EMA EMITS COLLEGE PHILIPPINES

(Formerly: Eastern Mindoro Institute of Technology & Sciences)

Del Pilar St.; Pinamalayan, Oriental Mindoro
Telefax No. (043) 284-3974

World Religions and Belief Systems

Positive and Negative Effects of Religion

Quarter 1 - Module 3:
How to use this module?
Telefax No. (043) 284-3974
Before starting this module, I want you to set aside other task/s that may disturb by while enjoying the
lessons. Read the simple instructions below to successfully enjoy the objectives of this kit. Have fun!

1. Follow carefully all the contents and instructions indicated in every page of this module.
2. Write on your notebook the concept about the lessons.
3. Perform all the provided activities in the module.
4. Analyse conceptually the post test and apply what you have learned.
5. Enjoy studying!

LET`S BEGIN

Most ancient societies based their worldviews on religion, and it has been proven to be beneficial to the attainment
and maintenance of social stability and cohesiveness. However, as time went by, religion has also become the basis
of conflicts between societies, even within societies. While religion has promoted solidarity among societies, it has
also been the reason behind the outbreak of particular wars in history. In this lesson, we will discuss the positive and
negative effects of religion, as well as examples of historical events caused primarily by religion.

The scope of this module covers different learning situations where the students could relate different
beliefs all around the world and his personal thoughts and belief and its significance on his/her everyday life. Are
you ready for your learning journey? Be ready and accomplish the task ahead.

LET`S SET OUR GOAL

In this module, you should be able to:
1. Identify the positive and negative effects of religions.
2. Provide evidence that religion brought about an event in history.
3. Create a collage showing or illustrating the positive and negative effects of religion

Note: Please be faithful on the above goals and objective. These will serve as your guide on what to learn on
this module. BE HONEST! You need to strive hard in order to reap your rewards. Hardship won’t betray you!
WHAT DO YOU KNOW?
PRE-TEST. Read and answer each statement carefully then write the letter of the best answer on a separate sheet of
paper. Please answer honestly. Use your mind and not your data connection!
1. How does religion encourage moral values?
______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
2. Can you say that religion is a double-edged sword? Why or why not?
______________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________

So! How was it? It’s easy right? Well, ready yourself because the journey is just starting. It will get more
interesting and more challenging. Keep your patience and your smile because this is going to be interesting.
INHALE. EXHALE. Good luck.
 LESSON 1

Dating back to the emergence of ancient societies, religion has already played an important role in the lives of our
ancestors. In Mesopotamia, for example, the Sumerians organized their settlement into temple communities, wherein
the temple was found at the center of their communities and the veneration of their gods and goddesses govern their
daily lives. They believed that the lands which they tilled were owned by the deities that are why they offered part of
their harvest to their priest, who was also their leader and who was seen as people’s intermediary to higher beings.
In the absence of an organized religion, their concept of morality was based on the belief that right actions earn
the approval of the gods and goddesses and wrong actions may cause punishment. Hence, the importance of ritual
practices to appease the supernatural beings that they considered as having control over their lives.
Hey look! There’s an activity below. I know you can do it! I believe in you because you are smart and
strong.

LET`S DO THIS
LET US HAVE SOME FUN!
Discuss the possible consequences if a society has no religion. List at least five possible consequences.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE EFFECTS OF RELIGION

The lines in the picture, taken from John Lennon’s song entitled “Imagine,” encourage the listener to think of a
world where nationalities and religions do not exist, for history has shown us that so many wars have been
fought in the name of nationality and religion. The song suggests that instead of being caught up in the barriers and
divisiveness brought by nationality or religion, we should consider the possibility of living in a world at peace.
Religion has become a very important aspect in the development of civilizations and cultures.

