Academic Papers : Lifetime Collection

Religions and Philosophy in ASEAN Society

Just like how humans evolve from their infancy up to adulthood, one's development in various aspects, particularly in his or her socio-cultural preferences, undergo several transformations and changes. The current structure of Southeast Asian's philosophy and religions is how the past alterations molded the ASEAN's feature through the process of migration, mutation, transplantation, inherence, discovery, adaptation, and so on, as much as how the industrialization, modernization, and globalization affect how Southeast Asia present itself and being perceived in the time being. Within the course of time traveling, it has been exposed how Christianity, Confucianism, Hindu-Buddhism, Islam, and other religions transcended into the region's philosophical views and beliefs. 

Hindu-Buddhism, originated from Northern India, as a religion that adheres to the principles and core values of established belief system, is dominantly driven by Buddhism and divided into subgroups according to their differences in sectors and location influenced. Islam, on the other hand, usually found within ports near the maritime locations and was originated in Arabian Peninsula, is less demanding among other religions in terms of practices but uniquely devoted to Allah as their sole God, acknowledges Muhammed as the God's messenger and believes in Qur'an's essentiality. While Confucianism, that was originated in China, primarily projects the idea of philosophical morality and individual ethics, later became the foundation of the culture of many countries, particularly the known land of the red dragon, as it influenced other states and nations in the world. However, Christianity, which was born in the Middle East escalated by the Romans is the most populated religion, believes in the existence of Trinity God, the Salvation of Jesus' followers, the Resurrection of Christ, and devotion to the Holy Bible. Although the Christianity majority accumulates the world's religious and philosophical beliefs, Southeast Asia, on the contrary, is predominantly occupied by Islams, followed by Buddhism, and then Christianity, as some are Atheists, leaving the rest to other religions, the Hinduism and least to Confucianism. 

Indeed, as we can observe, the dominance of some religions and their differences in beliefs and cultures to other religions really affect their relationship with one and another. As vividly seen in our present situations, a human and his or her state's culture and policies are majorly influenced as to how his or her philosophies perceive reality and the world. Thus, it is truly inevitably to witness conflicts, disagreements, and moreover holy war, but preventable as how the world is being transcended to more open and understanding generations per era as time goes by. That just like any variable of differences and uniqueness, one's philosophical beliefs and religious views must be respected as much as how we demand equity and equality considering our racial, social, cultural, physical, and each and every aspect of distinction.