What is the sole of religion in our daily lives? Also comment
on aspects of different religions which you personally value.
“Religion is the clearest telescope through which we can behold the beauties of creation, and
the good of our creator”.
-William Scott Downey
In a nutshell this might be termed as the essence of religion but religion encompasses and
embraces much more. From the dawn of civilization religion has been an integral part of
human life. It blended with the social fibre and provided a bonding with people forming
communities and cultures and promoting social growth. In modern times religion can be
interpreted as à way of life. It helps to connect the inner self with the divine. This fosters mental
peace and well being. Religion reinforces social unity and stability. It defines à common set of
beliefs and rituals practising which people feel closer to each other and bond over. The
communal practice of religion i.e. gathering in places of worship, brings people together
physically, facilitates their communication, helps in building interpersonal relations, increases
social interaction and this strengthens social unity and stability.
An important aspect of religion is social control. It provides a natural code of conduct to its
believers and followers. It provides a model for pious and virtuous living. It upholds certain
ideals and values. The ‘guru’ or preacher of righteousness and piety and hence enforces social
discipline, morality and ethicality. Finest examples of this are the Ten Commandments in the
Judeo Christian tradition. Buddhism also preaches the “Four Noble Truths” and the “Eightfold
path to achieve enlightenment.
Religion helps people discover one's own spirituality. Religion and spirituality are both rooted
in trying to understand the meaning of life, finding the right direction and in connecting with
the Supreme Power. It has a great positive impact on a person’s mental health and his
personality. For example, it provides powerful inspirations to explore one’s own spirituality
which sometimes remains obscure and unexplored. It builds upon mental strength by
encouraging meditation and self reflection. It renews à sense of belonging by connecting with
nature, the physical environment, and humanity. Religion sets forth a code of conduct which
restrains people from sinful acts and wrong doing such as suicides, alcoholism, drug abuse
etc. It helps foster peace, forgiveness, caring, sharing and sublime thoughts. It provides
emotional support during tough and stressful times since many people seek refuge in
religiosity.
Religion brings about social change. Religion can be à revolutionary force that can bring about
change. The US civil rights movement headed by Martin Luther King Jr. was aided by the
Baptist movement. The organised campaigns and peaceful protests led by the church forced
inequalities and systematic racism into the public eye leading to change. The Arab Spring
which swept across the Middle East and North Africa between 2010-2014 offers a more
contemporary example of how religion can affect positive social change. Religious practice
inculcates and endorses moralist values. Decline of religious influences has resulted in low
ethical standards, loss of civility and increased violence. Thus it can be concluded that religion
has the power to bring forth positive changes in the society.
Religion stimulates economic growth. It acts as a catalyst to socio- economic growth.
According to surveys, countries where religious freedom was more and religious hostilities
were less c fared better economically. This was due to the fact that firms located in
communities which adhered to ethical norms scored low on corruption and economic
malpractices. High religious adherence ensured lower likelihood of financial restatement,
lower incidence of bad debt, tax sheltering and a more honest approach towards voluntary
disclosures.
Religion has done much to promote public health. Some of the first hospitals were established
by the early Christian Church. Mediaeval Islamic societies strove to improve health innovating
in the areas of surgery, hygiene and hospital administration. Faith-based non-governmental
organisations work throughout the world with their humanitarian outreach programs where
people are educated on proper hygiene, cleanliness,sanitation and other health-related issues
to be able to develop healthy, fit and robust communities.
For example churches in Papua New Guinea work to control and spread awareness about
HIV. Religion can affect policy. The Catholic Church has policies which hampers provision of
reproductive health services including family planning, abortion and contraception. Religion
promotes philanthropy. Religious people are more generous and more disposed towards
charity. Religion preachers benevolence, kindness and altruism. People who are religiously
affiliated are more likely to make a charitable donation of any kind.
THE NEGATIVE IMPACTS OF RELIGION
Though religion is an esoteric spiritual force which have à positive impact on the world and
society it has a tremendous negative impact too.
Religion is the power to divide and create both political and social boundaries. The best
example of this can be the divide which Hinduism and Islam has created among the
neighboring countries of India and Pakistan the conflict that arose between Israel and
Palestine, between the Arab countries and the Western world. Religious differences have
negatively influenced political, social and cultural outlooks so much so that in all the above
examples people have become sworn enemies of each other.
Religion fans fanaticism. Fanaticism can be explained as the overenthusiastic, obsessive zeal
in the persuit of religion which the followers enforce and expect all to abide by. Religious
fanaticism can be also termed as religious extremism with dogmatism, discrimination and
severe persecution of its non followers. Christian fanaticism came with Roman emperor
Constantine I with the repression of all Non-christians and Christians who did not line up with
Orthodox ideology, policy and practice. The Crusades were holy wars waged to maintain
Christianity’s theological and social control. Till modern days the sectarian war of religion
continues between Catholics and Protestants. Islamic fanaticism has also been practised
since ancient times with sectarian violence between the Shia and Sunnis. The Jihad or the
holy war which the Islamic fundamentalists wage against secularism by civil coercion, torture
and killing of innocent people is a glaring example of religious bigotry and religious insanity.
