewish Scriptures- or, the Old Testament of the Bible- described the story of the Israelites journey led by Moses to the Promise Land in Canaan after being saved from their slave-ship in Egypt. The Old Testament gives the history of Israel along with the origin of Judaism and the character and laws of God ( online source ). Catholicism is a branch of Christianity that started when the long-awaited messiah (Jesus Christ) was born in Bethlehem during the period of the Roman Empire to fulfill the word of God (online source ). Many Jewish people did not believe Jesus to be the promised messiah but those who did were converted and coined the term “Christians.” Catholicism, as one of the oldest and most popular religions in the world, takes on the form of a monotheistic religion and dates back to about 2000 BC (online source). “At age 30 he (Jesus) launched an independent ministry, aided by a dozen disciples who accompanied him as he preached his new version of faith” (Thomas 184). The ministry only lasted 3 years until Jesus was crucified on a cross and is believed to have resurrected from the dead 3 days later to assume his seat at the right hand of God the father in Heaven. After Jesus ascended into Heaven the Christian Church grew and men were believed to be inspired by the Holy Spirit to write the New Testament so all could remember the life, lessons, and example of Jesus along with various other letters and stories concerning the ministry of the church. Catholicism grew out of Christianity and is believed to have started when Peter was handed the “keys to the church” from Jesus and thus the first Pope was named and the religion was given structure. The rest is history as Catholicism now stands as one of the world’s most followed religions and millions of people everywhere participate in daily mass and receive communion regularly to take part in the most coveted sacrament of the Catholic Church.
The worship of a “Deified Man” laid the foundations of the Catholic religion as people found the need to place their uncertainties of the afterlife into one man’s teachings who claimed to be the son of God (Allen 7). Catholicism essentially turned the concept of God into “nothing more than that of a Dead Man, regarded as a still surviving ghost or spirit (resurrection), and endowed with increased or supernatural powers and qualities” (19). Jesus, as “true God and true man,” was revered by Christians as a savior (Catechism of the Catholic Church 117). His teachings and ideals found in the New Testament of the Bible laid the cornerstone of the Catholic faith as more and more Christians began to follow him. People wanted to put meaning into their lives and find out what essentially they were living for and Jesus seemed to have all the answers. Jesus gave the notion that there was a separate kingdom (heaven), and that people were to strive to be in this kingdom by living good, faith-filled lives. In one of his references to heaven Jesus claims, “unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:3). The lives of Christians were given a cause: to one day enter the kingdom of heaven. People found purpose in Jesus’ teachings and they were motivated to fulfill this purpose because it offered truths that allowed them to overcome their fear of death. Along with the purpose came guidelines and practices that Jesus offered in order for one to “become like little children” and “enter into the kingdom of heaven.” The phrase “become like little children” may take on the idea of a sinless nature in this case. The Beatitudes are a good example of the help Jesus gives his people to enter into the kingdom as he describes different people such as the “peacemakers” and the “clean of heart” and reassures them of God’s desire for them to be with Him (Matthew 5: 1-11). The teachings motivate other people to want to be peacemakers or clean of heart so that they too will enjoy everlasting life in God’s kingdom. Many of Jesus’ teachings revolve around love and selflessness and encourage people to help those in need. Jesus says, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me” (Matthew 19:21). Back to the question in the introduction: Do Catholics do “good” things just to have an opportunity to be in God’s kingdom or because they are actually good people? The question is not a simple one to answer. Yes, some people may “give to the poor” because they feel by doing so they are being good Catholics- and good Catholics mean they are going the heaven. On the other hand, Catholics may give to the poor because their religion inspires them to be selfless and their desire to be a “good” person is influenced by a yearning to help others as opposed to not wanting to go to hell. To fully answer the question one must look at what Catholicism does well: how the religion “works” and allows people to grow both on a personal level and spiritual level by living a full faith-filled life.
