Introduction to World Religions and Belief Systems
In this module, it aims to examine the positive and negative effects of religion on
people’s everyday life and in our society.
Objective of this Module
Understand the worldview of each of the world’s major religions
Analyze the culture of the region that gave rise to specific religions
Explain and describe the core teachings of the major religions
Lesson 3: Effects of Religion
Objectives
1. Identify the positive and negative effects of religions
2. Provide evidence that religion brought about an event in history
3. Justify that religion can have positive and negative effects on society.
According to a research done by Patrick Fagan, 1996, the following are some of the
positive consequences that flow from the practice of religion:
The strength of the family unit is intertwined with the practice of religion. Church goers
are more likely to be married, less likely to be divorced or single, and more likely to
manifest high levels of satisfaction in marriage.
Church attendance is the most important predictor of marital stability and happiness.
The regular practice of religion helps poor persons move out of poverty. Regular church
attendance, for example, is particularly instrumental in helping young people to escape
the poverty of inner-city life.
Religious belief and practice contribute substantially to the formation of personal moral
criteria and sound moral judgment.
Regular religious practice generally inoculates individuals against a host of social
problems, including suicide, drug abuse, out-of-wedlock births, crime, and divorce.
The regular practice of religion also encourages such beneficial effects on mental health
as less depression (a modern epidemic), more self-esteem, and greater family and marital
happiness.
In repairing damage caused by alcoholism, drug addiction, and marital breakdown,
religious belief and practice are a major source of strength and recovery.
Regular practice of religion is good for personal physical health: It increases longevity,
improves one's chances of recovery from illness, and lessens the incidence of many killer
diseases.
Religious practice appears to have enormous potential for addressing today's social problems.
As summarized in 1991 by Allen Bergin, professor of psychology at Brigham Young University,
considerable evidence indicates that religious involvement reduces "such problems as sexual
permissiveness, teen pregnancy, suicide, drug abuse, alcoholism, and to some extent deviant and
delinquent acts, and increases self-esteem, family cohesiveness and general wellbeing.... Some
religious influences have a modest impact whereas another portion seem like the mental
equivalent of nuclear energy.... More generally, social scientists are discovering the continuing
power of religion to protect the family from the forces that would tear it down."
According to Gliatto, 2020 he listed negative effects of religion:
Many religions teach that some people will go to hell after they die. It is pretty harsh to say
that someone deserves to suffer for all eternity. Some religious groups go even farther and claim
that you have to belong to their religion to achieve salvation, which means that anyone who
doesn’t belong to their religion will automatically go to hell.
Also, some religious people worry that they themselves might go to hell, which is a source of
unnecessary anxiety in their lives. Some religions, especially the Catholic Church, have a long
history of suppressing human sexuality, even when it’s completely normal and healthy sexuality.
And when it gets suppressed, people don’t learn how use it.
Many religions teach that homosexuality is evil. Some religions have a long history of
silencing and oppressing women. Some religions have a culture that turns a blind eye towards
physical and/or sexual abuse. Many holy books, including both the Bible and the Qur’an, contain
some passages which are bizarre and violent and which have inspired some fundamentalists to
commit bizarre and violent actions.
In the past, religious beliefs were used as a reason for executing or sacrificing people.
Religion sometimes encourages people to delay happiness until the afterlife, rather enjoying this
life while we have it. Religion sometimes inspires people to devote their entire lives to a
religious cause, when they could have done something more productive and fulfilling with their
lives.
Religion teaches people to accept injustice as God’s will, rather than to fight against it. (Karl
Marx’s criticism). Religion sometimes promotes a patronizing attitude towards the poor. In
Christianity, some of Jesus’ teachings advocate a little too much meekness. In some parts of the
world, religion has too much influence on the government (i. e. a theocracy). Some religious
groups encourage people to vote for political candidates who are opposed to any sort of progress,
just because they are socially conservative.
Religion encourages people to believe in superstitions (e. g. the idea that if you pray for
something, God will make it happen). Related to this, religion teaches people to believe in
doctrines that are very unlikely to be true and that an intelligent person should not believe in. An
example would be the Catholic doctrine of the Virgin Birth of Christ.
Some religious groups place too much emphasis on following the letter of the law with
regard to their rules, dress, rituals, etc. Religion fosters an attitude of contempt towards people
who are less religious. Some religious communities are very insular and fear the outside world.
Some very extreme religious groups believe that the end of the world is imminent and that
people need to prepare for the end-times.
However, what has become clear is that most of these effects, whether positive or negative,
are not directly caused by religion. Rather, they are caused by how people choose to use
religion. What matters is not how religious or nonreligious you are; what matters is how you
choose to make use of your religious views, whatever they may be (Gliatto, May 2020).
Exercise 1
Direction: Answer the following questions using 3-5 sentences.
1. How and why should we study religion?
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2. How religions affect your everyday life scenarios? Described your experiences.
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Exercise 2
A. Box of Similarities and Differences:
Using two squares show the relevance of scrutinizing the two sides of the religion
(Pros and Cons of Religion).
REFERENCES:
1. Fagan, Patrick, 1996. “Why Religion Matters: The Impact of Religious Practice on
Social Stability.” Retrieved from:
https://www.heritage.org/civil-society/report/why-religion-matters-the-impact-
religious-practice-social-stability
2. Gliatto, Matthew, May 6, 2020. “Positive and Negative Effects of Religion”. Retrieved
from: https://medium.com/illumination/positive-and-negative-effects-of-religion-
7ec841feef07
