Religion Podcast

The podcast features Faith, her mom Anita, and her brother Malik discussing religion, suffering, and evil. They define religion as a concept involving beliefs, practices, and moral values centered around a higher power. They discuss different types of evil, including moral and natural evil, and the role of free will in choosing good or evil. They believe that the world itself is not evil, but rather it is the people who bring evil into the world. They also discuss how suffering and illness can lead to growth and change. Let's go ahead and start recording. Hello, and welcome to my podcast. My name is Faith, and today I have my mom and my brother, Anita and Malik. So, Anita is a mom to me. She is a wonderful woman. I'm grateful to have her in my life. You want to say something? I am so excited to be participating in this podcast with Faith. Faith is such an amazing daughter. I love her. She's my only daughter. And then to be able to do it with my son, it's like a family affair. And we have Malik. He is my brother. He is currently going to be a sophomore in college at Texas State University. He is amazing to have. I'm able to get new insights. Malik, do you want to introduce yourself? Yes, my name is Malik, and I'm going to be ready to be a sophomore in college and study computer science. And I'm grateful to be here. So, the purpose of this podcast today is I'm going to ask you questions about suffering and evil and salvation and meaning of life. I hope that you guys are able to expand my knowledge and also expand your own knowledge on what I'm here to share and what you can share with me. So, I think my first question today is, what is religion? Because this whole thing is like, we're talking about religion like the class I'm taking. And I think it will help us get a founding of what religion is. Malik, so what do you think religion is? Religion is like something that people have like used to like help themselves grow. And like religion has been around for the longest of times. Religion has been used for almost everything. It's been used for power. It's been used for glory. Like, you can look at the history book and see how religion has been used. Some people use it for good. Some people use it for evil. So, religion has been used for many things throughout history. Interesting. I do agree. You know, religion has been around for such a long time. And people talk about it, you know, in a good or even in a bad way. So, Mom, would you like to share? I would. I'm older. And my view of religion is that religion is complex. It's a concept that involves beliefs, practices, rituals, and moral values centered around the idea that there is a higher power. Many people believe that without religion, the world would be corrupt, that there would be nothing to make people do good. It provides the framework for understanding the meaning of life, the universe, and humans' place within it. You know, religion is that it may seem hopeless today, but your hope is that the higher power is going to bring you out. Religion, there's many different types of religion I've learned in my many years. Think of Christianity, there's Islam, there's Buddhism, there's Judaism. Religion plays a significant role in shaping our culture, society, and individual identities. Not only in the U.S., but around the world. I mean, you could go to a third world country and they will have some type of religion. Interesting, interesting. So, a book that my class is reading, actually, is really interesting. Richter, a scholar of the book, he says that religion can be considered a feeling, ultimate concern, belief, or basic moral conduct. I think I'm along the page with him, actually. What I believe religion is, a religion or being religious is a hyponym for people to separate themselves into categories that would describe their set of beliefs. So, I think it's really interesting to hear what you guys have to say. Thank you. So, for this first question, since we got what religion is out of the way, now we're going to dive into suffering and evil. We all know there's, you know, we hear about, oh, people do this, but their religion is that, so it's fine. But, you know, we have to dive into suffering and evil in religion. So, I think what we can first say, do you think there are different types of evil in this world? So, Mom, what do you think? You know, I am a, I was born in 77, and during that time, there were several movies that came out that were talking about the omen or the exorcism. Those movies made me think about your question, is there different types of evil? And in the movie, I remember watching, and then they had different degrees of evil. So, yeah, I think there's different degrees of evil. That you could be evil as in evil to the core, or you could be evil that you just like, maybe kind of evil that you skip out from paying your bill, or you steal something. I think that there's different types of evil. I think that you can be evil from birth, or