Religion Does More Harm Than Good - Essay Example

?Debate; "Religion does more harm than good" Opening ment Good evening ladies and gentlemen. My is Anna and I stand before you to support the motion that religion does more harm than good. I am therefore against the team that says religion has done more good in the society. In my arguments to affirm the motion, I will endeavor to explain and demonstrate to a large extent how marriage conflicts in religion have contributed to more harm than good in the society throughout the history of man. I will also introduce my colleagues in the affirmative team that includes Hamad, who will come to discuss the impact of religion on politics of today as he tries to prove the point that religion has indeed negatively affected the political situation of the 21st century as it had done throughout history. My other colleague Rubby will be seeking to address the various situations in which religion has failed to honor its original intention of standing up for the people by trying to prevent some of the historical crimes that happened under the watchful eyes of religion. He will reveal to you that by failing to speak against some of those crimes in the society, religion was indeed supporting them thus contributing to harmful effects in the society in general. I will begin my submission by attempting to define each word of utmost importance in the motion so that we fully understand what we are dealing with. To begin with, religion can be described as an organized system of beliefs, world views and cultural systems that revolve around spirituality and the supernatural realm (Kant, Immanuel 2001). There are various religions around the world including Christianity, Islam, Judaism and Buddhism to mention but a few. Most religions have their own symbols, narratives and sacred historical events that aim at explaining the universe and life (Russell T. McCutcheon. 2001). By causing more harm than good in the society we mean that religion has led to more negativity in the society than positivity. The concept of religion has failed to live up to its intended objective of promoting good in the society and has become synonymous with negative and harmful issues in the society. With that being said, allow me ladies and gentlemen to proceed to my arguments in support of the motion that religion does more harm than good. Arguments First and foremost, the biggest source of disharmony among married couples is how most religions handle the question of divorce. In the contemporary society we live in, divorce has become one of the best solutions of marriage conflicts, if it is handled well through a legal process. Most religions however are totally opposed to the concept divorce and cannot allow their members and followers to go through divorce. This has led to most religious people living miserable lives full of conflicts including domestic violence due to the fear of separation and divorce since as religion teaches, is against the will of God. Some of the biggest religions preach that marriage should stay together until death takes away one of the couples, and that no man can separate what has been joined together by God. Such doctrines hold no place in the contemporary society since the need of individuals and the institution of marriage itself has totally changed from what it was before. Whenever couples feel they have irreconcilable differences, the y have no other options than to divorce and share responsibilities, if any. This is a legal right most religions deny their followers. The second most important argument is the disagreements and marriage conflicts brought about as a result of interfaith marriages. When people fall in love, it does not matter which faith they belong to. Love knows no boundaries, as they say. However, these religious differences often come in to play when two love birds come together to form a marriage union. The battles of supremacy over which faith or religion should preside over the marriage ceremony, or even which religion should the family and the children, if any, allowed to follow. Such disagreements often become intense and if not handled well, they can lead to irreconcilable differences putting the marriage at risk. It is very difficult and rare for individuals from two different religions, for instance, Islam and Christianity to come together in form of marriage. The religious differences will always come to the fore front and be a stumbling block to the developments. In the contemporary world we live in, such differences only help to perpetrate more harm through discrimination. Anybody should be allowed to marry any other person that they feel like, just as it is provided in the constitution, provided they both agree to do so. Marriage should be allowed to take place regardless of any religious differences that may exist between the couples. Religion also plays another major role by discriminating individuals through marriage conflicts. This is through discriminating against same sex couples. Almost all religions have refused to accept constitutional amendments that have granted civil rights to same sex couples. Such individuals are often viewed through religious eyes as society outcasts and those who have been condemned to hell by the Supreme Being. This has led to great divisions in the contemporary society between the religious people and human rights movements that have for a long time been fighting for recognition of gay marriages. After Courts recognizing the need to grant the civil rights to gay marriages in the recent years, religion should follow suit and allow their followers to marry any couples they feel like. After cases of sodomy perpetrated by some of the top most religious people in Christian churches, it has become evident that, although they do not allow for same sex marriages, some of them hide in the name of religion only to perform criminal acts on children and minors. Lastly, religion has also contributed to marriage conflicts among marriage couples thereby leading separation by asking their followers to put their religions first before anything else. This has led to most couples viewing their faith as the only most important thing in life as opposed to their own developments as a couple. This has led to a lot of poverty in some of the most religious countries across the world. This is because most couples spend most of their time and a large portion of their earning in churches and other religious activities as oppose to developing themselves. Religious institutions on the other hand continue to benefit from this and become richer at the expense of their followers. When most couples become highly religious they therefore tend to see other non religious couples and those of other religions as satanic and do not associate with them. This has led to continuous conflicts among neighbors due to religious differences. Conclusion With these few arguments, I rest my case that religion has contributed to more harm than good in the society. I therefore invite my colleagues to give their contribution to the motion. Reference list Ellens, J. Harold (2002). The Destructive Power of Religion: Violence in Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Praeger Publishers. Russell T. McCutcheon. (2001). Critics Not Caretakers: Redescribing the Public Study of Religion. Albany: SUNY Press. Kant, Immanuel (2001). Religion and Rational Theology. Cambridge University Press. Moore, James (2002). "Charles Darwin". In Gary Ferngren. Science & Religion: A Historical Introduction. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. Blackwell, Richard J. (2002). "Galileo Galilei". In Gary Ferngren. Science & Religion: A Historical Introduction. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. Rudin, James 2006. The Baptizing of America: The Religious Right's Plans for the Rest of Us, New York:Thunder's Mouth Press. Maddox, Marion 2005. God under Howard: The Rise of the Religious Right in Australian Politics, Allen & Unwin. Hedges, Chris (2006), American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America, Free Press. Davis, Derek H.; Hankins, Barry (2003). New Religious Movements and Religious Liberty in America. Baylor University Press. Mark Juergensmeyer (2004). Terror in the Mind of God: The Global Rise of Religious Violence. University of California Press. Read More