What Would A World Without Religion Be Like - Term Paper Example

?What would a world without religion be like? Introduction Of all human activities, religion is the only one that triggers strong and varied reaction. Generally agreed to be the search for the truth behind reality (Smith 12) but unlike science, there is transcendent element in the search (Hill 10). This search, religion, means different things to different people. Religion conjure a deep negative image such as cause of war, an excuse for intolerance, or a shelter for the emotionally weak, in some people while for others, it is the centre of their universe, the source of who and what they are, and the reason for their being. Be that as it may, religion is the greatest of human activities that has influenced cultures and shaped political events. Though there is no universally agreed upon definition of religion, it can be said to be the communal and transcendental quest for the truth about reality. It is this community and transcendence elements in religion that makes religion a most powerful force in human history. Empires have collapsed under the impulse of religion and empires have been founded on religion. But the question is: is the human activity worthwhile given that wars have been fought in the name of religion. How will our world be if religion is eliminated? Will empires still rise and fall? Will there still be wars? Or will peace elude our world? Does religion has a place in our world? Or was it just an invention by some persons to keep others busy? In this term paper, the question: how will our world be without religion will be answered. Religion: when and where did it start? Based on archeological evidences, it is known that religion has been a central feature of human life for over 30,000 (Hill 18). It is appears in virtually every human society. For instance, the intentional burial of early humans with goods, which date back some 300, 000 years, is viewed by archeologists as an early religious ritual (Lewis-Williams 23). Symbolic artifacts found in Middle Stone Age site in Africa are also evidences of the religiosity of the early man. However, the religious significance of these Paleolithic artifacts remains controversial (Lewis-Williams 23). Some of the Paleolithic artifacts that are considered to be of religious significance include the Venus figurines, the lion man, the cave paintings from Chauvet Cave, and the elaborate ritual burial from Sungir (Lewis-Williams 23). Indeed, religiosity of man is as old as human existence. Various scholars have tried to propose theories to explain the origin of religion. Among these theories include the animism theory of Edward Burnett Tylor and Herbert Spencer; the fetishism theory of John Lubbock; the hedonism theory of Max Muller and the naturalism theory of Wilhelm Mannhardt. According to the naturalism theory, religion started when man seek explanation of natural events. The lack of consensus among religion scholars on the origin of religion may be due to the diverse religion practices and beliefs humans have evolved throughout history. Be that as it may, it evident from archeological findings that religion is as old as man and is part of every human society. The approach to the question In trying to answer the question: how will our world be without religion?, First an examination of the positive and negative effects of religion will be carried out. Thereafter, a non-religious society exemplified by communist societies in China and the collapsed Soviet Union will be compared with societies that tolerate religion. In this regard, we must distinguish between spirituality and religiosity. While religion incorporates the necessary element of community, spirituality does not. Spirituality is the personal quest for the truth about reality while religion is the communal quest for the truth about reality. This distinction is necessary because spiritually-minded persons need not be religious and could be found in non-religious societies. Religion: the good and the bad There is a powerful two-way relationship between society and the religion. Society exerts significant influence on religion through its cultural, social and political structures. The form that religion takes is closely related to the culture and the context in which it exists. For instance, a visit to a Roman Catholic Church in Africa is likely to be a different experience from a visit to a Roman Catholic Church in Europe, the similarities notwithstanding. In the same way, the political and social structures shape religion. Conversely, religion shapes the cultural, political and social structures in the society. Indeed, a glance at the origins of most of the major religions shows that many were clearly counter-cultural in their earliest days and succeeded because the broke the status quo by inducing significant cultural, social, political changes in the societies where they are practiced. For instance, Jesus Christ, the founder of Christianity was a “Jewish rebel”. The relationship between religion and society has been exploited for good as well as for evil. On one hand, religion provides social, political and economic stability to a large population in a number of ways. Indeed, religion has justified the authority of kings, chiefs, emperors as divine representative, thereby guaranteeing the stability of the political structure. Questioning these authorities is tantamount to questioning the gods. Even some political authorities went as far as declaring themselves as invincible as well as infallible beings. This was true of the Japanese emperors, prior to the Second World War as well as Roman emperors. With the notion that kings and emperors are representatives of the gods ingrained in the consciousness of the people, there is little room for rebellion regardless of the state of things in the society. This is particularly true in Islamic societies, where the political authorities also exercise