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Role of religion in politics
Impact Of Religion On Our Society
Impact Of Religion On Our Society
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Recommended: Role of religion in politics
Whether it is a bomb going off in a market place, or the hijacking of an aircraft where innocent people are held at ransom to achieve political ends, we live in an age, where the manipulation and loss of innocent lives has become commonplace.
Religion is used as a tool by the governments the elites class for their own interests. Politicization of religion is it good or bad can be seen in history. Pakistan was formed by politicizing Islam. Not just Pakistan Nigeria Turkey India is other examples history has stated.
The concept of religion as viewed by philosophers has its roots embedded in politics which indicates that the politicization of religion is a common phenomenon. The renowned German philosopher Karl Heinrich Marx had the idea that every society has a group of power hungry people (rulers) who enforce harsh policies on the public in order to maintain their power and status. Now, in order to deviate the public from the miseries and distress (that the oppressors have enforced upon them by imposing cruel laws), the oppressors use religion as a tool to give illusionary happiness to the people. As Karl Marx said “Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the masses”. So, according to Marx religion being “the opium of the masses” helps the oppressors (rulers) in suppressing the people by providing excuses and reasons for their cruel laws which keeps the society functioning.
The relation between religion and politics continues to be an important theme in political philosophy. One reason for the importance of this topic is that religions often make strong claims on people’s allegiance, and universal religions make these claims on all pe...
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...ed races is one of the most fantastically absurd myths that historians have ever repeated.”
Muslims ruled Spain for about 800 years. Throughout this time, and up until they were at last constrained out, the non-Muslims there were alive and thriving. Furthermore, Christian and Jewish minorities have made due in the Muslim terrains of the Middle East for a long time. Nations, for example, Egypt, Morocco, Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan all have huge Christian and/or Jewish populaces. This is not astounding to a Muslim, for his confidence restricts him from constraining others to see his perspective. Glorious Qur’an says:
“Let there be no compulsion in religion: Truth stands out clear from Error: whoever rejects evil and believes in God hath grasped the most trustworthy hand-hold, that never breaks. And God heareth and knoweth all things.” [Al-Qur’an 2:256]
Religion is considered as a pervasive force in this world. It shapes people as to how they behave and interact with almost everything present in the society. Influencing behavior, character formations, ideals, policies, standards are just among the dimensions and societal perspectives affected and impacted by religion. Because of these applications and implications in human lives and existence, religion should be understood deeply, particularly, on how it affects the world. Looking at the American perspective of the term "religion," it could be simply
Religion is a part of society that is so closely bound to the rest of one’s life it becomes hard to distinguish what part of religion is actually being portrayed through themselves, or what is being portrayed through their culture and the rest of their society. In Holy Terrors, Bruce Lincoln states that religion is used as a justifiable mean of supporting violence and war throughout time (Lincoln 2). This becomes truly visible in times such as the practice of Jihad, the Reformation, and 9/11. The purpose of this essay is to show that as long as religion is bound to a political and cultural aspect of a community, religious war and destruction will always occur throughout the world. A historical methodology will be deployed in order to gain
According to Marx, religion comes from the imagination of the mind, “Man makes religion.” (H/R,p.11) Marx believes in Atheism and that religion is simply justification to our actions and behaviors as “followers.”
Although the extent of its influence varied through the years, religion continued to command a central role in European politics, society, culture, and thought, from the late 16th century to the Enlightenment. As illustrated by the examples above, it remained a powerful tool of leaders used it in various capacities and to varying degrees.
Religion has many effects in any society. It can either destroy it by proving customs wrong or it can guide it like it guides converts to believe in the religion. Religion creates two different societies and while it guides one to become stronger it will destroy another at the same time. Religion guides societies and destroys them.
Slezak, P. "Gods of the State: Atheism, Enlightenment and Barbarity." Politics and Religion in the New Century: Philosophical Reflections (2009): 20. Web. 20 Oct. 2012.
Religion has always played a major role in the development of human society. This is the main reason why it has so often been used for unjust purposes. The concept of war is in complete opposition to what Islam and Christianity teach their followers. Still, by different means, religion was and is often brought into play to cater for the interests of powerful people.