POSITIVE EFFECTS OF RELIGION

 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 regards religious leaders such as priests, priestesses and shamans in high
esteem. These characteristics help advance social harmony by assimilating and stabilizing cultures and nations.
 Religion Provides Moral Values
Perhaps one of the most significant functions of religion is that it encourages moral values. It provides a
systematic model of the universe, which in effect determines organized human behavior. By providing moral values,
one is able to distinguish right from wrong, good from evil. It also provides a system of reward and punishment that
administers and standardizes people’s behavior in society. Some people believe that it is sometimes more effective
than the laws implemented by the state, since most people give more importance to the reward and punishment in
the afterlife.
 Religion Provides Social Change
Since religion is a source of moral values, religion provides social change. It can be very effective in lobbying and
campaigning for certain social issues using its own moral teachings as the basis of argument. For example, the
Church in the US has been active in the campaign for civil liberties as well as the antislavery movement. In the
Philippines, much credit has been given to the Catholic Church for the success of the People Power Revolution in
1986 when Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin urged the people to join the protest rally to oust the dictator, former
president Ferdinand Marcos. Another example would be Gandhi’s satyagraha, or passive resistance, which paved
the way for India’s independence from the British in the 20th century. Satyagraha advocates the belief that
nonviolence of the mind can lead to the realization of the real nature of an evil situation and that by refusing to
cooperate with evil, truth can be asserted.
 Religion Reduces Fear of the Unknown
Religion was developed from man’s need to have a sense of origin and destination; to discover where they came
from and where they are bound to go to when they die. Religion provides answers for phenomena and questions that
science or reason cannot explain. Myths about the origin of people abound with stories of groups of people being
created by gods and goddesses, perpetuating the notion that people came from supreme beings and will eventually
go back to them in the afterlife. More importantly, religion has provided assurances as to where spirits will go when
people die, reducing people’s fear of death as something undesirable. The belief in the afterlife has become very
important in most religions because it has become the basis for their daily conduct or how they live their lives. For
the Hindus, for example, how they follow their dharma (moral and social obligation) determines what will happen to
them in the afterlife: as long as they follow their dharma, they will reap good karma (karma refers to moral
consequences of one’s act) which will eventually liberate their souls from bad karma, leading them to attain moksha,
or the reunion of Brahman or universal soul and atman or individual soul (this will be further discussed in the lesson
on Hinduism).

 Religion Gives Positive Goals in Life

People were inspired by the stories of different prophets from their own religious affiliations, like that of Moses,
Siddharta 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. Moses was ordered to liberate the
Hebrews from slavery in Egypt and lead them back to the promised land; Mohammed was chosen to challenge the
supremacy of the ruling class in the desert by preaching equality and founding the Islamic religion; while Siddharta
Gautama gave up his wealth and power to find the solution for sickness, poverty, old age, and death. Their narra-
tives—perpetuated through religion—may give people a sense of meaning in life; that they are not placed in this
world without a purpose; that each and everyone has a mission to fulfill and it is up to them to fathom what their
missions in life are.

 Religion Gives People a Sense of Belonging

Just as family, ethnicity, or nationality give people a sense of belonging, so does religion. For some, religion
provides people with personal identity as part of a group with similar worldviews, 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. Belonging to a particular religion whose members shares the same
beliefs, practice the same rituals, and worship the same god gives individuals a sense of being in the right place with
the right people.

NEGATIVE EFFECTS OF RELIGION

 Religion Affirms Social Hierarchy

Some religions affirm social hierarchy often favoring men and as a result, perpetuate the notions of class or gender
discrimination and oppression. Another example of religion reflecting the hierarchy of political structures would be
the Confucian emphasis on the relations between the ruler and the subject, with the former exercising authority over
the latter. The traditional caste system in India would also reflect how religion reflects political and social structures
since it propagated the idea that people had to be subdivided into certain social classes with particular social roles
and that the attainment of moksha (union of universal soul and individual soul) would depend on how they
performed their duties based on their designated class.

 Religion Causes Discrimination

There are some who say that religion, after turning people against themselves, turn people against each other. This
happens when people do not tolerate religious ideologies different from the one they follow. 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. In a way, religion has made this world a
more complicated place to live in. Religion can also 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. In Islam, the practice of
wearing the hijab (a head covering worn in public by Muslim women) is considered by many critics as a form of
suppression against Muslim women.

 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. In Palestine, the Jews are in conflict with the Muslims; in Kashmir, it
is the Muslims against Hindus; in Sudan, it is the Muslims opposite Christians and animists; in Sri Lanka, it is the
Sinhalese Buddhists against the Tamil Hindus; in Indonesia, it is Muslims contra Timorese Christians.

 Religion as an Economic Tool for Exploiting the Masses

According to the German philosopher Karl Marx, “religion is the opium of the masses.” 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 Marx, it maintains social inequality by propagating a worldview that justifies oppression. He
believed that religion can be effectively used by the ruling class to maintain a social order that is more favorable to
them. Whether one is Christian, Jewish, or Muslim, religious teachings justifying one’s acceptance of oppression as
a normal part of life on earth and as a means to get an everlasting reward in the afterlife can be seen as a bourgeois
tactic to maintain the status quo where they reap more resources and power in society.

 Religion Impedes Scientific Success and Development

Throughout history, religion has proven to impede scientific development. For example, it has often been said that the
Catholic Church used to teach that the world is flat and warned people against going to faraway places if they do not
wish to fall off the edge of the earth. Another example would be the claim that the earth is the center of the solar
system, also known as the Ptolemaic theory. Aristarchus, and later on, Nicolas Copernicus, proved that the sun is the
centre of the solar system and all other planets move around it, hence advancing the heliocentric model. Aside from
these, some of the moral teachings of other religions are deemed by secular communities to be detrimental to
development.