religious authorities. Even, religions like the Islam and Christianity went far as allowing slave trades. In fact, St. Paul, a leading Christian of the first century, advised slaves to view their master as being ordained by God. This religious teaching is a solid foundation for political stability. The same applies at the family level. The father-husband is the earthly representative of the gods according to most religious teaching. His authority is unquestionable. The wife must submit to him and the children must obey him. Though this may give room for dictatorship at the family level, it is a solid foundation for matrimonial stability. Indeed, the increase in divorce rate in many societies is a testimony that the notion of a father-god in the family as it was in the early days of Christianity provides the foundation for family stability. Indeed, regular religious activity, such as church attendance, has been reported to be a critical factor in marital stability across denominations and overrides effects of doctrinal teaching on divorce (Larson 121). For instance, black Protestants and white Catholics, who share similarly high church attendance rates, have been shown to have similarly low divorce rates (Larson 121). The political stability and social stability provided by religion ultimately lay the foundation for economic prosperity. Collection of tax is justified. For instance, Jesus Christ recognizes the authority of the Roman Caesars and allows the payment of taxes. The collection of taxes enables the central authority to provide social and security services to the people. Even, when the central authority fails to provide the services, nobody questions him given that he is god’s representative on earth. Furthermore, religion promotes trust among people, an essential prerequisite for business. A number of researchers have documented how businesspersons used religious backgrounds to establish one another’s reliability. In recent years, Italian economists have presented findings that religion can boost gross domestic product (GDP) by increasing trust within a society; researchers in the United States showed that religion reduces corruption and increases respect for law in ways that boost overall economic growth (Fitzgerald). On the individual level, religion cherishes hard work and self-reliance. Indeed, St. Paul admonished the early Christians not to encourage idleness in their community by supporting those who are not working. Thus true religiosity promotes financial independence, productivity, and self-reliance. The preeminent German sociologist, Max Weber, in his work, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, show that a connection exists between religious practice and financial well-being among Protestants. Other work on the same theme reveals this connection is not limited to Protestants, but that it exists across a longer period of history and cut across denominational lines. Since religion promotes self-reliance, it ultimately reduces crime in the society. Indeed, practice of religion has been reported to correlate negatively with crime and delinquency in the society (Butt, Stefano and Fricchione 79) Religion is also a means of maintaining peace between unrelated individuals, states, and nations. Almost all religion preaches peace even though some religious bodies justify war under certain conditions. One may condemn such justifications but the intention of those religion organizations that justify war is to restore peace after eliminating those they describe as negative and instruments of evil. Thus is can be seen that all religions work towards peace no matter the approach they have taken to achieve the peace. Apart from restoring peace at the inter-personal levels, religion also encourage peace among members of the same family. Indeed, no matter the number of wars that have been fought in the name of religion, the ultimate aim of these wars at the communal level is to restored peace, elimination of perceived instrument of evil or agent of darkness. On the other hand, most of the justification for war and hatred in the name of religion is founded on intolerance and prejudices. The Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) are known for their emphasis on Holy Scriptures. Even, the South Asia religions have their own Holy Writings. Holy Scripture forms part of communal worship and part of individual spirituality. Members are encouraged to read and study the “Word of God” by reading these Holy Writings. Religions therefore promotes and supports education with the objective that its adherents may be able to study these sacred writing. Furthermore, these writing needed to be copied and translated into different languages. Thus educating its adherents on the art of writing were the only way in which Holy Scriptures could be copied and preserved for posterity. Furthermore, the Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam) are known for the number of schools that they established as part of their missionary endeavor. In Africa, and South America, mission schools contributed a lot to the education of the people. Apart from that, practice of religion has a bearing on academic performance. Indeed, it has been reported that a positive relationship exist between religious practice and education attainment. For instance, religious practice among children has been reported to lead to higher grade point averages, more time spent on homework, and a significant decrease in high school drop-out rates (Fagan 1). All religions promote love. Indeed, the golden rule, “we should treat other as we wish to be treated”, is taught in all religions in one form or the other. This is the reason why religions especially the Abrahamic religions are charity-oriented. Indeed, the number of hospitals and humanitarian services established by these organizations is a manifestation that religions organizations care for the “poor”. At the individual level, religiosity