WHAT CATHOLICISM DOES WELL IF ACCEPTED-
Catholicism works because it makes sense and what it has to offer is an essential good to human nature if it is used correctly. It contains many fundamental assumptions- or, mysteries, so to speak- that once accepted allow for the religion to be seen as a very logical and pleasing ideology and theology. It is hard to believe that Jesus died and his body was laid in a tomb and three days later he was floating above the tomb being “raised” to a magical place in the sky. How many times does that happen in one year in the present time? Zero. But once one is able to accept the mysteries presented by the Catholic Church a logical flow ideas and explanations follows that all make sense. Jesus rose from the dead. He fulfilled the word of God. He is now in Heaven. Everyone is happy because he truly was the messiah. Of course the rationalizing of Jesus’ resurrection is extremely more in depth than that but the point is this: once one is able to accept the fundamental assumptions of Catholicism as truth, the religion allows for a logical flow of explanations that makes it easier for a Catholic to accept the central “truths” of the Church. The “truths” refer to various concepts such as the idea of forgiveness in the sacrament of confession or the receiving of the actual body and blood of Christ in communion. The problem is that the "truths" that one might experience about life once they “turn to the church” are non-universal in that they are true only in that they work within the Catholic tradition and teaching the idea. By accepting that idea Catholics open themselves up to a community of believers that is much larger than themselves. Teachings on love and universalism are engulfed in the overall message of Catholicism as people all over the world strive to live a life like that of Jesus. When one thinks about it, Jesus had a full life. He sacrificed everything he had for the good of his people and died so that they may one day be able to gain salvation (Catechism…..still reading for source).
^^^ In the above (unfinished) paragraph I will begin to describe the overall message of Catholicism (love) and how that in itself is an intrinsic good in the religion. I will explain how Catholicism has motivated people to do many “good” things through charity and service. I will also describe how Catholicism (and religion in general) gives people a foundation in their lives to fall back on when everything else seems to be falling apart. Catholic ideas on community and universalism will be analyzed as well to support Catholicism and its desire to spread the word of God to all people. This paragraph will utilize the Bible and the Catechism of the Catholic Church as sources.
Next paragraph: How Catholicism has become dealt with in fear. I am confused about where to start for this paragraph and how to arrange my sources and support in a logical, flowing argument. This is the paragraph I wanted to discuss in my writing appointment because I feel like the majority of my sources serve to back up what I will say in this paragraph and I did not want to start writing it without first getting some help. In the paragraph I will break down how Catholicism may come to inspire fear through individuals in its use of sacraments, ideas about community, practices, and Bible readings at daily mass. I will also explain how some of the Catholic practices have begun to veer away from the overall meaning of the church. For example, people are considered a part of the Catholic “community” once they have received the sacrament of communion. Well, this seems to go against the one on the essential messages of Catholicism: universalism. I fing that by limiting the community those who do not have the opportunity to receive the body and blood of Christ are cut off from what it means to be truly “Catholic.” The paragraph will use a majority of my sources as the bulk of my argument for my research will be contained in it.
Final paragraph before the conclusion: Following the paragraph on fear in Catholicism I will describe how one can live a good life without fear and support how spirituality ultimately answers the questions about life’s deepest meanings. To do so I will use the following sources:
- No One Sees God by Michael Novak
- Kierkegaard’s Philosophy
- A study done by Ziva Kunda and Shalom H. Schwartz on undermining intrinsic moral motivation.
Formation of Conclusion (completely unedited, just wanted to see what you thought):
There is always uncertainty. The thing is that religion says with certainty things that are uncertain. All one then has to do to reach certainty is accept those things. That, of course, is the danger--because they can't know. And because they can't know it makes what they believe seem shallow, because it would appear that the only reason to accept something that you can not prove to be certain as truth would be to reap the benefits of that truth. In the case of Catholicism, you accept the truths and you get a safety blanket--you get eternal life--you get all the tough moral questions answered for you. It is the same as if someone told me that if I said "2-1=0" he would give me 20 dollars; or maybe he would take 20 dollars from me. I don't believe that 2-1=0, or maybe there is just no way to prove that 2-1=0, but I say it anyway so that I can either gain the money or keep my money. Religion is even more convincing than that though. It would be like once I said that “2-1=0” that I suddenly was opened to some kind of explanation that rationalized that whole equation for me. For example, it is very hard to think that Mary's (Jesus’ mother) body was taken to some physical, cosmic location called heaven. But if I blindly follow or rationalize it in my mind in order to accept it to calm my fear of not knowing, I am opened up to this whole logical progression that follows from that fact. Mary was taken body and soul to heaven because she was perfect. She was perfect, so God chose her to birth Jesus. Jesus came from the perfect being, God, and the perfect human, Mary, and thus is God and man. Therefore, if I want to become closer to God I should follow Jesus. Jesus says that if I follow him that I will live forever. To follow Jesus means to love everyone and give my all and pray and receive the sacraments. So if I do those things I will be closer to God and live forever. Boom. I win. (ßnot putting that in the academic paper my apologies) One has to remember, however, the first part of that chain was accepting something that can never be proven or at least something that you have no reason to believe. Fear comes in because people see the end: Heaven. Wanting to reach that end, they just go and accept the steps necessary to reach it.
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