To believe, and this
applies to religion as it applies to all other forms of belief,
is part of the practical experience of human self- constitution.
It involves our projection in a world acknowledging distinctions
that are pragmatically significant and synchronized with the
dynamics of life and work.
The world of nature is not one of belief but of situations. We
humans perceive the world, i.e., project ourselves as entities,
forming images of the surroundings in our mind, through many
filters. One of them is our continuously constituted beliefs, in
particular, our religious faith. Webster's dictionary (probably
as good a source as any reference book) defines religion as
"belief in a divine superhuman power or powers to be obeyed and
worshipped as the creator(s) and ruler(s) of the universe."
Religion today is far less a coherent and consistent practical
experience than it was in previous pragmatic frameworks.
The manifold relation between literacy and religion can be
meaningfully understood by explaining the pragmatic context of
the constitution of religion. Its further development into
different theologies, and its embodiment in various churches and
other institutions connected to religion, also help in this
understanding. The centralized and hierarchic structure of
religion, the basic notions around which theology evolves, and
the dynamics of change in religion and theology that reflect
adaptive strategies or goals of changing the world to make it
fit a theology, have a strong bearing on the values that formed
and transformed literacy.
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