From the ancient times, religion has been prominent among the people of this planet. Different groups and communities of people come together to form and follow a certain religion. This is theirs by birth. Religion is something a human looks for when he is down. Religion is a belief that people follow in order to make societies. They believe in their religion because it gives them power and peace. However, in the present time, the word religion is highly overrated. More than this practice provides peace and contentment to the people of the societies, it has been becoming a cause of conflict among many.
Religions are present in the forms such as Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Buddhism and Sikhism. People of this earth come under these religions and tend to follow the norms and beliefs of them during their complete life course. However, people have been into these beliefs blindly from so long that sometimes it becomes a major reason of conflict and riots. On the name of religion, many defaulters take advantage of the situations which are socially unacceptable, leading to conflicts and wars.
There are both positive and negative sides to the practice of religion. It is good as long as it is under control and makes sense. It becomes a curse when things get really messed up. Read more about the positive and negative effects of religion below.
Positive Effects of Religion
The positive effects of Religion have been mentioned as follows.
- Peace of Mind:
We have often heard that a religious person is a peaceful one. When a person follows the path of religion, he realizes that there is the presence of a supreme power which is above what human has and has built till now. These naturally brings a sense of humbleness. Religions focus upon the good deeds that matter in life and thus helps us make a better person by teaching us some good values. All in all, put together, following good values of a religion brings a peace of mind when you are focused solely on the good.
- Promotes helps through social work:
Most of the religious committees have groups and organizations that focus on helping the unprivileged and the poor by carrying out social service. They do it with the aim of serving the society and making it better. Social works like providing food and shelter to the homeless, free education to the needy and inspiring youth of today to follow the good values for the betterment of the society. This unites people and helps the needful people live with dignity and strength.
- Teaches overall compassion:
Compassion is something truly required in a person if he or she is to be something good to the society. Religion has a great role to play in that. Most religious people own this sense of compassion. This is visible in their aura when they inspire others and teach them the good values of their religion. They are comparatively more humble and sympathetic towards everyone. Religious people do not get into any bad or evil habits that might deteriorate them or the people around them. They aim at leading a peaceful life with compassion and draw in more people into that peace.
- Wisdom:
Religion is wisdom. They holy religious books have a great deal from which humans can learn and benefit themselves and the human society as well. Since all of the religions aim at working towards the betterment of the society, they impart true wisdom in their follower.
Negative Effects of Religion:
The negative effects of religion have been mentioned as follows:
- A sense of superiority:
Many times, it happens that the people of a certain religion start believing that the teaching and morals of their own religion are superior than any other religion. This may be because of a deep faith in their religion that the others are not able to make any sense to them. This induces a sense of negativity when it comes to religion and beliefs.
- Scientific facts are ignored:
Religious people tend to give all the scientific facts and reasons a backseat when they get into the beliefs of their religion. Actual reasoning and scientific proofs are greatly neglected and discouraged among people.
- Hinders with overall progress:
The highly religious lot discourages the power of thinking freely. They are not able to progress since they tend to stick to their old beliefs when the times are changing. When they see religion as the only way of life, innovations etc. are never welcomed and hence the lack of progress of that society.