Religion promotes ignorance. Religion urges people to follow beliefs which are often not based
on any factual or experiential evidence. It blindfolds people into believing the esoteric and
mystical theosophies which often cloud their rational minds, knowledge and rationalism are
incompatible with religion and religion strives to confine the minds of the people within the
darkness of ignorance. It gives rise to superstition and baseless rituals which do more harm
to mankind and society than good. Human sacrifice to please the Gods, tossing infants to be
blessed with more babies, walking bare-footed over the burning coal pit, cannibalism by the
Aghoris to attain control over spirits are some such atrocious and barbaric rituals which are
practised under the guise of religion.
Religion is opposed to science. Science is based on evidence and hard facts. Scientists look
for evidence to derive answers but biased search for evidence epitomises the psychology of
religion. Religion includes a number of conforting beliefs like an afterlife, the existence of a
loving God. the good life after death, Filling one's head with self-serving beliefs opens the door
to unscientific thinking. Religion believes in miracles and the believers see it as an opportunity
to reinforce their faith by declaring divine intervention. Science on the other hand does not
believe in miracles and searches for the natural cause to derive an explanation to unexplained
events or miracles. Religion opposes new discoveries and inventions and thus proves a
hindrance to the progress of science. Galileo was sentenced and tried for proposing the
scientific fact that the sun and not the earth was the centre of the universe contrary to Sacred
and Divine scriptures. Charles Darwin's theory of evolution was accepted universally by the
world's scientific community but faced vigorous opposition to evolution theory especially
among Evangelical Christians, which continues to exist. Religion spurs religious intolerance.
Religious intolerance is an act of usurping the rights of people of another religion to practise
and profess that believes freely. Abuse and discrimination faced by the people of a different
religion or minority religious group defines intolerance which is extremely prevalent all over
the world today. In 1981 United Nation declared elimination of all forms of intolerance and
discrimination based on religion and belief but regrettably those standards are flouted with
impunity in every corner of this world. Desecrating places of worship like churches, temples,
or mosques, killing people belonging to other religions, discriminations based on religious
differences are all examples of religious intolerance.
Religion is patriarchal and hence creates a gender divide with women being subjected to
Subjugation. Christianity abuses, oppresses, objectifies women and then attempts to
rationalise it all in the name of religion as being 'Biblical' and 'Holy'. It bars women from
officiating as spiritual leaders and undermines their wisdom, authority and experience. Islam
poses the encumbrances of purdah, veiling, sexual slavery, loss of inheritance rights on
women. Islamic traditions strive to strip the women of all dignity and self respect and suppress
them to unquestioned male dominance.
Hinduism created women with respect in the ancient times as is evident from the worship of
the feminine form of 'Shakti' the authoring of the Vedas by women, women being granted the
status of a saint like Gargi, Maitreyi or Lopamudra. As time progressed women were
suppressed, exploited, persecuted and tyrannized. Evil practices like female infanticide, Sati,
Devdasi system, female foeticide gained prevalence and then practices were imposed on
women in the guise of religious traditions.
Religion provokes hatred, hostility, revenge, repugnance and revulsion. The most prominent
example of this is the Islamophobia of the Hindus and vice versa. The Hindus and Muslims
have permanantly lived in mutual distrust and misgiving in India. The same sentiment has
been reflected by the two neighbouring countries of India and Pakistan.
Numerous wars and riots have been fought under the cloud of suspicion and scepticism. After
the attack on the World Trade Centre on 9th September 2001, the Americans have a morbid
fear and extreme hostility towards the Muslims. Hate crimes against Muslims are on the rise
in America. Hatred of Islam, stigmatization and dislike of Muslims is pervasive in the American
society. Anti-semitism which means hatred of Jews is another example of how religion spurs
hostility, animosity, and sectarianism amongst different religious communities and its
followers. The 'Holocaust' is history's most infamous instance of religious bigotry where 6
million Jews were murdered across German- occupied Europe by Hitler and his Nazi forces.
THE GOOD ASPECTS OF RELIGION
All religions of the world have some teachings which it mandates its followers to comply
willingly. These instructions are value based and are formulated keeping in mind the wellbeing of its followers, service to society and benefit of mankind. Christianity upholds the
following virtues:Generosity- this is the core Christian value of being altruistic and serving the underprivileged.
It exhorts people to be kind and unselfish especially with money and frame.
Love- Jesus asks his followers to love God and love fellow human beings. Love is an all
encompassing emotion which encapsulates care for others and their well-being.
Seek peace- Peace in one's heart and peace with others are two Christian principles worthy
of embracing.
Judaism preaches the following set of values and urges its followers to follow them.
Trustworthiness- it teaches honesty, reliability, loyalty, integrity and security
Responsibility- It exhorts its followers to be dependable, accountable and to fulfil all the
commitments.
Respect- it is people to be respectful in their dealing with fellow human beings, respect God
and earn respect from others.
In Islam collective morality is expressed in the Quran in such terms as equality, justice,
fairness, brotherwood money, compassion and freedom of choice.
The five pillars of Islam are:Shahadat (Faith), Salah (Prayer), Zakat (Almsgiving), Sawm (Fasting) and Haj (Pilgrimage).
Sikhism preaches the values of:Truth and truthful Living- It urges that Sikhs live a life of truth, honesty and different from the
days it and life when it preaches his followers to be brave, fight for wrong and refrain from
deceit and lies.
Valour- It preaches its followers to be brave. fight for wrong and injustice, help the week and
the helpless.
To conclude, "the essence of all religion is one. Only their approaches are different."
(Mahatma Gandhi)