INTRODUCTION to WORLD

RELIGIONS and BELIEF

Name:_______________________________
Grade and Section:____________________

LEARNING MODULE No. 3

Positive and Negative Effects of Religion
Religion is such a powerful influence on human beings, both on individuals and
communities. It can be compared to basic elements such as water and fire. Water is an ambiguous
symbol because it is both life-giving and death-dealing. Likewise, fire when regulated can be harnessed
for beneficial use, but can be deadly when out of control. Similarly, religion has inspired its adherents
hum

to do great and admirable things, but it has also made people commit despicable acts of death and
destruction.

Lesson 3: Religion: Blessing or a Curse

3.1 Light & Shadows
3.2 As Blessing or a Curse

Goals to Achieve:
At the end of this module, you will be able to:
Analyze the influences of religion to culture and society. DepEd –(MELC)
Identify and evaluate the positive and negative effects of religions. HUMSS_WRB12-I/IIIc-3.1 (21st
Century Skills: Critical Thinking) (DICES)

Keys To Remember:
 Roman Catholic Church
 Augustine of Hippo
 Benedict of Nursia
 Francis and Claire of Assisi

Pre-Assessment

I. DIRECTIONS (Picture Analysis): Interpret the image below by writing a paragraph

with three to five sentences on the space provided.

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Lesson 3.1: Religion: Blessing or Curse

“God’s voice is the call of transcendence that challenges us to go further, to do more, to try
harder, to change our lives, to venture out into new areas and into the unknown. God is out there calling
us to move beyond the system, beyond sin, beyond suffering, beyond our narrow and limited ideas of
what is possible.”

 DAY 1

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 Lesson Title: Light and Shadows
Learning Target/Competency: The learners will be able to analyze the influence of religion to
culture and society. (DepEd -MELC)
Values/Graduate Attributes: The learners will become respectful and appreciative believers.
Reference(s) & Author(s):
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A. Concepts Notes

The Catholic Church produced outstanding people, such as Augustine of Hippo, Benedict
of Nursia, Francis and Claire of Assisi, Thomas Aquinas, Jeanne d’Arc, Johannes
Gutenburg, and Issabella of Castile to name a few.

 Same monks also developed earliest forms of musical notation, resulting in an

enormous body of sacred composition which may have influenced the emergence
and development of European classical music.
 There were tangible legacy of Renaissance Popes in their patronage of the arts and
architecture like Papal Basilica of Saint Peter and the Cappella Sistine in Vatican
City Rome.
 Blessed John Paul II at the end of the Second Christiana Millennium, humbly
acknowledges shortcomings, and on behalf of the entire Catholic Church, asked for
forgiveness, “As the successor of Peter, I ask that in this year of Mercy, the church should
kneel before God and implore forgiveness for the past and present sins of her sons and
daughters.”

For detailed explanation, refer to your book, Pilgrimage to Sacred Spaces, on pages 15-20.

Exercise 1: Answer the following questions concisely.

1. What makes religion strongly influential to human beings and communities?

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2. Religion has influenced humans to either heal or harm; it has been both a blessing
and a curse. How do you feel about this?
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  DAY 2
Learning Activity No. 3.1
Activity Title: Authentic Spirituality
Learning Target/Competency: The learners will be able to analyze the influence of religion to culture
and society. (DepEd -MELC)

Time started: ___________

Time finished: __________

Exercises:
Directions: Answer given question accordingly on the space provided below.
1. How could authentic spirituality help believers overcome the tendency to become “religious but
not spiritual”?
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Rubric for Constructed Response/Essay:

Fails to give the correct Fails to give the correct Somehow gives the correct Gives the correct Gives the correct
answer, content and did answer, content but answer/content/ answer/content/explanation answer/content/
not give any explanation. shows effort in explanation. . explanation and shows
explaining their answer. creativity, effort, and
neatness in work
excellently.
2 points 4 points 6 points 7 points 10 points