you can be evil because you just had a bad relationship and you went and cut the tires of somebody. Different types of evil. I think there's degrees of evil. Malik? I agree with that. Because, like, sometimes evil can be, like, recessive. Like, you can be like, oh, it wasn't evil because I did it for the good. Like, there's something called a necessary evil where you, like, it's for the greater good, even though it seems kind of bad. So, I say there's various degrees of evilness, and, like, what's your thoughts on evil? Is this an evil thing to do that, or was this ultimately a good thing to do that? I agree with that, Malik. I didn't think about that, but you're right. Sometimes I've heard it justified that way. You know, oh, I did it because it was necessary. It's for the greater good. So, Ripthrough actually introduced there are two types of evils. Moral and natural. Moral evil results from the prevented action of humans. So, like, I'm stealing a piece of candy or doing something really bad. And natural evil results from the action of nature upon humans. So, you can think about, like, a hurricane hitting, like, a town and people losing their house and all that stuff. Do you think, like, do you think those are evils, or are you, like, oh, it's just, that's not really evil? That's not really evil. I agree with you, Malik. Or, is nature immoral? Nature? Nature is not evil. You can't control nature. No. It just happens. It's not malice. It just happens. Very interesting. So, I know both of you guys are both Christians, right? So, I think this will allow us to expand on suffering evil, because do you think, why do you think God allows evil in the world when he is good, he provides all this stuff? Without evil, people wouldn't change. People didn't sin, and no one would need God. And, like, there's also a verse in the Bible that says, like, some people need, like, something bad to have for them for them to change. So, without evil, people would be like, I don't need God. I'm perfectly fine as it is. Interesting. Ma? Okay. Maliki, I hear what you're saying. I've actually, there is a scripture. I remember it saying that you are born to do evil. That, you know, from your birth, you are full of sin. So, you are born to do evil. I have had the opportunity of working many careers, and one career I worked in was in a technology career, and it was male dominated. And these people were the smartest people I knew. They were PhDs in physics, PhD in electrical engineering. But they did not have a relationship with God. And so, oftentimes, we would sit around, and for whatever reason, we would start talking about religion. And in that setting, I was the minority. I was one of the few people who believed in a higher power. And they would ask me, why do you think God allows evil in the world when it's good? So, do you think? So, they would ask me that question. They would ask, why do you think God allows evil in the world? He's so good. Why is that? Why? So, I've had some time to ponder that, and I think that the big thing is free will. As a person that believes in Christianity, you have free will. Free will to make a bad choice. Free will to be evil. It is your choice. God has given us, as in humans, free will. With free will comes the ability to choose. You get to choose good or evil. And because of free will, I think that's why we're able to develop a close relationship to him, because it's my choice. I have the choice. He gave me free will. Very interesting. So, according to Mick Klosky, he says, there is evil in the world, yet the world is said to be the creation of good, upon it God. Do you think that the world is evil, or the people are evil? I would say the people. The people? The people. The people would be evil, because from the beginning Adam and Eve ate the fruit, and in sin they came into the world. So, the world was not necessarily evil at first. It was the people who brought evilness to the world. Very interesting. Ma? Can you repeat the question for me? Yes. So, according to Mick Klosky, there is evil in the world, yet the world is said to be the creation of a good, upon it God. Do you think the world itself is evil, or do you think the people are evil? Because, you know, sometimes the world gives us water, they give us food. Do you think that's evil, or do you think the people who live on earth is evil? I personally believe, that's why I asked you to repeat the question, I think that the people are evil. The world is not evil. If you were to take away humans, it will not be evil. I mean, humans bring in selfishness, greed, arrogance. They bring that to the world. The world didn't have that. It definitely, evil is a human characteristic, not the world. I agree with you. I agree with you. Because you say, you know, humans bring climate change, like the pollution and all that stuff. So, I think that's really interesting. And the last section of suffering and evil is, do you think that suffering and illness are a part of