While religion has served purposes beneficial to society

in general, some people blame religion as the reason for

the occurrence of atrocities and conflicts in different
parts of the in different parts of the world and in different
periods on history.
POSITIVE EFFECT
Religion promotes social harmony
Religion believes in supernatural beings and powers. It
practices a set of rituals and ceremonious rites of passage and
rites of intensification. It also holds religious specialists such
as priests, priestess and shamans in high esteem. These
characteristics help advance social harmony by assimilating
and stabilizing cultures and nations. It provides divine
authority to ethical and moral principles which also help
promote unity among people.
Religion provides moral values
Religion encourages moral values. It provides a systematic
model of the universe, which in effect determines organized
human behaviour. By providing moral values, one is able to
distinguish right from wrong, good from evil. Therefore, it
provides a system of reward and punishment that administer
and standardize people’s behaviour in society.
Religion reduces fear of the unknown

Religion developed man’s need to have a sense of origin

and destination; to discover where they came from and
where they are bound to when they die. Religion
provides answers for the phenomena and questions that
science or reason cannot explain.
Religion gives positive goals in life
People were inspired by the stories of different prophets
from their own religious affiliations, like that of Moses,
Siddhartha Gautama, and Muhammad. These people
showed how ordinary people like them were given
important missions in life, and how they struggled to
carry out their respective missions.
Religion gives people a sense of belonging

Religion provides people with personal identity as part

of a group with similar world views, beliefs, values,
practices, and lifestyles. It provides communities with
prospects to recognize and offer vital action and service
to provide the needs of the larger community.
Religion provides social change
Since religion is a source of moral values, it can be very
effective in lobbying and campaigning for certain social
issues using its own moral teachings as the basis of
argument. Religion has potential to institute social
change, especially in the issues concerning poverty,
reproductive health, gender equality and religious
discrimination.
NEGATIVE EFFECT

Religion affirms social hierarchy

Some religions affirm social hierarchy often

favouring men and as a result, perpetuate the
notions of class or gender discrimination and
oppression.
Religion triggers conflicts and fights
Religion also has some aspects which make it
susceptible to be a source of conflict and war. History
witnessed numerous lives sacrificed and lost in the
name of religion. Wars have been fought in the name of
religion and this phenomenon continues up to the
present time.
Religion causes discrimination
Religious fanaticism can lead to feelings of hatred, which
could lead to racism, and eventually violence. Throughout
history, religion has been used by colonizers to justify their
forcible occupation of territories. It can be a source of
discrimination or the prejudicial treatment of different
categories of people or things especially on the basis of race,
religion, age or sex.
Religion as an economic tool for exploiting
the masses
According to Karl Marx, “religion is the opium of the
people”. This is in relation to his critical approach to
religion in which he proposed that the bourgeoisie keeps
the proletariat in control through religion. According to
him, it maintains social inequality by propagating a
worldview that justifies oppression.
Religion impedes scientific success and
development
Throughout history, religion has proven to impede scientific
development. Some of the moral teachings of other religions
are deemed by secular communities to be detrimental to
development. For example, some religion express their
disapproval against reproductive health programs that aim to
empower couples in responsible family planning through
education and access to legal and medically safe birth
control.
Religion obstructs the use of reason
Many question the suitability of religious doctrine to the
needs of the present and future generations. Ancient
religious beliefs and practices which have proven to be
inhuman should be replaced with sensible one. One
example is the belief that suicide bombing is a
manifestation of religion over reason.
Religion can be described as a double-edged sword; it
can have both positive and negative effects on society.
Some of its positive effects include: promotes social
solidarity; provides moral values; reduces fear of the
unknown; gives positive goals in life; gives people a
sense of belonging; provides social change. Some of
its negative effect includes: affirms social hierarchy;
triggers conflicts and fights; causes discrimination; an
economic tool for exploiting the masses; impedes
scientific success and development; obstructs the use
of reason.
PT #3:

15

25

20
Total: 50