As humans, we live in a world where several religions exist, each with its own set of beliefs. So, what exactly does religion mean? Religion is defined as the belief in and worship of godlike controlling power, especially a personal God or gods. Almost everyone on the earth has some sort of religious or social belief. Each belief has a deep history that may be traced all the way back to the beginning of time. Those concepts were created by people, and they are still used today. Religious diversity grows as civilizations interact, which often leads to corruption among communities. Some people, such as (Toynbee, 2001), feel that religious beliefs should be removed and that no beliefs at all should remain.
Challenges for religion use in society
People will be more united without religion, according to supporters of this view, because religion typically says that anyone who does not act in accordance with its values should be socially excluded or even discriminated against.
There are still those who face discrimination due to their religious beliefs nowadays. Many examples exist throughout the history of minorities with different belief systems suffering significantly, and people are still discriminated against due to their religious beliefs. As a result, they argue, there should be no religion. They also suggest that religion restricts people's freedom since they must follow religious regulations. Religion influences and shapes a person's life choices, making them feel as though one authority is telling them what to do and what not to do, and that they are never completely free to live their lives as they would like to. As a result, they believe that if religion is eliminated, they will be free, joyful, and at peace with the rest of humanity.
Purpose of the study
Removing religion from society can be a big mistake so this study will find out Religion’s role in society and why religion should be valued.
Research questions
Assess the role of religion in society
Literature review
This essay begins with an overview of some literature about religion in society and its impact on society’s lives, the effect of religion on harmony, uniting communities, and benefits society as a whole. The next section will discuss the relevant literature related to religion that demonstrates a benefit to people’s health. Finally, there will be a discussion about the ability that religion has in terms of knowing the big questions and guiding people in a good manner.
Religion uses in society and it benefit
Religion often helps society by playing an important role in peace-making, building communities, and unity. It creates social interaction and the information of the same groups. Researcher Maddox mentioned that “by uniting people with the same beliefs, customs, and moral codes, religion can create tight-knit caring communities that benefit society as a whole.” Durkheim who was generally considered the first sociologist who analyzed religion in terms of its societal impact believes religion is about community: it binds people together, promotes behavior consistency, and offers strength during life’s transition and tragedies.
For example, today, we find Christians sharing like in times of Christmas, in the Easter season, and other major Christian days and holidays. Furthermore, they spend time together and help those in need as Dawn stated that, “different health share programs where Christians contribute monthly under different plans all aimed at helping another Christian in need of meeting medical care costs.” Often religion not only benefits those who have the same belief but benefits society as a whole. For instance, Salvation Army to Samaritan’s purse to Compassion International offers countless religious outreach designed to help the poor and needy. Caring for the sick is part of giving.
One said in the Doctrine of the Mean is a doctrine of Confucianism which goes, “All things on earth grow together without one doing harm to another and all doctrines in the world develop in parallel with each other without coming into conflict.” People practice different religions, with different rituals and teachings but they have the same moral ideas. All teach that life has a spiritual dimension and that connecting with that dimension through meditation or prayer or other practices is good. It is a way to unite groups of people globally, based on common values, even if religious groups are different. Therefore, religion unites people together with the same belief, and often it also unites people with different beliefs as some religions practice the same or similar moral ideas.
Religion uses in school and its benefit
Even when we look at Functionalists, they stated that “religions provide answers to spiritual mysteries.” Religion is one of the major resources used to generate meaning in life. Oftentimes, people were too stressed about what is the meaning of life. Why is there suffering in the world? Religion can give some answers, yet different religions give different answers so there is no general answer at all.
For instance, “do we live after death” will be answered differently by Christians, Buddhists, and Jews. As each religion had its own interpretation of the questions. So, I have looked at some of their own views on the meaning of life. For Hinduism they say that it is the gain release from the cycle of rebirth and merging with the eternal divine, thus escaping an inhospitable world. For Christianity, they say that try to love the way Jesus loved. In Islam, they say to submit oneself to the will of Allah.
Specifically, religious students have improved their critical as one researcher stated that, “students who frequently attend religious services scored 2.32 points higher on tests in math and reading than their less religiously-involved peers and more than 75% of students who become more religious during their college years achieved above-average college grades.” According to the National Survey of Children’s Health, parents whose children attended worship at least weekly were less likely to be contacted by their children’s school about behavior problems than parents whose children worshiped less frequently. Religion improves their learning ability to comprehend their actions not only from the perspective of their own advantages but also from the point of view of moral norms Norenzayan’s (2011) study where found that individuals are more likely to behave in a moral or honest manner when they believe in fearsome and punishing supernatural agents.
Often, beliefs influence our behavior and determine our actions. Religion plays a vital role in the formation of self-identity, which then shapes attitudes, and cultural norms and influences individuals. Often they have some thematic principles, namely concepts of god and love, honesty, and peacemaking. Most religions enforce moral behavior through positive reinforcement such as the concept of karma, and reincarnation in Hinduism, heaven-hell and salvation in Christianity, paradise, and hell in Islamism, peaceful afterlife, and reincarnation in indigenous. In their subsequent studies, they concluded that the concept of hell exists to make people act in a moral and ethical manner, whereas the concept of heaven exists to make people feel good and has a direct and positive relation with happiness. As a result, religion often improves a person’s knowledge, and apparently, it offers some answers that no one can answer. So, it gives satisfaction to people in the long run as people often go through these questions in life, and often religion was able to guide an individual’s manner.
Religion’s role in health
For example, according to a 2011 study out of Norway people who attend church often have a lower blood pressure than those who don’t go at all. In especially difficult times, religion plays an important role in human life.
For instance, Christian believe that they have found the meaning of life, and they taught people to know their value and not to kill themselves because it is sin against God. Whenever religious people are faced with problems, they can turn to their god for consolation from communities or family. Even studies have often stated that “religion makes people happier and more engaged in their communities.”
In the US, 36% of the actively religious describe themselves as very happy compared with 25% of the non-religious. In fact, Kosmin and Lachman indicated that “people without a religious affiliation appeared to be at greater risk for depressive symptoms than individuals affiliated with a religion.”
Continuing on, researchers at the Mayo Clinic concluded, “most studies have shown that religious involvement and spirituality are associated with better health outcomes, including greater longevity, coping skills and health-related quality of life (even during terminal illness) and less anxiety, depression, and suicide.” To add on, there are 3 countries out of the 26 where the actively religious are likely to report better health than everyone else because religious people are generally less likely than non-religious to smoke and drink. This leads many individuals to actually take better care of their bodies by abstaining from excessive drinking, prioritizing meditation, or not partaking in activities that may have negative consequences on the body.
Factors that influence the use of religion in society
Humanity
Improve a person’s knowledge
Improve a person’s health
Summary
To include all the points, while removing religions in society may seem like a simple solution, religion may not be the most important in society but like we need science to know what’s going on the Earth, we need religion to see what are the unseen things. Religion is important as it leads us to new ways of thinking and greater thinking. Religion plays a role in peace-making in society and it can help individuals to live more healthily. In many areas, religions play a role in improving a person’s knowledge and often it helps to answer some hard questions in life.