World History Argumentative Paper- Religion’s Effect on Society

From the start of civilization, religion has played a crucial role in the development of most societies. The proof of its influence is evident in the way daily life was carried out. Religion had the power to affect everything from social status to common law, thus dominating a large portion of the culture. In ancient Egyptian, Islamic, and Indian society, religion had the capacity to establish how the average person would conduct their daily life.
In the area surrounding the Nile River, there lay a civilization bursting with religious influence. Egypt was a polytheistic society consisting of over 200 gods and goddesses. According to Emily Teeter and Douglas Brewer, authors of Egypt and the Egyptian, “In Egypt, religion and life were so interwoven that it would have been impossible to be agnostic”. Even discoveries in the fields of astronomy, medicine, geography, and art were all drawn from religious beliefs. They used their beliefs to construct explanations for everyday events beyond their understanding, such as the rising and setting of the sun and the notion of death which was represented by, “the sun flying over the sky in the form of a scarab beetle and cessation of life into a mirror image of life wherein the deceased had the same material requirements and desire” (Teeter and Brewer). An ideology that was central to Egyptian religion was the concept of Ma’at, a goddess that exemplified universal harmony through correct daily behavior. Each individual was responsible for the balance of the universe, and if a person failed to act with the correct daily behavior, balance would be disrupted. According to myth, the sun would not rise, crops would not grow, and children would leave their elderly parents if worldly harmony was...

... middle of paper ...

... person in various ways. Whether it is in the requirement of communal worship, correct behavior and devotion, or the maintenance of social order, it is indisputable that religion is the most powerful determining factor in how the average person of any society will conduct their daily life.

Works Cited

"Ancient Egyptian Religion." St.Petersburg Times 1999: n. pag. Print.
"Ancient Egypt: Religion and Everydaylife." Real History. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Mar. 2014. .
Brewer, Douglas J., and Emily Teeter. Egypt and the Egyptians. N.p.: Cambridge UP, 2002. Print.
"Early India, the Asian Way of Life." History World International. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Mar. 2014. .
Stearns, Peter N. "Islam from the Beginning to 1300." International World History Project. N.p.: n.p., 2000. 3. Print.