life? Do you think that helps us grow? Do you think everyone is going to experience, like, a type of illness and some type of suffering that they have experienced? I say yes. Because, like I said before, without suffering, you wouldn't change. Like, if you kept doing something, and you always were winning, you would not change that way. But if you were to lose, and you were to suffer, you'd be like, I need to change my ways. I need to be better. Very interesting. So, actually, Buddhists and Theists taught that suffering and illness are simply part of life. So, it sounds like you do agree with them, would you say? Yes. I mean, illness is natural. It's not like a natural thing to get sick. Viruses and bacteria have been around forever. I agree with you, Malik. I think that suffering and illness is part of life. You're absolutely correct. From the dawn of dinosaurs, there have been some type of virus or bacteria that can harm a human. It's not evil. It's just the natural cycle of being a human. So, switching over, we're going to switch over to salvation and meaning of life. So, since we previously mentioned you guys are both a Christian, what do you think salvation and meaning of life is? I would like to know. So, for a Christian, salvation would be in Christ Jesus, for Jesus died for our sins. And salvation would be in Him and Him only. He said He's God and He will save us from our sins. So, salvation would be in Him as a Christian. And the meaning of life would be to serve Him and God. And that would be the meaning of life, to bring other people to Jesus and to live His way. And so, as a Christian, that would be the meaning of life. Well said, Malik. Well said. There's not much I could add to that. I mean, he hit the nail on the head. And we can only be delivered from sin through Christ Jesus. He's the center of our belief. The belief that He rose from the dead and He died on the cross for our sins. Interesting to bring up. Jesus died on the cross for our sins. I would like to bring up Adam's belief. He on salvation and meaning of life. So, he thinks that Jesus died on the cross for our sins. Adam's belief. He on salvation and meaning of life. So, he thinks the meaning of life relies on one's perfection and contribution to the lives of others and the role of society. And part of this is the fruitation of being in the order of goodness. So, you know, as Christians, we believe that no one is perfect. Like, we all have sins and, you know, Jesus died on the cross to relieve our sins. Do you believe in Adam's belief that, like, we have to contribute to the lives of others to be considered? That's the meaning of life? Like, we need to go help grandma down the street. And that's the meaning of life. What do you guys think? In some sense, I can agree with him. But you got to help people for Jesus is to help people. And, like, to lead them to Him. So, I can agree with a little bit. But I don't think that's just the whole meaning of it. As a Christian, you also got to worship God and be a Godly person. So, somewhat yes and somewhat no. Okay. So, you know, thinking about what Malik just said, looking at one of the commandments that are in the Bible. One of the commandments in the Bible teaches us to love and serve others. I mean, Matthew 22, 37-39, loving God and loving one another, one neighbor. That's in the Bible. That's a commandment. Acts of service and charity are seen as expressions of love. It is definitely part of the requirement to be a Christian. And so, along the lines of Adam's statement, Confucianism, it's like, do you agree that they emphasize, like, us as good nature, as a good character to our society? Do you think that? So, I know Confucianism really emphasized rituals, and these rituals is what creates a healthy society. You know, Confucianism believes that if you have a clear framework that this is right and this is wrong, and you respect people, then society would be better. I agree with that aspect of it. I was just watching the news the other day, and the state of Louisiana is bringing back the Ten Commandments. I think that follows along with rituals, creating a clear framework where you're teaching the students, these are the rules. These are why you do the rules. The golden rule, treat people the way you want to be treated. And if you live by that, then society would be better, because you would help your neighbor. You would pay your taxes. You would follow the laws of the world, because that is structure, and that's expectation. So, yes, I do agree with that statement. Okay. Malik? I agree with that statement, and I agree with my mother. Best son ever. So, I think that comes to an end to our podcast. It was nice to have you. I hope in the future we'll be able to create another podcast like this. And any concluding thoughts that you'd like to share? Thank you. I enjoyed having a discussion with my kids. I love this idea, and I definitely would like to do another one. Well, that will conclude the podcast. Bye.