JASPREET KAUR RISHI

Advocacy report
Cornerstone
Nicki Z. Harken

Religion
Gaining attention
Religion is a cultural system of behaviours and practices, world views,
ethics, and social organisation that relate humanity to an order of
existence. It is not a rule or a requirement but a choice and a decision.
Majority of the worlds population, about 84%, is affiliated with one of the
five largest religions, namely Christianity, Islam, Hinduism or Folk Religion.
The study of religion encompasses a wide variety of academic disciplines,
including comparative religion and social scientific studies. But if a major
fraction of the people believe in God or practice a religion, it doesnt mean
that atheists are wrong. It all comes down to satisfaction at the personal
level. While an atheist believes that God does not exist because science
explains the cosmos without him, a theist believes that lifes order, design
and complexity require an intelligent designer, and our response to pain
and suffering is relative to our knowledge of right and wrong/good and evil
in a fallen world. There can be an unending debate about atheism vs
theism but I want to talk about my religion i.e. Sikhism and spread some
knowledge about it by focussing on the fact that it is just a choice and not
a compulsion.
Establishing credibility
I am from India, a culturally and religiously rich country. I have travelled a
lot in my country, witnessed a huge diversity of people and their beliefs. I
have also travelled to 3 other countries which gives me the experience

JASPREET KAUR RISHI

Advocacy report
Cornerstone
Nicki Z. Harken

and credibility to talk about this wide, disputable topic about religion. It is
amazing to see how some people are so devoted to their religion that they
give up all the earthly pleasures, become unmaterialistic and live a very
basic life, abstaining from all worldly amusement and committing to God
alone. As stated above, its all about that makes you satisfied at the
personal level but it is important and sagacious to explore all the possible
choices before making a permanent decision.
Demonstration
I will write about the views of people on religion in general, how different
religions basically have the same teachings andwill emphasise on my
religion, which is Sikhism, its history and its practices. Every religion
teaches its followers to do good deeds and become a good human being.
They preach that God is one but still some groups of people engage in
fights in the name of religion. Following a belief helps to live a peaceful
and a meaningful life but on the same lines the name of religion should
not be used to subordinate or exclude other groups or minorities and
prove that a certain group of people is superior.
Thesis / Preview
Religion is a belief to add meaning to your life.