How the atheist can learn from religion

Religion has long existed as the lifeblood of the society, with its philosophies guiding different aspects within the community. However, in recent years, what has been observed so far has put the concept of religion to a great test. Fraudulent pastors have turned the churches into profit-making avenues and continuously exploited churchgoers, both emotionally and financially. The debate of catholic and the rise of Protestants also poke holes to the concept of religion. The above and many other reasons give the atheists reasons to despise and ridicule religion; religious flaws make them think that religions don’t value anything close to religion, but still, the atheists can learn from religion and spiritual experience.

The most important thing that religion teaches is love. It emphasizes the need to treat others the same way we would want to be treated. The concept of love is highly stressed in the Christian religion, and it is arguably at the center of the religion. The bible says that for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that, however, beliefs in him shall not perish but will have everlasting life. Out of the great love that God had to his people, he sent his son down to earth to be crucified so that the earth could be saved from its inequities. And all through the ages, ever since Jesus resurrected, Christians have been at the forefront, expressing love through helping others in times of need, helping the less fortunate in society, and so much more. Despite the many reasons that the atheists have against the Christians and other religions, the concept of love is at the center of human existence, and when we all express it, the societies and the people become better.

The concept of love has also been justified in the personal experiences that the Christians have had with God. Hildegard of Bingen happened to receive many visions when she was working as a nun. The concept of love is one of the things that were clear in her visions. Her visions were majorly underpinned to the love of humanity and the earth. She reminded her fellow nuns that the humans were called to co-create. By cultivating what is on the earth, we can arguably create what is beyond the earth or what is in heaven. She emphasized the importance of environmental conservation, an issue that cuts across all the religions because it’s at the core of human existent.

Hildegard’s visions also enabled her to have an experience with celestial beings that were at the center of human existence. While answering on how he came to experience the visions, she says that she experienced an exceedingly brilliant light that permeated into her brains, inflamed her heart and her entire body

Hildegard wrote the order of the virtues to demonstrate the role of morality in society. The play order of the virtues appears at the end of vicious, the book that highlights the vision of Hildegard. The play does not demonstrate any biblical or spiritual evidence, but instead, it focuses only on the miracles and the struggle of the human soul (Scivias, 23). This play intends to create a reconnection between the soul and its creator. In the first stages of the play, the soul appears to be unhappy with life and considers going to heaven directly, but the virtues correct her that she has to live first. It during the living that the devil seduces the soul and makes her engaged in doing vices. The virtues then reappear to try and convince the soul. However, the devil is adamant and expresses insults towards the virtues. In the end, the devil loses, and the virtues win. In this case, the virtues represent God and that without God, it is highly likely that people will engage in other vices that will make the world a bad place. The atheists can learn from this play in the sense that morality is fundamental to society, and lack of it can lead to dire consequences. The presence of heaven and hell acts a warning to people and puts a consequence for whatever that is done under the earth, for those who dwell in evil, they have the assurance that they will go to hell while a safe stay in heaven will be a reward those that live in doing good. The bottom line of this, however, is the morality brings into society, and without decency, people will find no reason to maintain law and entirely there will be no order in the society

Even though they don’t believe in God, atheists cannot be completely ignorant of issues that cross our lives and fate, and they cannot also deny the concept of life after death, being rewarded for doing goods to others, and so forth. Hildergen of Bingen believed that in supernatural ideas. Supernatural concepts inspired all the visions that he had, and he thought that a more potent force was talking to her in one way or the other.

Atheists do not believe in God, mostly due to the complexities in religion; however, they also long for hope and purpose in life. This implies that despite this denial, God has written eternity in their hearts. Their consciousness that there is more to this life from what they can see. In that context, therefore, the visions of Hildegard can offer them a ray of hope that there are natural forces that exist, and life cannot be empty as it is. A research carried out among the atheists and the antagonists both in China and the UK Revealed that they are all desperate to understand the very essence of life. It is just that what they see happening in the world has completely put them off.

Conclusion

The religious flaws give the atheists a   ground despite the concept of religion; atheists have perfected the art of not valuing anything closely related to religion. However, one crucial thing that they need to realize about religion is that it has been here for quite some time, helping to maintain law and order within the society, if at all the atheists chose to treat religious books as any type of literature, they can synthesize much information that can help them in one way or the other. Religious literature analyzing personal experiences like the visions of Hildegard of Benign give the atheists insights on why some of the aspects of religion are incredibly relevant to the current society.

Works cited

Flanagan, Sabina. Hildegard of Bingen: A visionary life. Routledge, 2002.

King-Lenzmeier, Anne H. Hildegard of Bingen: An integrated vision. Liturgical Press, 2001.