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The place of religion in society has become increasingly contentious in recent years. In the
past few centuries, most stable societies have been underpinned by a single religion.
Naturally there have been competing factions within the religion contained in a single society.
Often, as in the case of different sects, there has been a division within society on religious
grounds. However, the differences have been of what Christians often refer to as interdenominational
rather than a conflict of religion. Nevertheless, there have been indisputable
conflicts, often politically based. These have been present in all the major religions of the
world for several centuries. In addition, there has been a tradition of religious proselytising
between the religions over the centuries, although this usually manifested itself as the result
of a clash of cultures and traditions. It also resulted from the expansion of populations or
political spheres of influence.
A number of factors have lead to the importance of religious divides in recent decades. One
cause is the rapid expansion of communications and international transport. Another is the
increasing amount of persecution and refugees, either political or economic. In the aftermath
of empires stretching across the world, people who were subjects of western imperialism
naturally turned to the seats of their empires to help to sustain their welfare, because those
same empires had often offered them welfare in exchange for exploitation. The result in
every case has been the rapid mixing of cultures, traditions and religions. This is not a new
phenomenon. Migrations and refugees have contributed greatly to the growth and richness of
societies over the centuries. What is different in this case is the pace at which the confluence
has occurred. There has always been friction where incoming cultures and religions have
been implanted in an established society. Such “interlopers” have often seemingly threatened
the existing stability and order. However, in most cases, when the rate of assimilation has
been slow or the scale relatively small, the symptoms were rarely cataclysmic. It is true that
there were often religious and political crusades to suppress or conquer the inhabitants of
“foreign” lands, but these should be regarded as political power seeking or ideological
truculence rather than the result of a clash of religious cultures.
Why is there religion?
Religion is said to help to satisfy the human need for spiritual fulfilment. This at once raises
the question of what spiritual fulfilment is. One description of spiritual fulfilment is the need
to feel comfortable with things that are beyond human understanding. Thus the need to
believe in a god or gods arises from the inability to understand the origin and purpose of life.
Note that the need relates to things beyond human understanding, rather than personal
understanding. Thus, in a technological society, the fact that a person does not understand the
principles of television or inertial guidance systems does not give rise to a religious
explanation. It is widely recognised that there are, within that society, those who understand
the principles of these systems. This is aided by a class of individuals who specialise in either
explaining them in simplified terms or popularising them to ordinary people. However, to
someone in a society that has no previous contact with these concepts, they may engender
mystical or religious belief.
Given the need to come to some understanding of things that are not understandable within
society, it becomes clear that the birth of religion was a consequence of the gradual
realisation by the human race of its awareness of cause and effect. This can be seen from the
perspective of early mankind. How do natural phenomena occur, what causes them, where
did we come from, who made us, why are their good times and bad times? These must be
just some of the many questions asked by the emerging human race. It was easy to see cause
and effect where there was human activity. It would have also been accepted that animals
cause things to happen and that plants grow and die. But beyond this, people must have
looked for some form of “Human” cause. When it came to accounting for wind, earthquakes,
rain and floods, drought and famine, the Sun, Moon and stars, it must have been
inconceivable that there could not be some hidden hand or hands behind them. And so they
invented gods. In the Middle East, there were monotheistic religions. In Europe there were
polytheistic religions. In Asia there were mystical religions. It has been asserted that God
made man in his own image. It is probably more correct to say that man made God in his
own image.
When things went well it was because the gods were well pleased. When things went badly it
was because the gods were angry. People began to offer prayers and supplications to the gods
to appease them and enlist their help. Those who claimed to understand the gods, or who
could predict happenings such as eclipses, became the priests to the gods. It was seen that
human emotion could be swayed by sorrow, remorse and pleas for forgiveness. So it was
only natural for the concept of repentance to become part of the rites for appeasing the gods.
Those who controlled religion realised that it was a great source of power. It offered reserves
of strength when cultures clashed. By the time social complexity reached the point which we
might describe as civilisation, religion was well established and accepted by almost everyone.
What is religion?
Religion is almost always a belief in some form of supernatural happenings or causes. It is
always associated with some sort of discipline, be it physical, mental or psychological. Such
disciplines often manifest themselves as religious ritual or habitual behaviour. Religion
underpins the emotions and logic of almost everyone. In today’s secular societies, many deny
the fact, but all are so steeped in the traditions and ideas basic to religion that it is impossible
to shake off its effects. Even in societies where the official line has been that there is no God,
the ordinary people have been so exposed to a long tradition of religious concepts that almost
no-one could be devoid of its effects. Religion effectively provides an identity for those who
consider themselves to be members of a particular group. Even those who do not consider
themselves to be members, or do not actively participate, but are associated mainly with those
are members of a sect, effectively identify themselves and are identified by others, as
belonging to the culture of the sect.
