Religions are growing and becoming more popular as they started to play a big role in many societies. They are involved in many aspects that affect the daily life. Religions have the ability to create and affect the law, influence people’s behavior, and shape the culture. Every society and culture has a different definition of religion. I would define religion as a system of beliefs, practices, and traditions, that is shared by a group of people, creating a community. This community will offer its members help and support, which will bring the society together. Moreover, religion is a major factor in shaping people’s personalities and identities. Their decision-making process is influenced by religion as people are required to practice moral behaviors in most situations in life. Religions also encourage people to avoid things that will harm them. As Kant pointed out, avoiding the thing that will harm our well-being is one of the duties toward ourselves (p.119). Religion will help people perform that duty, which will result in having a better life. Therefore, religions set the path that will help people achieve happiness and have a better quality of life.
Religions give people the opportunity to trust and believe in something. Believing in God will help people find meaning in life and give them hope. It also gives people a feeling that they are safe, knowing that someone is watching over them. Religions also provide people with rules that need to be followed and applied. Applying these rules in their daily life will benefit people. People would be encouraged to behave and act morally in their lives. Religions use the fear of God and promise of punishment in order to motivate people to apply moral behavior. When people believe that they are going to be punished for their behavior, they will start trying to act in an ethical manner. For example, people would be punished for lying. According to Kant, although being a liar is not harmful to others, it would make people violate one of the duties toward themselves (p.118). In most religious books, people are encouraged to replace these bad behaviors with ethical ones. Moreover, religion also promises people with heaven as a reward for their faith and good behavior. Believing in heaven also gives people hope and make them more likely to behave in an ethical way. Therefore, applying moral values and behaviors will help people further improve their daily life.
People are brought together by their shared beliefs and traditions. As a result, a community will be built, which provides people with support and take care of them in difficult situations. As Kant pointed out, doing good and helping other people because of our goodwill is a duty towards others (p.192). Moreover, I experienced the loss of my grandfather two years ago. I witnessed him die in front of me and tried to help him but I could not save him. I blamed myself and became depressed for a long time. Being a part of a community helped me get through this tough situation by encouraging me to not lose hope. The community members also kept reminding me that death is unavoidable and they made sure that I would not do anything to harm myself. Furthermore, these communities give people the opportunity to share their experiences and traditions with others. This would encourage people to create new friendships. According to Aristotle, “the friendship of good men is good … to become better too by their activities and by improving each other” (p.182). Moreover, Religions encourage people to stay in contact with their families and relatives, which will make the society united and stronger. People are also encouraged to be generous and help the poor, which will result in a more united and a happy society.
Religions have a huge influence on people’s decisions and personalities. People will start acting based on their beliefs and will follow the guides that their religions have given them. As a result, there will an improvement in their personalities that will help them succeed in life. Religions prohibit people from doing practices that will harm them. Instead, people are recommended with better choices and practices that will benefit them. For example, most religions prohibit people from committing suicide as it is considered one of the major sins that people can commit. As Kant pointed out,” the most serious offense against the duty one owes to oneself is suicide” (p.119). Alternatively, religions require people to get help and support from people around them in order to make them realize that nothing is worth harming yourself for. These choices will help people become healthier and will improve their lifestyles. There are also some religious activities that could affect people’s personalities and daily life. Most religions require people to perform daily prayers at specific times. Performing these prayers regularly will encourage people to become more punctual in their daily life. In addition, a religion such as Islam requires people to fast in a specific month; Ramadan from sunset to sundown. Fasting will help people’s health by improving their blood pressure, preventing many diseases, and can help people lose weight. All of these results will improve people’s lives and will help them achieve their happiness.
Others could argue that religions will leave a negative impact on people’s lives instead of making them better. There are many different religions that people believe in. Some of these religions might have rules that contradict the rules in another religion, which might create problems between believers of both religions. Each one will start to think that their religion is better and that it is the one that should be followed. In addition, some of the religions might set people against people from other religion by giving them a bad reputation. As a result, problems will start to grow in the community and will cause the community to fall apart. Moreover, many religions prohibit people from doing something without giving them a clear reason to why it is prohibited. One can use this as an evidence and argue that religions are becoming too powerful and taking control over people’s actions and decisions. In addition, it can be difficult to promise people happiness if they are prohibited from doing something they are interested in without knowing the reason behind this prohibition. However, this argument is not valid. In fact, most of the prohibited practices have been proven scientifically to be harmful to self or others. Therefore, religions are protecting people by preventing them from participating in these practices. This will make people become more focused on their lives and will also lead them to have a better and healthy lifestyle.
Briefly, religions are becoming more involved in many societies. They have enough power to change the laws and affect the whole society. Most religions have a huge influence on people’s life choices. Being a part of a religion, People are provided with the guides and rules they should follow in order to help them in their lives. Moreover, people are required to avoid the things that will harm them. Instead, they are encouraged to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Religions promise to reward people for their faith and good behavior. Having ethical behavior is also necessary for people in order to have a successful career and life. Most religions encourage people to become more educated as knowledge is important will help them in many situations. In addition, many religious practices, such as praying and fasting, will leave a positive impact on people’s daily life. Furthermore, many religions provide a community that encourages people to create friendships in order to help and support one another. Providing all of these benefits to people will help them have a better quality of life and will give them a better chance to become happier. Therefore, following the rules that were provided by religions would help people to achieve their happiness.