 Religion Obstructs the Use of Reason

Many question the suitability of religious doctrines to the needs of the present and future generations. In order to put
these dogmas to practice, religion should, therefore, evolve and learn to adapt to the ever changing world. Ancient
religious beliefs and practices which have proven to be inhuman should be replaced with sensible ones. Take the case
of the trepanning or the ancient practice of boring holes in the human skull, a surgical procedure performed on
epileptics and the mentally ill, with the belief that through the hole the evil spirit will leave the person. During those
days they regard it as an attempt at exorcism, but at present the procedure is just unthinkable.

HISTORICAL EVENTS CAUSED BY RELIGION

 Self-Immolation of a Buddhist Monk in Vietnam

Self-immolation, or the killing of oneself as a form of sacrifice, originally referred to as the act of setting oneself on
fire. But now it refers to a much wider range of suicidal choices such as leaping off a cliff, starvation, or ritual
removing of the guts (also known as seppuku). It is used as a form of political protest or martyrdom. The case of
self-immolation reported by the Western media was that of a Buddhist monk named Thich Quang Duc in
Vietnam in 1963, who set himself on fire in the middle of a street in South Vietnam. This was done in protest
against the religious discrimination being experienced by the Buddhists in Vietnam by the Roman Catholic regime of
Ngo Dinh Diem. Under his dictatorial regime, the minority Catholics enjoyed majority status and privileges while
the majority Buddhists were prohibited from practicing their religion in public.

 Widow Burning Among the Hindus in India

Sati, or the practice of self-immolation of a widow on her husband’s funeral pyre, is said to have originated 700
years ago in India. It is believed to have started among the ruling class or rajputs in India, when the rajput women
burnt themselves to death after their men were defeated in battles to avoid being taken by the conquerors. Later on, it
has become a manifestation of wifely devotion. It has been outlawed by the British rulers in 1829 but rare cases still
continue to occur. In 2006, a Hindu woman was reported to have committed sati in Tuslipar village in the central
state of Madhya Pradesh. The woman, whose name was Janakrani, was said to have burnt herself to death on the
funeral pyre of her husband Prem Narayan. According to the villagers, after the cremation, the widow told them she
had to attend to some work, but when they went looking for her they found her dead on the pyre. Reports said that
nobody forced her to commit the act.

 The Inquisition

Inquisition refers to the Roman Catholic Church groups charged with subduing heresy from around 1184, which
includes the Episcopal Inquisition (1184- 1230s) and the Papal Inquisition (1230s). The Inquisition was a response to
large popular movements in Europe considered heretical or profane to Christianity, particularly Catharism (a
Christian dualist movement which espoused the idea of two gods, one being good and the other evil) and
Waldensians (a Protestant Christian movement which advocated that apostolic poverty is the way to perfection)
in southern France and southern Italy. The word “inquisition,” has somehow become associated with the word
“torture.” This is because after 1252, torture was used to punish the heretics. On May 15, a papal bull was
issued by Pope Innocent IV, the Ad exstir panda, which authorized the use of torture by inquisitors. One
common form of torture was the strappado, wherein the hands were bound behind the back with a rope, and
the accused was suspended this way, dislocating the joints painfully in both arms.

 The Godhra Train Incident in 2002

In February 2002, a train was set on fire in which 59 people, including 25 women and 15 children, were killed. The
fire happened inside the Sabarmati Express train near the Godhra railway station in the Indian state of Gujarat.
Those who died inside the train were mostly Hindu pilgrims and activists returning from the holy city of Ayodhya
after a religious ceremony at the disputed Babri Masjid site. It took six years for the commission appointed to
investigate the said incident to conclude that the fire was committed by a mob of 1000-2000 people. Thirty-one
Muslims were convicted by the court for the incident and conspiracy for the crime.

The Babri Masjid site was a source of the Ayodha dispute, which was centered on access to the site
traditionally regarded by the Hindus as the birthplace of the Hindu deity Rama. Hindus accuse the Muslims of
demolishing a previous Hindu temple on the site to create the Babri mosque, which was destroyed by radical Hindu
activists during a political rally that turned into a riot on December 6, 1992. The Godhra train incident in 2002 was
seen as a Muslim retaliation for the demolition of the Babri mosque in 1992. The discovery in 2003 of Buddhist
ruins underlying the Hindu and Muslim layers at Ayodhya only made matters more complicated.

LET`S EXPLORE
Answer the following questions in a separate sheet of paper. Use your own choice of words and not just copy what’s
given in the discussion above. Be unique! You’re not born to be someone’s photocopy! Flourish and express your
unique ideas without getting out of context. Answer on a separate paper.

