Utopia-Religon

Thomas More wrote Utopia a few years earlier the Protestant Reformation, during a period rife with spectral instability. Not e very(prenominal)one trusted the muff Roman Catholic Church, and m whatever a(prenominal) Europeans looked elsewhere for their sacred inspiration. Though the Utopian trust has some similarities with Catholicism and Protestantism, it is an entirely unique belief formation uninfluenced by the numerous European faiths of the period. The main thing the sets the Utopian religion apart Is its complete religious tolerance.While all the utopian religions be monotheistic and all their god by a general Utopian term of Matthias, they disagree on who exactly Matthias is. The only belief that is not allowed is atheism. Utopians feel that if an individual does not think that he Is responsible for his actions, and that thither Is one Supreme Being who controls the world, then there is nothing to discipline him from breaking laws and causing disorder. The Utopians dont believe in predestination same many sects of Protestantism does.All the religions meet at one church and serve under the similar priest. In church one is not allowed to say anything thats offensive to some diametrical religion beca bring in use of of on early Utopian law saying that no one should suffer or be made uncomfortable ascribable to his religion. A Utopian can try to convert others to their religion if they argon able to present their argument calmly and reasonably. All this is very deferent from any of the European religions, who were constantly going to war with each other In the name of god.Catholic kings would go on crusades against the Muslims Jews during the Spanish Inquisition were kicked at of their homes and persecuted for believing differently, and afterwards the protestant reformation Catholics ND Protestants had years of bally(a) warf ar. Even the religious leaders themselves would start war, much(prenominal) as when Luther say war on the Jews and the peasants. Religious tolerance was something that didnt come to Europe until often later. Another thing that shows the uniqueness of the utopian religion is the way they take and serve their priests. Priests argon chosen by the people in a secret election.Unlike Catholics and Protestants who have numerous corrupt priests, utopians have very few, because of bother finding someone moral enough for the Job. The Priest Is also he highest top executive in the land. This is very opposite of Protestants, who believe in a priesthood of all Believers that the priest is equal to the parishioner. Priests, similar to Lutheran are allowed to marry, and their wives are tr eradicateed like high members of society. Priest also cannot be penalise for crime, utopians believe that someone who dedicated himself to god can only be punished by god himself and not through human hands.A widow elderly woman is also allowed to choke priest which is something thats not allowed by any other reli gion. The priest also went to war with he utopians for the draw a bead on of Inspiring the troops, preventing excess killing, and pacifying the enemys vengeance. The utopians worship their god in a very unique way. In church they do not sacrifice any animals because they do not think that a merciful god would screw senseless bloodshed. This shows how the Utopians would not have approved of the flagellant movement In the ordinal century.The flagellants were groups of clerics that would go from town to town and whip their bare skin to prompt public repentance. If the Utopians wouldnt even draw an 1 OFF animals b civil wrong no reason they would never nave approved to hurting oneself tort a oddly purpose. The Utopians do burn incense, because they feel that the scent somehow raises peoples thoughts. They do not burn them for god because they know he has no use for such things. Similar to the Protestants the Utopians dont focus on acts of devotion. The Utopians, unlike the Catholic s, have no visual representations of god anywhere. They also dont believe in omens and fortune telling.Their cal abolishar, like the Catholic one, is based on a solar year split into lunar months. The Utopian religion has a confusing stance on female equality. On the one hand they allow woman to become priests which is something thats unheard of in any of the European religions, precisely they also make woman confess all there wrong doings to their husbands before any holiday. They give woman a chance at equality, but then also show them how they are inferior to their husbands. While this does face paradoxical, it does offer more gender equality than any other religion. The Utopians are also hypocritical with their religious punishments.They have a law eying a priest cannot punish a sinner because that is the Job of the government. The most forceful punishment they allow the priest to give is excommunication. Yet if the excommunicated one does not convince the priest that he is reformed, he is arrested and punished by the exponent for sinfulness. So the priest technically has the power to punish in a very roundabout but powerful way. He can sink who is reformed or not and through that he is given the power to imprison. If a counsel can arrest and try an individual for impiety, doesnt that plastered a person is suffering because of their elision.This proves that although the Utopians say they offer complete religious freedom, a person can still suffer because of his beliefs. The truly costly Utopians do one of two things. The holier ones take vows of chastity similar to the Catholics, and eat a very strict diet consisting of no meat. The less hallowed yet more admired ones take upon themselves heavy labor that go forth benefit the community. It is more admired in Utopia to do heavy be given for the community then to live a life of chastity. This is very different from the Catholic mentality.Catholics admire priests as holy and serve them only because the priest was able to devote his life purely to god and give up human desires. The peasants who spend the whole day doing backbreaking labor are viewed as the lowest of society even though what they do greatly benefits everyone else. Thomas More would not have though the Utopian religion was ideal. More himself was a devote Catholic who even died for his faith. He vie an integral role as Lord Chancellor in persecuting the Protestants after the reformation. He would not have proved of the complete religious acceptation of the Utopians.Also the Utopian laws allowing euthanasia, divorce, and married and female priests are on the whole against the teachings of the Catholic Church. He wrote Utopia as a way of criticizing the Catholic Church for all of its corruptions not as a blueprint for a new religion. At the end of the book More says that while Hathaway was speaking he kept thinking how some of the Utopian laws were Just bizarre. He says quite apart from such things as their mi litary tactics, religions, and forms of worship, there was a grand absurdity on which their whole society is based, communism without money. (Utopia 113) This quote proves how Mores intention in penning Utopia was not to create a new way of life, but to remark the fraudulent doings of contemporary European society. Although Utopia is championed as the ideal behind to live there has yet to be a country that NAS essay to mimic its way to elite. Even More himself would nave rejected its unique religion. save regardless of its desirability, the Utopian religion has proven to be a completely unique belief system uninfluenced by contemporary religious beliefs.