The act of following the discipline of a religion, however sparingly, is associated with the
idea of generating a sense of well-being. When people confess their sins, they feel better
about themselves. When people are devout and follow the discipline rigorously, they often
feel that they are superior to those who are less rigorous. They have generated a self-excusal
for condemning and despising others. This type of behaviour is, of course, not confined to
religion. There are many examples where people are bound by other common elements, such
as living as neighbours, working as colleagues or supporting the same football team.
However, all these groups take on some elements of religion, because there are common
beliefs and values. Those who are seen to have a disregard, or even disrespect, for those
values are seen as a threat to the group. This has always been the case with religion. It has
been used as an excuse to persecute others. Thus, the real nature of religion is that it forms
individuals into groups, who share common superstitions, common ideals, common fears and
common means of achieving a sense of well-being.
The effect of religion
In general, religions set out to be idealistic, to achieve common good and encourage their
members to be better people. On the surface, they provide a vehicle for individuals to
account for things which otherwise would be unexplainable and offer a safety valve for the
relief of guilt. They also provide a framework that serves as a code of behaviour. They do
this via the mechanisms of commandments and sin. The latter can be defined as behaviour
proscribed by a religion. Many religions notionally encourage believers to consider those
who are less well off than themselves. All these attributes operate at the level of the
individual, which many may argue is the correct level for religious activity. So much for the
good news. Now for the bad news, which unfortunately outweighs the good news be a
considerable amount.
As has been discussed above, religions have the societal effect of dividing people into “us”
and “them”. This unfortunately has the same characteristics as any other form of
discrimination, such as racialism [1]. It becomes easy to consider “us” as the righteous and
“them” as unrighteous. When things go wrong, when there is friction between communities,
the unbelievers become an easy target for blame. It is easy to become self-righteous and look
down upon those we consider to be inferior. These feelings are not of course, stated aims of
religious leaders, but they do gain strength in an environment where there is fear and a lack of
understanding. Wherever there is a dispute between factions of society, whether it be of a
racial, nationalistic or class-based nature, religion is often brought into the equation to recruit
support from within a religious base, whether or not that support is justified. Indeed, religion
becomes the embodiment of evil, quite contrary to its original intent.
At both the societal and individual level, religion also has another considerable consequence.
Because it depends on a belief in the divine, it encourages a belief in divine intervention. It is
somehow thought that prayer to the divinity will change the course of events. In that respect
it is a substitute for action and decision. Sometimes prayer can be used to gain personal
fortitude to resist fear, which can be beneficial on occasions. However, the use of prayer can
also take the form of wishing ill to others, effectively acting as a curse. It is thought that the
divinity will vent anger on those who are judged to be oppressors or sinners. This is a short
step from believing that the cause justifies evil in the name of the divinity. It also reinforces
the attitude that there is no need to understand or be awed by things that are beyond our
comprehension. So, instead of seeing beauty in creation without a deity, only impossible
chaos can be seen. Such an attitude reinforces the belief in a deity. Thus religion has become
a self-reinforcing mental prison.
Religion can also be used as a tool of suppression. It is easy to maintain order and nullify
dissent by citing religious grounds. It is often used to pour scorn on those who do not believe,
so that when individuals question the right to govern, the right to interpret religion or the
existence of the deity, indignant repugnance is generated in those who are in a position to
impose censorship. Often this can be achieved by simple peer group pressure. Religious
“ethics” are cited in support of many spurious theories and taboos. The basis of many of
these is that the life force is somehow holy, that life is the sole preserve of the deity. Such is
the arbitrary nature of the arguments that, even within a single sect of a single religion, there
will be theological disagreements about what is ethical and what is unethical. Because laws
secular laws are believed to be made with religious principles underpinning them, it is easy
for the judiciary to fall into the trap of condemning individuals to cruelty and inhumanity in
the belief that it is ethical to do so.
At a personal level religion fulfils the role of accounting for a lack of knowledge and offering
hope in the face of difficulties. It also offers a sense of belonging. Unfortunately, these
personal attributes of religion are all too easily swamped by its societal consequences. Thus
it can be reasonably argued that religion, although claiming to lead people towards truth,
actually leads them in the opposite direction. It nurtures censorship, suppression and
domination of the majority by a few. Indeed, it is not unreasonable to claim that religion is at
best self-gratifying and, at worst, thoroughly evil.
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