Does Religion have a positive Role to play in society

Religion has been an inherent part of society, impacting cultural parameters and ideals. While it can develop moral character and promote social integration, it can also lead to violence and division. Research suggests that religious people are healthier, but there are also barriers to addressing health-related issues. Negative attitudes towards immigration are often rooted in religious biases. Religious fanaticism has caused bloodshed throughout history. Blind faith in religion can disrupt social unity. Religion can be both positive and negative in society.

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Does Religion have a positive Role to play in society
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Introduction
Religion has been an inherent part of the society ever since ancient times and continues to
be so. Majority of the population in the world associates with a particular religion and is
motivated by the religious principles that set higher ideals and moral values for the society.
Religion is a collective human pursuit that impacts cultural parameters and ideals. It strives to
look within the meaning of human existence and influence human thinking and behaviour. There
is no denying that religion is an important element of human culture based on moral claims
(Agorastos, Demiralay, & Huber 2014, p. 94). Despite the moral claims and contribution of
religions towards society, the role of religion in the society remains a highly debated topic.
Research finds that there is a complex relationship between religion and morality and even the
most educated people can disagree with religions. In addition, certain religious traditions and
beliefs can lead to controversies and prejudice against a certain region. However, ever since
September 11, the academic world has been inundated with books and articles to explain why
religion carries a peculiar tendency toward violence. Charles Kimball's claims "It is somewhat
trite, but nevertheless sadly true, to say that more wars have been waged, more people killed, and
these days eviller perpetrated in the name of religion than by any other institutional force in
human history" (Cavanaugh 2007). Clearly, despite the moral advances claimed by different
religions, various religious beliefs and values tend to weaken the social order. The relationship
between both religion and society is always changing. Different religious beliefs and practices
fragment the society and create a sense of otherness and any prejudiced attitudes toward other
faith lead to violence and weaker societies.

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Religion is said to develop the moral character of an individual and build a strong social
foundation. Without religion, the society would be devoid of cultural and moral values. Intrinsic
religiosity is different from extrinsic religiosity as intrinsic religiosity implies the internalization
of the teachings of religions while extrinsic religiosity reflects more utilitarian aspects of
religion. One gets the security and solace, sociability and self-justification because of extrinsic
religiosity as stated by Agorastos, Demiralay & Huber 2014 (p. 94). Religion preserves freedom
and promotes democracy as the society gets direction because of the religious principles and the
citizens feel accountable because of their internal standards of correct behaviour guided by their
religion. However, the relationship between religion and morality is a complex topic. A series of
prevailing conceptual limitations only add to the complexity of the issues because of the
complicated interplay between cognition and culture (McKay & Whitehouse 2014, p. 472).
President George W. Bush appreciated the policy of tolerance-as-the-solution and declared love
for the Muslim faith and its practices. He depicted that Islam is a religion based upon love, not
hate. Educational initiatives promote practices that develop partnerships between American
Muslim, Arab and Sikh communities (Weissberg 2005, p. 33). However, religious fanaticism
has been largely responsible for unnecessary bloodshed throughout history and exploits the
sentiments of the common people even today. The most dangerous threats arise because of the
anger and fear towards unfamiliar cultures and people. This is where an aggressive secularism
becomes the effortless solution to uncomfortable differences between good and bad faiths as
asserted by Weissberg (2005, p. 31). While some aspects of religion may promote some moral
aspect while others may obstruct the same. There is no concise characterizable relationship seen
between religion, morality and a strong society which are largely arbitrary terms as asserted by

