How Religion Affects Politics - Research Paper Example

How Religion Affects Politics ity is an important part of the society. Secular ity exists so there can be order in the society. The church, on the other hand, helps a lot in case there is an area that authority in place does not cater for. In Religion and Politics in the United States, the author talks of “Church of the gaps” where the church helps fill spaces the authority leaves (Wald & Calhoun-Brown 23). In such a case, the two work hand in hand complementing each other. Religion plays a paramount part in determining how a country is governed. In the Middle East, for example, the Muslim religion defines the laws made by the state. The strife that exists between the Israelites and the Iranians, for example, are always involved in the conflict. Israel is a Christian country while Iran is Muslim. The two countries differ a lot in terms of how they are governed and that, sometimes, attracts conflicts. Religion has a significant effect on politics of any given society given that it plays an important role in shaping the concept of power and how it is exercised on people. Before delving deeper into the topic, it is critical that the paper defines the two concepts that the discussion will be revolving around. Religion is not new. It is stated that people started believing there was a deity or rather a force more powerful than the humans since the discovery of fire. It was believed that fire was something of the gods, bringing about the concept of religion and consulting a deity. The main religions on the planet are Christina and Muslim, both of which share over half of the world’s population. Simply put, religion is a system of symbols that formulates conceptions on the general order of human existence (Wald & Calhoun-Brown 23). Politics, on the other hand, is a subject that is as old as history can itself be. People do not perform very well if they are not governed. More often than not, productivity is closely linked to the level of manning or rather supervision involved. In the case of people living in harmony, then that may not be possible if they do not have a higher authority governing what people should and should not do in regard to relating with each other. A brief definition of what politics means is that it entails the activities that are associated with the governance of a particular country. Religion and politics are part and parcel, and they are inseparable. The society is run by several important tenets most of which are determined by the governance of that society and the religion practiced by the people. Without the governments or politics for that matter, it may not be even possible to develop as a country. Since there are very malevolent people in the society, they would interfere with positive work by others through affecting important things such as security. The presence of a government in the society is that it promotes peaceful coexistence. People can feel a sense of security in belonging under a given jurisdiction. If there were no authority, then it would be wrong to kill or steal but then no one would be dealing with the culprits. On looking at religion, take an example Christianity, and then anyone can see how related the laws in the Bible are to those in the constitution. The Bible states that people should not steal, covet, kill, and commit adultery. The same laws are found in the constitution, and people can be jailed if they do not do what is right. Religion is imperative as a determinant of the political ideologies. As will be discussed later, some of the ideologies in the world bringing a lot of trouble to the people are religious. While it may be associated to by o good political conduct, religion can be a source of evil ideologies. Today, there are many ways that the society is affected by politics and, in some Muslim communities, negatively. The recent case of the Islamic State underscores the importance of reducing the effects of religion on the politics of a country. On looking at the scenario, for example, it is notable that a group of people has come to the ‘defense’ of others using a holy book as their guide. The Islamic State commits more atrocities than those it purports to fight. Instead of the Islamic State preaching peace among the people, the organization is at the forefront in the fight against other religions which it terms ‘kafirs’. The militants in East Africa, the Al Shabaab, and those in Nigeria, namely the Boko Haram, are also political organizations or movements known to commit some of the worst crimes against humanity. Their religious ideologies advocate for killing people from other religions and sometimes those of the Muslim community. On looking at the Islamic State, the Al Shabaab, and the Boko Haram, one thing is for certain, all of these political movements are induced by a religion, the Muslim religion. If there were no religions in the world, there would not be menaces such as Boko Haram or the Islamic State beheading innocent people on the basis of misinterpreting holy book. In spite of the problems mentioned above facing countries such as Nigeria and Iraq in the case of misinformed religious movements, religion is a crucial part of a peaceful co-existence (Wald & Calhoun-Brown 45). Most religions advocate for peace. The Christians say that love is the greatest commandment. In this regard, it would not be possible to have them form groups that go shooting members of other religions only because they do not share a common belief. The Christians state that every person should be their brother’s keeper. This, by itself, boosts coexistence in a peaceful manner. When all people appreciate and respect each other, as demanded by the Bible, then it would not be possible to fight each other as all people would be family. The Muslims also believe that they are a peaceful religion. If that is so, there would be peace whenever the religion exists. Unfortunately, there are those who misinterpret the book, bringing quite the opposite of what peace means. Such groups of people who have misinterpreted the Quran and proceeded to give themselves the duty of ‘defending’ their own include the Al Qaeda, Taliban, ISIS, and the Al Shabaab (Spencer 31). If such movements exist only where there is the Muslim religion, it may not be right or fair to say that the religion is not a peaceful one but it cannot be very far from the truth to state that it fuels conflicts, wars and terror. In the fight against terror, what should be the biggest concern is not the people who are involved in bombing or shooting on innocent people but to those who use what the Quran states to either misguide or radicalize young people. In conclusion, there is quite a number of ways through which religion affects politics or rather the governance of a country. In the case of religion bringing about a peaceful coexistence, it is no doubt having it is a good thing in the society. Rules and laws in the society are typically made based on other laws that have been ‘inherent’ to humans. Such laws almost always have a religious connotation. The case of religion bringing peace to the society is debatable. Work Cited Spencer, Robert. A Religion of Peace?: Why Christianity Is and Islam Isnt. Regnery Publishing, 2007. Wald, Kenneth D & Calhoun-Brown, A. Religion and Politics in the United States. Rowman & Little field Publishers, 2010. Read More