World Religion lesson 2

• There is no doubt that religion has an important role in society. In fact, it has become so closely intertwined with other institutions such as political and economic systems that religious beliefs sometimes became the basis of political legitimacy.
• Religion Promotes Social Harmony

  Religion believes in supernatural beings and powers. It practices a set of rituals and ceremonious rites of passage and rites of intensification. It also regards religious leaders such as priests, priestesses and shamans in high esteem.
• Religion Provides Moral Values

  Perhaps one of the most significant functions of religion is that it encourages moral values. It provides a systematic model of the universe, which in effect determines organized human behavior. By providing moral values, one is able to distinguish right from wrong, good from evil.
• Religion Provides Social Change

  Since religion is a source of moral values, religion provides social change. It can be very effective in lobbying and campaigning for certain social issues using its own moral teachings as the basis of argument.
• Religion Reduces Fear of the Unknown

  Religion was developed from man’s need to have a sense of origin and destination; to discover where they came from and where they are bound to go to when they die. Religion provides answers for phenomena and questions that science or reason cannot explain.
• Religion Gives Positive Goals in Life

  People were inspired by the stories of different prophets from their own religious affiliations, like that of Moses, Siddharta Gautama, and Muhammad.
• Religion Gives People a Sense of Belonging

  Just as family, ethnicity, or nationality give people a sense of belonging, so does religion. For some, religion provides people with personal identity as part of a group with similar worldviews, beliefs, values, practices, and lifestyles.
• NEGATIVE EFFECTS OF RELIGION

  Religion has often been named as the culprit behind divisiveness and conflicts among people. There is also a belief that religion can be dangerous to society when used to advance the interests of a group of people at the expense of other people eapecially those with different religious beliefs.
• Religion Affirms Social Hierarchy

  Some religions affirm social hierarchy often favoring men and as a result, perpetuate the notions of class or gender discrimination and oppression.
• Religion Causes Discrimination

  There are some who say that religion, after turning people against themselves, turn people against each other. This happens when people do not tolerate religious ideologies different from the one they follow.
• Religion Triggers Conflicts and Fights

  Religion also has some aspects which make it susceptible to be a source of conflict and war. History witnessed numerous lives sacrificed and lost in the name of religion.
• Religion As An Economic Tool for Exploiting the Masses

  According to the German philosopher Karl Marx, “religion is the opium of the masses.” This is in relation to his critical approach to religion in which he proposed that the bourgeoisie keeps the proletariat in control through religion.
• Religion Impedes Scientific Success and Development

  Throughout history, religion has proven to impede scientific development. For example, it has often been said that the Catholic Church used to teach that the world is flat and warned people against going to faraway places if they do not wish to fall off the edge of the earth.
• Religion Obstructs the Use of Reason

  Many question the suitability of religious doctrines to the needs of the present and future generations. In order to put these dogma to practice, religion should, therefore, evolve and learn to adapt to the ever changing world.