Religion and Theology

Myth, according to Smart is used to highlight the likeness of function among stories in different religions or cultures.(2007, pg 71).  The human being has many stories. Some religions such as the Navajo believe that the only way to assure that a story is correct is to listen to those that are passed down from elders to children and then again from elders to children over the lifetime of each generation. They also believe when this tradition ends so will the stories. This paper will examine what myth and religion have in common and how such things as the Shinto and Tao religions are affected.

The term Tao means path or way. It is the power that envelops, surrounds, and flows through all things, living and non-living.(religioustolereance.org)  The important person here is Lao Tao who lived partly during the time of Confucius. It is hard to tell from the many thoughts about him whether he was a real person or not. However, the resulting book called Tao-te-Ching was meant to stop feudal wars. It really is a combination of philosophy and psychology which is combined into a religious faith and many scholars actually believe it is synthesized from several other philosophies. He is seen as a deity and Taoism is one of the three great religions in China.

Mythesism surrounds the culture of this religion. It is only guessed that there was a Tao but either way, he is seen as a God. The stories that are passed on are similar to other religions in the fact that Tao caused the universe to happen and therefore is a part of all things. In order to accomplish good things, one must align themselves with the Tao. This is similar to Christianity in which God made the world and is a part of us all and the way to understand ourselves and accomplish good things is to align ourselves with God. There are some interesting things to note about nature. In Taoism, there is the belief that nature take its course which is very popular as part of everyones way today due to the environmental mess we have made and are trying to repair. This, then, seems to apply to today and because people are reaching out for something they can believe in, you often see the Yen and Yang symbols in more places than usual. This symbol represents the balance of opposites in the universe.

Only the other hand, Shinto is the faith of the Japanese people. Shinto gods are called kami and they are sacred spirits of wind, rain, mountains, trees, rivers and fertility. In this case, humans actually become kami after they die and there are some extraordinary people who have shrines built after them. Shinto is more free flowing than most religions as there is not right and wrong and no one is perfect. There is no book like the Bible and preaching is not done as it is rooted in their history. The history of this religion, however, is mixed up some with Buddhism. It seems to be a synthesis  in some ways and is being studied as partly so.

In both of these religions like all of the others that have been noted, there is strong symbolism throughout the beliefs of the people. They myths and history are all intertwined in such as way that a cursive reading does not tell the whole story. This synthesis of information from history and religion, however, tells us what is right, what is wrong, what the gods expect of us, how we should live our lives and treat other people.

What is it that drives us as human beings to find ourselves in the history of our planet and the history of our Gods One has to wonder if it takes away the aloneness we feel as individuals without it. If we are connected to history, stories, and myths we are a part of something. If not, where is the beginning and the end If there is no heaven and no hell, why can I not do what I want If the Bible is just a synthesis of many peoples myths than why do I not read it like any other fiction These are the questions that continue to drive us to believe in the myths that are a part of our culture. I cannot explain my existence in any other way and I need to explain my existence.  There is also the issue of fear. If we do not believe in God and see it as a myth and it turns out we are wrong, we will go to Hell. That one fear alone guarantees that most people will follow the doctrines of the Bible to their best ability.

Smart tells us that one of the things that myth tells us is this is how things are and this is how things have been (2007, pg 75). It should have added to that and therefore this is who you are. He also states that myth is able to tell us what the future will be like and what the end of the world will look like. This writer believes that it, in some ways, also reliefs man of the responsibility of taking care of his world. Putting it in Gods hands when we can no longer cope. This relieves us of the responsibility of dealing with it ourselves. 

In conclusion, mythecism, history, stories, and religion are the things that tell us who we are and who we have been. God is who we are like and heaven is where we will go. God will always forgive us. The Bible is Gods word. For other religions, the same things are depicted with slightly different symbols. For many years, there has been the question in the back of this authors mind as to why so many religions have basically the same beliefs, using different symbols. Which is right and if none of them are right, who am I