The effect of religion in social, cultural and political aspect, Study notes of Religious studies

Download The effect of religion in social, cultural and political aspect and more Study notes Religious studies in PDF only on Docsity! By: Ms. Jo Marie Nel C. Garcia Religion A. Positive Effects Promotes Social Harmony Provides Moral Values Provides Social Change Explains the Unknown Gives Positive Goal in Life Gives People a Sense of Belonging B. Negative Effects Affirms Social Hierarchy Causes Discrimination Triggers Conflicts and Fights Serves as an Economic Tool for Controlling the Masses Impedes Scientific Success and Development Obstructs the Use of Reason  This is one of the most significant functions of religion. 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. It also provides a system of reward and punishment that administers and standardizes people’s behavior in society.  Some people believe that following rules of their religion is more important than government rules since most people give more importance to the reward and punishment in the afterlife.  Since religion is a source of moral values, it provides social change. It can be very effective in lobbying and campaigning for certain social issues using its own moral teachings as the basis for argument.  Religion has the potential to institute social change, especially in the issues concerning poverty, reproductive health, gender equality and religious discrimination.  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 when they die. Religion provides answers for phenomena and questions that science or reason cannot explain.  Myths about creation abound but more importantly, religion has provided assurances as to where spirits will go when people die, reducing people’s fear of death as something undesirable.  Some religions have even made death a better alternative to living in uncertainty.  Some religions often favor men and as a result, perpetuate the notions of class or gender discrimination or oppression.  Examples:  Confucianism emphasizes the relation between the ruler and the subject, with the ruler exercising authority over the people.  The traditional caste system in India would also reflect how religion shows political and social structures since it propagated the idea that people had to be subdivided into certain social classes with particular social roles and that the attainment of moksha (union of the universal and individual soul) would depend on how they performed their duties based on their designated class.  Religion can be a source of discrimination or the prejudicial treatment of different categories of people or things.  Some people do not tolerate religious ideologies different from the one they follow. Religious fanaticism can lead to feelings of hatred, which could lead to racism and eventually violence.  Throughout history, religion has been used by colonizers to justify their forcible occupation of territories.  There are also some religions which discriminate other religions by saying that theirs is the “right religion” and that only their followers will be saved in the afterlife.  Catholic church claimed that the earth was flat and that it is the center of the solar system and so when Copernicus stated his theory that the sun is the center of the solar system, he was banned from the church and his book was banned for more than 200 years.  Some religions have rituals that impede scientific success. Some are even unsanitary which may cause more danger to people.  For example:  During the cholera outbreak in the Philippines, the catholic practice of having the dead body of cholera victims be brought to church for a Mass was seen as one reason why the cholera epidemic continued to spread rapidly.  Many question the sustainability of religious doctrines to the needs od the present and future generations. Ancient religious beliefs and practices which have proven to be inhuman should be replaced with sensible ones.  For example:  Trepanning or boring of holes in the skull, a surgical procedure performed on epileptics and the mentally ill, with the belie that through the hole, the evil spirit will leave the person 1. Self-Immolation of Buddhist Monk in Vietnam 2. Widow burning among Hindus in India 3. The Inquisition 4. The Godhra train incident in India in 2002