1. Can you think of other cases of religious conflicts aside from the ones mentioned?
2. Do you agree that sometimes religious conflicts are being used for political reasons? Why or why not?

KEEP IN MIND
NEVER FORGET
Religion can be described as a double-edged sword: it can have both positive and negative effects on society. It has
played a very important role in the development of societies by integrating and stabilizing them; however, it has also
created conflicts. Some of its positive effects are: it promotes social solidarity; it is a source of moral values; it
nurtures positive goals in life; it gives people a sense of belonging; and it fosters social change. Some of religion’s
negative effects include: it affirms social hierarchy; it triggers conflicts and fights; it promotes discrimination; it
impedes scientific success and development; and it hinders the use of reason. Some of the world’s atrocities and
conflicts were caused by religion such as the self-immolation of a Buddhist monk in Vietnam; the practice of sati or
widow burning in India; the Inquisition of the Catholic Church; and the Godhra train incident in India.
 Now that you have been learning and crunching your way towards here, let us see if you can apply these
concepts in a real life situation.

APPLY WHAT YOU HAVE LEARNED

Direction: Answer the following questions

1. In your own opinion, can religious conflicts be avoided? If yes, how

2. Do you think religious groups should have a say in political affairs? Why or why not?

REFLECTION
Congratulations on almost finishing the module! You have just had an amazing learning journey
and for sure, you will also do the same in the succeeding modules. Great job!

Share your final insights by completing the following sentences. Do this in a separate paper.

1. I have learned
that___________________________________________________________________.
2. Studying this lesson or topic is important
because__________________________________________.
3. I have a question about something that needs more explain, this question
is______________________?

QUIZZ TIME

POST-TEST. Do this on a separate sheet of long bond paper.

Assessment

A. Identification. Choose from the list below. Write the correct answer on the blank.
a. Babri Masjid f. Indianization
b. Trepanning g. Sati
c. Devaraja h. Strappado
d. Mount Meru i. Babaylan or catalonan
e. Self-immolation j. Ayodhya
Hindu concept of god-king
______________1. The process of spreading Hindu-Buddhist influences from India to Southeast Asia.
______________2. Place where the Hindu deities live according to Hindu cosmology.
______________3. Spiritual leaders in ancient Philippine society who were mostly women.
______________4. Name of the mosque destroyed by Hindu activists in India.
______________5. Birthplace of Rama according to the Hindus.
______________6. A form of torture used during the Inquisition.
______________7. The Hindu practice of widow burning.
______________8. The killing of oneself as a sacrifice.
______________9. The ancient practice of boring holes in the human skull.

B. Which effect of religion is referred to in the following sentences? Write the letter of the correct answer.

Choices:

a. Religion promotes discrimination.

b. Religion promotes social solidarity.
c. Religion affirms hierarchy.
d. Religion sets positive goals in life.
e. Religion obstructs scientific success and development.
 f. Religion reduces fear of the unknown.
g. Religion obstructs the use of reason.
h. Religion gives people a sense of belonging.
i. Religion makes people fight each other.
j. Religion provides moral values.

______________1. Religion integrates and stabilizes cultures as well as nations.

______________2. Religion should be susceptible to progress.
______________3. Religion sets notions of right and wrong
______________4. Religion promotes obscurantism.
______________5. Religion gives a sense of origin and destination.
______________6. Religion is a source of discrimination.
______________7. Religion gives a sense of purpose in life.
______________8. Religion makes good people do evil things.
______________9. Religion provides personal identity to individuals as part of a group with similar world
views, beliefs, values, practices and lifestyles.
______________10. Religion perpetuates notions of class or gender discrimination and oppression.

C. Choose three positive effects and three negative effects of religion and give specific examples of each
based on your personal experience or knowledge. Cut pictures from magazines or newspapers which
reflect the said effects and make a collage on a 1/8 illustration board.

RUBRIC FOR COLLAGE

CRITERIA DESCRIPTION POINTS POINTS OBTAINED
Organization The concept was clearly and creatively 10
conveyed.
Content The pictures were appropriate to the theme. 5
Visual The idea was clearly presented based on the 5
Presentation pictures and words used.
Total: 20

D. On the self-immolation of Thich Quang Duc: Did you think the incident could have been avoided?
Discuss your thoughts about it by writing a one-page reflection paper.
RUBRIC FOR REFLECTION PAPER
CRITERIA DESCRIPTION POINTS POINTS OBTAINED
Organization The activity was able to answer the 10
question posted on the student.
Content The paper was well-written with ideas easily 5
conveyed to readers.

Analysis Analysis was clear and concise based on the data 5

presented.
Total: 20

REFERENCES
Ong, J.a & Jose, M.D. introduction to World Religions and Belief Systems. Vival Group Inc. pp 32-45 (2016)

YOU DID GREAT!