Religion as a source of mental peace and societal law

Relevance of Religion in Our Society

Relevance or Irrelevance of Religion in our society

Religion has been linked by several scholars to be an instrument that brings about mental peace and satisfaction to the members of the society. Many scholars agree that there is a need for a secular way that brings this peace of mind. However, all answers lead to religion being the source of this much needed peace of mind. This can further be broken down into two main categories of religion. One is the faith without philosophy category and the other is faith with philosophy category.

In the ancient times, believers used faith as a way to bring about comfort and hope to their lives when they were in desperate situations which were beyond their own control and hopelessness. In these situations, faith was what brought them hope. It was regarded as the source of the light at the end of the tunnel. This is what is referred to as faith without philosophy. Some scholars refer to it as primitive faith Hyman & Handal, 2006()

The second category of religion is faith with philosophy. This tries to find the owner of the body and the mind. Though the body changes with each coming day as we age and the mind can also be changed voluntarily and involuntarily, the owner of the body and the mind does not change. The owner is independent and at the same time, permanent. Faith with philosophy believes in the existence of a soul which remains when the body is no longer usable. This kind of religion believes that God is the creator of the soul and at the end of life, the soul returns to God. Therefore there is some belief in afterlife. These religions also believe that God has limitless power, compassion and wisdom. This is commonly referred to as theistic religion and it includes Jewish, Muslim and Christian religions Hyman & Handal, 2006()

All people in the world have their own different positions on religion though there are the commonalities that can be found which give us the relevance of religion in our current society.

Religion and life

Religion also touches on almost all aspects of our day-to-day lives and it is one of the major guiding factors to how families relate to each other.

In Christianity, the Ten Commandments give guidance as to how human beings should carry on with their lives. The fourth commandment given to Moses tells us to keep the Sabbath day holy. In family life, this commandment can be seen to mean that people need to remember the Sabbath and to go to worship the Lord. The fifth commandment tells us to honor our father and mother so that our days may be long. This commandment asks that children should respect, be honest and to listen to their parents. The sixth commandment tells people not to kill or murder. This means that there should be respect for life since all creations were made from God. The seventh commandment prohibits people from committing adultery. The eighth commandment prohibits stealing. The ninth commandment prohibits telling of lies and the tenth commandment outlaws coveting the belonging of another person.

The Jewish Torah law also gives the rules which need to be followed in the day-to-day lives of Jews. These laws help to differentiate good from bad and to encourage people to do more of good than bad in the society.

Religion also touches on the quality of family life. Religion teaches perseverance and patience in marriage. It also encourages working the couple working together as a team to achieve stability and fulfillment in their lives. The traditional Jewish laws state that divorce should always come as a final result and should never be the first answer to problems Marks, 2006()

Religion gives the members of society common belief, values, and social norms. This helps to standardize how people think about the various things in the society and how they carry out their activities. As described above, the Ten Commandments, for example, describe how people should carry about their lives. This gives the society a common standard upon which their actions and activities are carried. In this way, religion promotes a peaceful co-existence between human beings Iii, 2002()

Religion also serves to unite people together. Though people have their own varied religious beliefs, there is some commonality in these beliefs which is what brings these people together. Although the trends in recent years have pointed more towards religion being a source of a divide between the people in the world, religion can also be used to unite people. This divide has come from the varied decisions on crucial matters of life such as homosexuality, abortion, birth control, women priests, religious war, etc. However, religion can be used to give concrete answers to these questions and thus unify the divided people Marks, 2006()

Religion also explains the things which science cannot explain. Science is all about using the brains which were given to us by the almighty to understand his work in creation. One important thing that science cannot explain is religion itself. Science has failed to explain the various aspects of the various religions around the world. They have failed to explain the history of the religions, their doctrines and belief. Religion is the only answer to religion.

Conclusion

Many scholars believe that by following what is taught by the various religious doctrines, the members of society can live lives that a full of joy, love, service, and compassion for one another. If all people followed these teachings, many of the social evils in the society such as stealing from each other, killing, mugging, rape, revenge, jealousy, etc. Molloy, 2009.

Therefore, religion is extremely important since it guides our day-to-day lives. Religion is also an important source of law as evidenced in sharia law and Canon law which is commonly used in the determination of cases and also in development of Public law.

One important thing that should be kept in mind is that every person is different and that they give varying relevance to religion. The importance of religion can be evaluated in how a person lives their life. As always, the actions of the individual should be evaluated and not their words. As the old English adage goes, "actions speak louder than words."