Question 2 Write an essay which discusses the place of Buddhi.docx

Question 2: Write an essay which discusses the place of
Buddhism in the world today. Discuss in some depth if you
think it will become a more popular religion in the future and
why you believe it will or will not.
Buddhism dates back to around 2,500 years ago, when
Siddhartha Gautama – better known as “the Buddha” – was
enlightened and founded Buddhism. After two millenniums,
Buddhists now represent 7.1% of our world population (Pew
Research Center, 2010). It is incredible that one person changed
the life of millions and millions of people that now add up to
around 500 million. Even though this religion represents a great
number of people, in my opinion, I believe that the number of
Buddhists will decline in the future and become less of a
popular religion because of a few reasons that I will go into
more deeply in this essay.
To begin with, in Buddhism, the Four Noble Truths are:
“1. Suffering is inherent in life. 2. The cause of suffering is
desire. 3. There is a way to put an end to desire and suffering.
4. The way is the Noble Eightfold Path.” (Brodd, 2013).
Buddhism preaches that suffering can be eliminated though the
Noble Eightfold Path, however, we live in a world where
suffering is immense. We see innocent children dying, people
hating on each other, wars, hunger, families separating, just to
name a few issues that so many people face every day. I feel
like Buddhism is a very hard religion to preach to people that
are under these types of circumstances.
Secondly, we live in a very superficial and materialistic
world. Even though Buddhists live the “principle of the Middle
way” as the foundation of their religion, not many people would
like to renounce to all of their worldly attachments. I believe

that every day, more people want a more comfortable religion
that does not ask that much of them.
Thirdly, Buddhism is an “atheistic religion” or at least a
“transtheistic”, which means that either they do not believe in
any gods, or they acknowledge their existence, but it is
basically unimportant when it comes to the “quest for
enlightenment”. In the world, more than 70% of the global
population, is part of a religion that believes in a range from
one to many gods (Pew Research Center, 2010). But in the end,
an enormous percentage of the world population believes in God
or gods. It is very hard to think of a religion, where god will be
just acknowledged but not cared for. I think that this is a
particular thing that will make Buddhism decline in its
popularity. Now a day, it is important to at least believe that
there is a greater force beyond this world that will eventually
make things better – consolation of promise.
In conclusion, Buddhism encompasses at least 500 million
people in the world, which is roughly 7.1% of our population
(Pew Research Center, 2010). But in my opinion, this religion
will become less popular in the future because of its ideas that
suffering can be eliminated by following the Noble Eightfold
Path, because we live in a very superficial and materialistic
world and finally because it is an atheistic religion. However,
this religion preaches basically the five universal ethics which
are not to kill, not to steal, not to commit inappropriate sexual
acts, not to lie and not to use intoxicants. And it also preaches
love to others and service to those in need. So in the end, once
again, I hope that we can all come together as a world and be
less separated by differences in religion.
References

Brood, Jeffrey. Invitation to World Religions. 2013. Oxford
University Press. Print.
Pew Research Center. 2014. Global Religious Diversity.
http://www.pewforum.org/2014/04/04/global-religious-
diversity/
STUDENT NAME
DATE
COURSE NUMBER AND NAME
INSTRUCTOR NAME
I find your argument to be very realistic in its approach, I
would disagree that religion as a form of justification for
conflict in subsuming weak actors as a "new normal" might be a
bit brash; e. g., you frequently mention that the U.S.
government is not using religion to justify its conflicts. Isn't
this contradictory to your assertions? I would argue that
Americans who profess to be religious, believe that God, or
whatever is considered to be their deity, is on our side in
conflict. This faith perspective is evident considering the
widespread support of the Military Chaplains in a Government
agency. The U.S 2nd Court of Appeals argued for a need for
chaplains by stating that the "morale of our Soldiers, their
willingness to serve, and the efficiency of the Army as an
instrument for our national defense rests in substantial part on
the military chaplaincy" (Waggoner, 707).
According to your quoted sources, religion has "been a force of
often dramatic social transformation and political influence,
and, at times violence [..]” I interpret this to mean that religion
is both a force for dramatic change and that violence is the

exception - not the rule. Religion has further been recognized
as an agent of peace by the World Bank, which argues that
religion is “an agent for globalization and for allowing dialogue
for conflict resolution between actors, which has created "a
global civil society capable challenging hegemonic discourses
on a number of issues ranging from human rights to poverty
alleviation" (Bradley, 267). So perhaps actors use religion to
justify their casus belli for war? Can we really say that religion
is the cause for this conflict? Should we be using “religion” to
justify conflict?
Sources:
Bradley, Tamsin. "Religion and Globalisation: Bringing
Anthropology and International Relations Together in The
Study of Religious-Political Transnational Movements."
Globalizations 6.2 (2009): 265-279. Academic Search
Complete. Web. 24 Mar. 2016
Waggoner, Ed. "Taking Religion Seriously in The U.S. Military:
The Chaplaincy as A National Strategic Asset." Journal of The
American Academy of Religion 82.3 (2014): 702-735. Academic
Search Complete. Web. 25 Mar. 2016.
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DISCUSSION BOARD CRITIQUE
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Read Chapter Five “Buddhism” in Invitations to World
Religions, Jeffrey Brodd, et al, Second Edition, Oxford
University Press, 2016.
2. Prepare your Discussion Board Critique (DBC) response is an
extensive document with a minimum of 300-400 words. The
purpose of your DBC response is:
- To bring out the insights in what your fellow students are
saying – by adding to their contributions, entering into dialogue
with them, and expanding on their points. To provide the
foundation for learning from each other.
. To engage with your fellow classmates. A great classroom
discussion is the responsibility of everyone in the lecture. This
means asking questions and requesting points of clarification
from your fellow students, or adding new insights to what they
have to say. But be careful not to be critical, demeaning, or to
enter into a two-way debate with the other student that shuts out
contributions from the rest of the class.
3. You DBE and DBC responses should be representative of
your best work and should demonstrate that you understand and

have gained some insights into the themes and concepts
presented in the chapter for this week. Your writing should be
clear, comprehensive and concise.
5. Remember to proof your work. Your submitted document
should be mechanically and grammatically correct and citations
have been appropriately formatted.
REMEMBER TO CITE ALL RESOURCES AND REFERENCES
USED TO DEVELOP YOUR CRITIQUE, INCLUDING THE
TEXTBOOK. THIS IS NOT MERELY AN OPINION PAPER
OR RESPONSE, BUT ONE WHICH REQUIRES THAT YOU
USE REFERENCES TO SUPPORT YOUR CLAIMS.

Question 2 Write an essay which discusses the place of Buddhi.docx

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Question 2 Write an essay which discusses the place of Buddhi.docx