Lesson 3.2: Religion: Blessing or Curse

How does one judge whether the practice of religion is a “blessing” or “curse”? The practice of
religious faith should help make a person become someone who is secure and grateful, welcoming,
caring, and hopeful. Confusion, helplessness, despair, detachment, isolation, and resentment due to
religious practice should be a warning sign of an unhealthy and dysfunctional spirituality.
 DAY 3

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 Fails to give the correct Fails to give the correct Somehow gives the correct Gives the correct Gives the correct
answer, Activity Title:
content and did not Religion:
answer, contentBlessing
but shows or Curse
answer/content/ answer/content/explanation answer/content/
Learning
give any explanation.Target/Competency:
effort in explaining their The learners will be able to identify
explanation. . and evaluate the and
explanation positive
shows
answer. creativity, effort, and
and negative effects of religions. HUMSS_WRB12-I/IIIc-3.1 (21st Century Skills: neatness inCritical
work
Thinking) (DICES). excellently.
1 point 2 points 3 points 4 points 5 points
Values/Graduate Attributes: The learners will become respectful and appreciative believers.
Reference(s) & Author(s): Pilgrimage to Sacred Spaces. Page(s) No. 17-19
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A. Religion Becomes a Curse:

Psychiatrist, James L. Griffith identifies three related purposes that religion
serves:
 Religion helps ensure group security.
 Religion helps build and strengthen the individual sense of self as being
worthy and competent.
 Religion helps reduce personal sufferings for self and others.

B. Religion Becomes a Blessing:

The practice of authentic spirituality makes religion work wonders. Common

themes maybe found in spiritualities associated with ancient religious traditions.

 Encounters with Sacred/Transcendent as personal experiences that stimulate

reflection, creativity, and ethical behavior.

 Commitment to an ethic of compassion

 Emotional posture of resilience

 Emphasis on prioritizing the well-being of individuals, whether oneself or

others, over the needs of a religious group

Exercise 2:

Directions: Complete the data table to compare and contrast the concepts related to religion.

Concept Blessing Curse

Religion

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Rubrics for Constructed Response/Essay:
  DAY 4
Learning Activity No. 3.2
Activity Title: Blessing or Curse
Learning Target/Competency: The learners will be able to identify and evaluate the positive and
negative effects of religions

Time started: ___________

Time finished: __________

Directions: Answer the given question accordingly.

If religion is perceived as either a “blessing” or a “curse,” how are its adherents responsible
for this?
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Rubrics for Constructed Response/Essay:

Fails to give the correct Fails to give the correct Somehow gives the correct Gives the correct Gives the correct
answer, content and did answer, content but answer/content/ answer/content/explanation answer/content/
not give any explanation. shows effort in explanation. . explanation and shows
explaining their answer. creativity, effort, and
neatness in work
excellently.
1 point 2 points 3 points 4 points 5 points

 DAY 5
A. How does each religion cope with life’s sufferings?
Unfortunately, many of these recommendations propel religious behavior to untoward
consequences. When one chooses to withdraw from the material world in order to reduce
sufferings, efforts to solve practical problems within one’s society can cease. Overtime, this may
increase sufferings for others. Violence, directed toward oneself by ascetics or toward others by
zealots, is often committed in the hope of gaining God’s favor through obedience and sacrifice.

POST ASSESSMENT
DIRECTIONS: Classify the below facts as blessing or curse. Write “B” if it’s a blessing, then write
“C” if it’s a curse.

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 1. Emphasis on the well-being of individuals, whether oneself or others, over the needs of a
religious group.
2. Emotional postures of resilience.
3. Religion helps ensure group security.
4. Religion helps build and strengthen the individual sense of self as being worthy and
competent.
5. Religion helps reduce personal suffering for self or others.
6. Commitment to an ethnic of compassion.
7. Encounters with the sacred/ Transcendent as personal experiences that stimulate reflection,
creativity and ethical behavior.

REFERENCES
 Pilgrimage to Sacred Spaces; An Introduction to World Religion; Phoenix Publishing
House; Christian B. Manaloto & Maria Teresita R. Rapadas

No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any
means, without the prior written permission of the author.

MY NOTES

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