EPOCH D 3
THE EFFECTS OF
RELIGION IN WORK
By:clarinda
alcarez
There has been a recent dilemma as to where success should be accredited to; on one hand, you have perseverance, the other, religion. People portray religion as if it is the only way to explain the miracles that occur in their daily lives. It is easier to believe in fictional characters to get through the day than face the truth alone. Religion only appeals to humans because no one is considered to suffer alone, and “with the help of God” anyone can survive the turmoil in their life. Instead of the perseverance pushing people to succeed, it is God convincing his people to do it for the greater good of humanity.
Many believe in religion because it is self-gratifying, the feeling of achieving a higher purpose in life. Religion is simple, if someone does good then he/she is a good person. If given a chance, religion and perseverance should be balanced. But in today’s society one seems to outweigh the other. A few students at Dickinson High School were asked “If success were to be conflicted with your religion, which one would you choose?”. A sophomore, Martena Nabeh, answered, “My religion is my soul and if I lose it and gain the world and all the earthly desires, I really did not gain anything because I’ve lost what’s most important to me.” The sophomore would rather lose all her dreams than her religion. Although religion encourages all the believers to pursue what they want in life, their beliefs still set boundaries on these dreams. While one student believes in religion, another student who wishes to remain anonymous says, “Since I am not a very religious person, which is bad to begin with, I know that success is something that is definitely going to happen if I work towards it.” She believes that work ethic is more valuable than religious belief. Although she feels a bit guilty she knows she can still earn success. Religion sparks an interest in many, although there is still that lingering question if there is even a heaven. Most of the students interviewed asked themselves “Is there even a heaven? Will I even get into it?” probably the biggest motive there is to religion. Many people would rather risk their success than their chances of going to heaven.
The society we have today can simply be described as follows: the religious versus the non-religious. In Richard Selzer’s article “The Surgeon as Priest”, is both a surgeon and a follower of religion. He talks about the clashes between his work ethic and religious ethic. He opens the article with the comparison of religion and surgery throught the Vesalius, to present his main agenda throughout the story. The Vesalius is an anonymous painting, portraying the act of surgery on a table.
He implies that these surgeons in the painting must have a deeper connection with religion and reveals that he feels the same way. There are many different scenarios where religion could possibly clash with work, and this is by far the hardest decision a religious person could ever make. When another anonymous student, who happens to be a preacher’s daughter, was interviewed, she said “Religion is the reason why a person lives, so why would you be selfish and throw away your religion just to work on your own success.” Selzer on the other hand thinks that there is not a plausible medium between work and religion. In the article, Selzer states, “What is to one man a coincidence is to another a miracle.” Many people just consider that they are just really lucky when something good happens to them. Think about it, when a doctor says to a patient that the cancer has gone away, they will usually start with “you are a very lucky man/woman”, it is not because there is a God but simply, because doctors and all the treatments have been a big contributor to making the disease benign. God did not really do the work, but only man himself. If plausible, God could've entered the man's spirit and helped him perform the miracle. But the question, "Where does success go to?" still linger.