The question of religion — Introduction to Issue 8: Religion & Morality

From the ancient Crusades and French Wars of Religion to more modern Christian-Buddhist conflicts in China and Vietnam, religion has been as much of a dividing factor in history as it has been unifying. Many live their lives with the comforting notion of a more blissful eternity if they place their faith in an omniscient God. Others believe in a predestined outcome after death. Even as modernity and science pull back the curtains on the very beginning and ends of life, death, and the universe itself, religion remains an impactful factor in the human story.

Setting aside the debate about the factuality of our religious beliefs, one must ask, why is God, the afterlife, and predestination so attractive? What does this really say about human nature? Should we even believe in a perfect afterlife if we wish to live virtuous lives? What are the ethical implications of religion and/or living a religious life? These myriads of questions and their applications and variations have been asked throughout human history. Thus, the “ought” and “why” of religion may be just as captivating as religion itself. With such a complicated yet well-documented history, it would be foolish to assume religion would never be covered by us at Conundrum. This time around, we especially encourage writers and readers to take this opportunity to dive into relevant literature and academia. 

For this issue, we cordially invite you to join this ideological struggle and hopefully see how strongly philosophy and religion are interwoven in everyday life and thought. In fact, many philosophy texts start with introductions to the philosophy of religion because of how incredibly influential the philosophy of religion is towards a person’s life.