is positively correlated with greater generosity in charitable giving. For instance, in a research on the relationship between religion and philanthropy, it was found that religious practice correlates with a higher rate of care and concern for others. Compared with peers with no religious affiliation, religious respondents were 15 percent more likely to report having tender, concerned feelings for the disadvantaged (Larson 45). This gap was reduced by only 2 percent when the effects of education, income, marital status, sex, race, and age were taken into account. According to Karl Marx, religion is the opium of the people. Indeed, religion does insulate people from their problems by teaching them to trust in a god that will reward their suffering. Thus most religious practitioners are content and grateful for what they are and have. Such contentment is the foundation of happiness. Religious affiliation and regular church attendance are near the top of the list for most people in explaining their own happiness (Mookherjee 403). Happiness is greater and psychological stress is lower for those who attend religious services regularly (Moberg 451). Those pursuing a personal relationship with God tend to have improved relationships with themselves and with others (Stark 165) and are therefore make better friends and neighbors. At the same time, that religion has inspired and empowered some of the most positive and effective campaigns for peace and social justice, so also it has been abuse and use as instrument of hatred, war, and oppression. Given that religion provides a pillar for political stability; certain powerful people have for centuries used religion to defend their position and justify control of society, wealth, personal relationship with total disregard for the welfare of others. Indeed, people have enriched themselves in the name of the gods by taking advantage of members of the same religion. Furthermore, Christian and Muslim fundamentalists are known for their intolerance. Modern day terrorism is highly linked with religious fanatics. Thus people commit murder and other atrocities in the name of the gods. In the same way that religion has promoted education, so also has religion act as obstacle to learning. The is particularly true of the Roman Catholic Church that persecuted scientists and burn so many books under the name of religion. In fact, religion still set itself against learning in today modern society. Recent events have also shown that just as religion reduces crime it also promotes crime within it structures by covering up crime. This is the case of the Roman Catholic Church that has for years cover up cases of child abuse and other sexual misconduct among its clergy. In fact, the present pope, Pope Benedict XVI, while head of the Vatican office dealing with sex abuses, allegedly did not respond to letters from an archbishop on the case of sex abuse in order not to embarrass the Church (BBC). Such tactical approach in saving the face of the Church in public is tantamount to encouraging sexual misconduct among the clergy. Religious societies against non-religious societies A comparison of the non-religious societies of China and the collapsed Soviet Union with societies that tolerate religion shows a marked difference. Most governments that eliminate religion from their societies are known for their meanness and utter disregard for human rights. Non-religious societies are societies of slavery. The freedom of their citizens is restricted no matter the economic prosperity. A case in point is China. Despite the economic prosperity in recent years, the Chinese government has one of the world worse human right records (FreedomHouse). This was also true of the collapsed Soviet Union. Communism, a socio-political theory that seek to redress the social injustice in the society by “killing religion” and redistributing the wealth has not led its disciples to the Promised Land. Thus a world without religion is a dark world, where the people live in fear. Furthermore, crime, and poverty are the end product if eliminating religion from the society. The Soviet Union proves this right. Conclusion Religion has initiated, promoted, and supported war, intolerance, hatred, and other crimes. This negative effect of religion is not a problem inherent in religion but rather the outcome of the human element in religion. The ills of religion cannot swamp the positive contributions of religion at the society, family and individual levels. An experiment of eliminating religion has been carried out in communist societies. The outcome is lack of freedom and other social injustices. Thus a world without religion is a world without freedom and social justice. Indeed, Jesus Christ put it rightly when he told his followers that seek the Truth (God) and the Truth shall set them free. A religious society is a free society the negative effects of religion notwithstanding. Works Cited BBC. Pope accused of failing to act on sex abuse case. 25 March 2010. 11 May 2011 . Butt, C. O., et al. "Religion and its effects on crime and delinquency." Med. Sci. Moint. (2003): 79-82. Fagan, P. F. "Religious Practice and Educational Attainment." Research Synthesis (2010): 1-23. Fitzgerald, M. Satan, the great motivator.The curious economic effects of religion. 15 November 2009. 11 May 2011 . FreedomHouse. Freedom House Annual Report 2010. 4 May 2011. 11 May 2011 . Hill, S. The No-Nonsense Guide to Religion. Toronto: New International Publication Ltd, 2010. Larson, D. B. "Religious Involvement." Rekers, G. E. Family Building. Ventura, Cal: Regal, 1985. 121-147. Lewis-Williams, D. Conceiving God. The Cognitive Origin and Evolution of Religion. London: Thames & Hudson Ltd, 2010. Moberg, D. O. "The Development of Social Indicators of Spiritual Well-Being for Quality of Life Research." Moberg, D. O. Spiritual Well-Being: Sociological Perspectives. 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