by Aaron Anderson

Created on: November 17, 2009   Last Updated: November 20, 2009

It is puzzling, when considering the multitude of religious dimensions, how a man who studies religions can be filled with ignorance. However, one question leads us to another, and sometimes the answers don't interject.

Mircea Eliade, author of The Sacred and the Profane, writes in his introduction, from the most primitive to the most highly developed, (11) Here we go again, yet another self-proclaimed religious person who considers the religious experiences between people somehow different. That is to say, a primitive religion, like Buddhism (primitive because it's old) or Taoism (primitive because later in the introduction Eliade calls the Chinese an old and far-removed civilization) are not equal or as effective as the universal religion of Christianity.

This, sadly, is the sentiment of Christians. It's the attitude that all other religions are false, including their gods or goddesses, and that Christianity works for everyone. Buddhism, by far the more practical of the two religions of Christianity and Buddhism, demonstrates its discoveries through reasoning and determination, not faith and belief.

Faith and belief are nothing more than self-deception, a feeling that someone else is and should be in control of your life. What's worse, that that supreme being be a gender. How absurd for a woman to believe there is a man sitting in the clouds inspiring her.

The hidden corollaries in Eliade's writings are shocking and disturbing. He blatantly feels that less developed religions are profane, whereas developed religions are sacred. Let's discuss this falsehood. Christianity, which hasn't changed or added to its texts in a long time, apparently is one of Eliade's developed religions, despite their belief in an incarnation and the absurd notion of someone returning from the dead.

In my humble opinion, Eliade is a liar and a lunatic, like Jesus Christ. If one of my friends were to start walking around telling people to worship her and that if one doesn't find something to confess they will spend an eternity in pain, my recommendation would be for anti-psychotic medication and outpatient therapy. Our society has come up with many synonyms for sacred and profane, however it has achieved little in the way of delving deeper into the meanings of those words. Simply constructing a dichotomy and reinforcing it doesn't accomplish much, so hopefully soon society will contain more disagreement and the changing of minds. Religion is a personal topic, not to be criticized in others or attempted to change. People need to respect each other and stop the high and mighty antics. They are ruining us.

Learn more about this author, Aaron Anderson.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.