Importance of Studying Religion: Advantages for Students

This essay presents a critical thought on the advantages of studying religion for students. It enables students to be more rational and practical, understand cultural context, and judge practices. Attaining religious knowledge is equivalent to attaining power.

Running head: RELIGION
Religion
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author note

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Religion is a broad field of study. Religion has many different views. There are
different believers of different religion. Religion offers various beliefs and various thoughts.
It varies from person to person and it varies within different communities. The religion is
defined by different people in different manner. It is included in the academic curriculum in
order to highlight the unidentified angle of religion. In the academic curriculum religion is
described as the way of living life. The historical aspects related to the religion is being
taught in the academic syllabus. While studying the religion in the academic course the
people are not concerned whether the claims made are genuine or not. Apart from this the
academic curriculum does not compel the students to join that particular religion. In the
curriculum religion is studied as a historical, social and cultural phenomenon. The academic
curriculum teaches the student how religion affects history, culture, politics and the social
norms. The essay however presents a critical thought on the students who are involved in the
study of religion has more advantage than the students who are not in the study of religion1.
The students who are in the study of religion learns to be more rational and they learn
to be more practical. They develop certain skills like they understand the skill of thoroughly
understanding the religious practices and beliefs. The students develops the thought of the
reason of the importance of the religion to the religious community and the society. It enables
the students to the cultural context that makes the individuals to react either negatively or
positively to the belief or the practices that prevails. The academic knowledge enables the
students to judge the practice whether the practice is justified or not. The students are
exposed to the social and the psychological aspects of religion2. The students who are aloof
1 Iannaccone, Laurence R. "Rational choice." Rational choice theory and religion: summary
and assessment (2016).
2 Iannaccone, Laurence R. "Rational choice." Rational choice theory and religion: summary
and assessment (2016).

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form the study of religion are not aware of the practical reasoning power of the religion. They
are not aware of the fact that there are certain psychological reasons behind every religion.
They are not exposed to the cultural reasons of following a certain religion. Studying the
religion as an outsider brings out more possibilities to the concept of religion. The study of
religion brings out an outsider view. This is the reason studying religion in the outsider
setting is important3.
The students who are not in the study of religion are not aware of the different angle
that are attached to the religion. They believe in a particular religion without knowing the
practical reasons that are attached to the belief of the particular religion. Religion is seen by
them form a superstitious angle. They treat religion as a means to end. The students who are
not in touch with the appropriate study of religion misinterpret the religious texts and they
fail to understand the real meaning of the text. The religious texts does not force the
individuals to obey the laws. It gives practical and scientific justification of maintaining the
aspects that are necessary to live in the society4. The students who are not in touch with the
study of religion are unable to know the real reasons of believing in religion and the reason of
leading the life in the way it is mentioned in the religious texts. Moreover the study of
religion makes the students aware of the global culture and global religion. The students who
3 Guyau, Jean-Marie. The non-religion of the future: A sociological study. Vol. 39. HENRY
HOLT AND COMPANY, 2015.
4 Klass, Morton. Ordered universes: Approaches to the anthropology of religion. Routledge,
2018.

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are not in touch with the study of religion are not able to have global thoughts and they fail to
realize the scope that the other religions have5.
The students who are involved in the study of religion have the capacity to
turn their childish thoughts into mature thoughts. They have the capacity to turn the darkness
into light. The most important thing that the students are able to gain by seeking the religious
knowledge is they will be able to make the world a better place to live in6. It has been
observed in the recent times that there are many religious organizations who claim to have
the authentic religious knowledge and they have the power to influence others to believe in a
certain religion. The religious communities takes the advantage of the illiteracy among the
people and they target those who are not literate enough. The religious communities commit
the crime under the title of religion. They try to convince the people that they got the
instruction from God and that it is written in the holy texts7. The students who are not in
touch with the religious subject might believe the same and they might commit the crime as
well. The person who will go through the religious texts thoroughly or will do an effective
research on religion will know the difference between the right and the wring and can
challenge the sayings of the communities. This would enable the students to make the world a
better place to live in. The other advantage of getting involved in the study of the religion it
5 Furseth, Inger, and Pål Repstad. An introduction to the sociology of religion: Classical and
contemporary perspectives. Routledge, 2017.
6 Mitchell, Claire. Religion, identity and politics in Northern Ireland: Boundaries of
belonging and belief. Routledge, 2017.
7 Esack, Faird. "Redeeming Islam: Constructing the Good Muslim Subject in the
Contemporary Study of Religion." Alternation Journal 11 (2017): 36-60.

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can be dealt as the extreme power. Attaining knowledge is equivalent of attaining power.
Attaining religious knowledge is the same. The knowledge about the religious cultures and
religious lives makes it as one of the most powerful social as well as cultural forces in the
human history. It makes the students realize that religion is present everywhere and it always
remains integral to the cultures of the human beings. It develops a spiritual self-knowledge of
the students who are involved in the study of religion8.
Therefore this can be concluded by saying that the real motive of the study of religion
is developing the personalities of the students and to make the students practical and rational.
The reasoning power of the students are sharpened with study of religion. This is the reason
the students who acquire the correct knowledge of religion is always on the advantageous
side as they are not compelled to blindly follow the religion but they are exposed to different
truths of the religion. This is the reason they must be studied.
8 Beidelman, Thomas O. W. Robertson Smith and the sociological study of religion. Wipf
and Stock Publishers, 2016.

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References
Beidelman, Thomas O. W. Robertson Smith and the sociological study of religion. Wipf and
Stock Publishers, 2016.
Esack, Faird. "Redeeming Islam: Constructing the Good Muslim Subject in the
Contemporary Study of Religion." Alternation Journal 11 (2017): 36-60.
Furseth, Inger, and Pål Repstad. An introduction to the sociology of religion: Classical and
contemporary perspectives. Routledge, 2017.
Guyau, Jean-Marie. The non-religion of the future: A sociological study. Vol. 39. HENRY
HOLT AND COMPANY, 2015.
Iannaccone, Laurence R. "Rational choice." Rational choice theory and religion: summary
and assessment (2016).
Klass, Morton. Ordered universes: Approaches to the anthropology of religion. Routledge,
2018.
Lovejoy, Arthur. The great chain of being: A study of the history of an idea. Routledge, 2017.
Mitchell, Claire. Religion, identity and politics in Northern Ireland: Boundaries of belonging
and belief. Routledge, 2017.