My major area of study is Political Science, and even if you haven’t majored in political studies you know that there are few things left untouched by politics. Religion, of course, is no exception. Issues concerning religion are some of the most hotly contested topics in politics today. Consider as an example, the seemingly never-ending conflict in the Middle East over rights to Israel. It can be argued that this conflict has as much to do with politics as it does with religious beliefs. However, I think the way in which politics most closely relates to the study of world religions is in its creation of so- called “civil religion.”
Though there are many religions that are still practiced in the world, it is important to see what role they play in culture and thinking. When religion is taken in healthy amounts with a strong mind, religion can be a blessing and a gift to people everywhere. It can provide hope to people who need it the most, while inspiring others to take action and make positive changes. However, overdosing on religion can cause equal amounts of pain and anger.
The role of religion in politics is a topic that has long been argued, and has contributed to the start of wars, schisms (both political and religious), and other forms of inter and intra-state conflict. This topic, as a result of its checkered past, has become quite controversial, with many different viewpoints. One argument, put forth by many people throughout history, is that religion and the government should remain separate to avoid any conflicting interests. This view also typically suggests that there is one, or several, large and organized religions like the Roman Catholic Church, which would be able to use their “divine” authority to sway the politics of a given state by promising or threatening some form of godly approval or disapproval. By leveraging their divine power, individual figures within a religion, as well as the religion as a whole, could gain secular power for themselves, or over others. A second view, which was developed by many theologians through history, suggests that that without religion there would be a general lack of morality in the people and leaders of a given state, which would give way to poor political decisions that would not be in the interest of the people and perhaps even God (or the gods). This argument, however, does not address the fact that morality can exist without religion. In sociology, it is commonly accepted that social norms, which include morality, can result from any number of things. Religion, laws, or the basic desire of survival can all create these norms, so it suffices to say that as a society, our morals reflect our desire to live in relative peace through the creation of laws that serve to help us to survive. The argument of whether or not religion and politics should mix...
" Political Theology 10.2 (2009): 287-303. Academic Search Complete. Web. The Web. The Web.
Throughout the course of history, man has looked to religion for answers. Curiosity as to how we got here and why we are have driven people to seek out answers to these somewhat unanswerable questions. Over the past few thousand years, several varying religions have been established, some more prominent than others. Many of them share a similar story of a divine creator who has always been and will always be. In the case of Christianity, whether true or not, it has proven to be beneficial to society as a whole. The Bible set the standard for the moral compass that humans live their lives by to this day. The key fundamental problem with religion, although not the fault of religion, is that man has often used it as a gateway to power and prominence. In the case of the 18th century Gallican church, the French were abusing their religious powers, thus creating vast inequality throughout France, which eventually led to a rebellion against the church, and the eventual destruction of the church within France.
Marx saw religion as an evil that existed in society and that it brought down all the people that believed in that religion. Marx said that, ?It [religion] is the opium of the people,?[1] and in saying this, Marx meant that religion was contagious on society. Once the society had a taste for the religion, they became totally engulfed it in, and then they do not want to get out of that way of live because they see it as a good way to live. Then even if people wanted to get out of the religion it was hard to get out because the whole society had already been infected by the ?opium.?
For thousands of years, religion has exerted a great influence over economic and political life. Even today religion is called upon to support rulers, contacts and other legal procedures.
A vital part of conflicts and how they arise is the idea of identity. Who a person is can determine how he or she presents, interprets, and reciprocates actions with another party. Something that the majority of the world uses to define its identity with is religion. Many people may think of religion as a significant cause in the creation of conflicts, as there have been and still are so many disputes rooted in religious differences. Too many people nowadays look past the healing aspects that may be applied equally from across many religions, and instead focus only upon its ability to divide people. It is upsetting to know that “the parts of [religion] that speak for openness, diversity, and unity have been a woefully underdeveloped resource in conflict resolution in general’” (Goldberg, & Blancke, 2011). Nevertheless, I wish to analyze the other half of conflict with respect to this intense personal identifier. I ask, what role does religion play in conflict resolution?