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McKay & Whitehouse (2014, p. 473). Even the most religious individuals can bear low moral
character or resort to violence.
Research suggests that religious people are less stressed and healthier than their non-
religious counterparts. Religious people follow healthy lifestyles because of their religious
beliefs and keep away from risk behaviors such as such tobacco use, drinking alcohol and risky
sexual practices are avoided because of religious influence (Holt, Clark, & Roth 2013, p. 313).
Certain features of religious explanations facilitate greater satisfaction and well-being. Religious
involvement documents positive health-related outcomes as it helps to create positive emotions
and self-perceptions that promote healthy lifestyle (Holt, Clark, & Roth 2013, p. 312). While it is
claimed that patients who are religious benefit more from psychotherapy because of positive
religious coping, there are complex and multidimensional parameters that work behind. There is
increasing evidence that religion plays an important role for alcohol and drug prevention as well
as addiction recovery (Kalema, Vanderplasschen, Vindevogel, & Derluyn 2016, p. 1717). At the
same time, religious traditions and belief systems also pose as a barrier to look into alcohol-
related problems and addiction as the alcoholics and addicts are seen as outcasts by some
religious communities (Kalema, Vanderplasschen, Vindevogel, & Derluyn 2016, p. 1717). The
religiosity gap persists between the patients and therapists. There is a need for further research
and assessments in religious-sensitive assessments to look for a broader religious and spiritual
construct (Agorastos, Demiralay, & Huber 2014, p. 98). Thus, religion is like a double-edged
sword in when it comes to living healthier lifestyles or dealing with alcohol alcohol-related
problems and addiction.
The practice of religion brings people from the different sections of the society to come
together and thus help to encourage unity. This ultimately improves the social bonds and thus

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promoting social integration. The political agendas and media discussions point that the religious
dimensions are an essential force behind the immigrant-attitudes relationship. It is agreed that
immigrants should be allowed to practice their religion freely (Anderson. and Antalíková, 2014,
p. 593). However, European colonial bureaucrats used religion to tame the non-Western
colonized cultures and make them modern and civilized (Cavanaugh 2007). Any rejection of
absolute claims made by one religious community can lead to violence against someone who
rejects that claim. Even the sincerest and educated people can disagree with healthy religions
(Blake 2013). Thus, religion has been used in the political arena to divide the society into
different classes. The predominantly negative attitudes toward immigration seem to stem from
the negative attitudes toward their religion. The immigrant populations in the West are labelled
by their religion rather than their migrant status. The religion plays a role of shaping out-group
prejudiced attitudes toward immigrants or the Islamophobic attitudes towards Muslims
(Anderson. and Antalíková, 2014, p. 598). The immigrants are mostly from the Third World
countries and majority of them are Muslims, who arrive with a deep disrespect and hatred for all
that is West and Christian. The cartoon controversies and prejudice against Muslims reignited the
debate about Islam and the role of religion in society (Anderson. and Antalíková, 2014, p. 594).
The religious violence endorses a contradiction in the secular West and the violent religious
fanatics of the Muslim. While the Western religious violence with an objective to bring peace,
the Muslim religious violence is seen as fanatic and irrational. The Western violence is seen to
be necessary for peacemaking and for higher rationality (Cavanaugh 2007). Carolyn Marvin
argues that "nationalism” is the most powerful religion in the United States today. Any blind
faith in religion strangles the free development of the human mind. Thus, under certain
conditions, different faiths and religions can and do contribute to violence. There is no way of

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knowing when religious beliefs cross the lines and enter into religious extremism. A person’s
faith can drift into fanaticism due to blind obedience. The history has plenty of example of most
horrific cases of religious violence.
Conclusion
Although religions spread messages of peace, love, and forgiveness, it is essential to see
the other side to it and how religious convictions are doing more harm to the society. Despite
building a strong social foundation, there is a complexity that persist behind the issue. Although
research suggests that religious people are healthier, there is need for further research to explain
how religion facilitates greater well-being. There is increasing evidence that religious belief
systems also work as a barricade to look into health-related problems. There is an increasingly
negative attitudes toward immigration and a good example is Islamophobic attitudes towards
Muslims. Religious fanaticism is responsible for unnecessary bloodshed throughout history.
Although the religion brings different people from various faiths together, there is no way of
knowing when a person may cross the line and become s fanatic. Blind faith in religion can
disturb the social integration and disrupt the unity. While religion in itself is not corrupt, it is
being sued as a destructive tool to divide the society. There is an increasing intolerance toward
immigrants because of religions.

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