Religion is found in some of the oldest cultures on Earth and was the foundation for many empires and nations. Yet religion in itself, has found its own meaning redefined again and again. In Huston Smith's "The World Religions," he purports that there are currently two conflicting schools of religious theory. One holds that religion is a "way of life woven around people's ultimate concerns." [Smith, 183] The second view takes a more constrained perspective on religion by associating it only with groups that envision a duality of nature he refers to as "transcendental dimension." [Smith, 183].
From what I have learned thus far in this class, in conjunction with my own previous life experiences with religion, I will attempt to bring clarity to what religion means to me. If I was to choose one of Smith's two views as a starting point from which to begin my dissertation, it would have to be the latter of the two descriptions. To me, the basis of a religion is in having faith in something that supersedes our normal mode of existence. In other words, it is the belief in an ethereal plane that forms the basis of our physical plane of existence. The extent to which this transcendental level can influence and alter the physical world vary greatly between religions but it is the humbling awareness that there is a greater power than yourself that lends the follower a sense of piety that cannot be found in a simple moral code of conduct. In my opinion a true religion should encompass more than a step-by-step guide on how to live your life - it should also lead to a new metaphysical understanding of how the world in which we live operates.
In this class we have discussed Confucianism at some length, and though I have found the texts to be very interesting, I don't think that I would classify Confucianism as being a religion when compared against my personal view on the subject. Although it was accepted by an amazing number of people for its time - it wasn't through religions methods that it became as widespread as it is now.