George Nyarko
Grade 11
WHAT POLITICAL, ECONOMIC, SOCIAL OR IDEOLOGICAL IMPACT DOES RELIGION HAVE ON MODERN SOCIETIES
Religion is a practice which has been part and parcel of mankind since time memorial. It is an extremely influential factor in the living standards of most people. However, with time, the influence religion has on people is drastically declining. “During the modern period rationalism ruled and religion came to be rejected by rationalists as superstitious and irrational. Rationalists not only rejected it but even ridiculed it”. Although religion has a declining effect on the life styles of mankind, it can be considered to still posses’ significant amount of power in modern times. This essay discusses of what impact religion has on our modern society politically, socially, ideologically and economically.
The history of religions such as Christianity and Islam shows that at one point in history, these groups actually ruled the people. They were the government and made laws. For example in Rome, the Pope had part of the country where he ruled as a leader over the people. Although in modern times it seems religion has lost much influence compared to the olden days, some part of the world has religion as the dominant figure on what laws should be used to govern the people. In countries with Islam as the major religion, the Sharia law is practiced which sometimes goes against U.N conventions on Human Rights. But since religion plays a major role in these societies, these Human Rights are allowed to be breached. In most cases political leaders arise out of their alignment with the major religious group in the country. In the middle-east where Islam is dominant, most of their leaders are Islamic and in the West where Christianity is the dominant religion there’s hardly any Moslem leader. In the U.S.A, religious groups voicing out their opinion about gay marriage is another significant factor of their political influence. This ideology seems to hinder the progress of passing gay marriage reforms since through their preaching in gatherings and other processes; they are able to convince the people.
