Essay on the Afterlife as a Conversion Tool for Many Religions

http://omeka.lib.fsu.edu/files/original/c588454ffd9e214a5259cac4a2a3dd24.pdf

The afterlife as a powerful conversion tool for many religions.

Katz Stephanie, Fall 2015

 

This item is a thesis essay which explains why Religion is such a powerful conversion tool for many Religions. A religion would not exist without a group of followers who have strong beliefs for their religion. A religion’s existence relies on the ability to persuade followers that believing in a religion will ensure a rewarding and promising afterlife. People may convert to one religion or another for many different reasons. One of the biggest fears throughout the world is the question of what happens after one dies. People fear what lies beyond one’s life. For this reason, many people decide to change their religions to a different faith with strong beliefs about the afterlife. Some religions such as Christianity, Buddhism, and Islam, all believe in some type of life form after death. Although each believe in a different form of life, they all have beliefs that the body will be rewarded after one dies. For people who are suffering the loss of a close one or are becoming ill, they take the beliefs in the afterlife into deep consideration with converting to a new religion. Other religions, such as Judaism, do not place such an emphasize on the afterlife. Proselytism refers to any effort to convince someone to convert to ones faith and to alter a person’s beliefs. In order for someone to fully engage and convert to a new religion, they must acknowledge, implement, and accept the new ideas which are exclusive to that religion. When a religion promises a good afterlife, a person may be more inclined to following and truly embracing that religion.