Religion and its Effect on Society and Individuals Essay

Over the years, society has come to evolve and progressively become more efficient as society’s viewpoints and perspectives on various aspects of life have also changed. However, the one aspect of life that has stayed constant has been religion. The impact of a constant religious opinion on a changing society has detrimental and benign effects on the populace of such a society. Religion was partly created in an effort to answer the questions that couldn’t be answered in any other way; to provide an explanation for the unexplainable. Each religion in turn has it’s own version of a higher being in which to believe. Giving this higher being a name or title such as â€Å"God† implies that it is a person rather an entity. Bhikhu Parekh (2001)†¦show more content†¦The question still remains though, can we believe in one or are we forced to chose between what can be proven and what relies on faith alone? There have been multiple attempts to intertwine the teachings of religion and science so that both could peacefully co-exist. The first scholar of science-and-religion, Ian Barbour, tried to relate the two in an analysis that came about in 1988 where he stated that there are four ways in which the two relate (Giberson, 2011). His studies, however, were greatly criticized by many others. Each attempt has failed as many have seen that t he divide between the two is too great to be able to relinquish. One of the greatest controversies is evolution vs. creationism. Benedict XVI has been quoted as saying â€Å"we are not some casual and meaningless product of evolution. Each of us is the result of a thought of God† in April of 2005 after the intelligent design trial. This trial, like the Scopes â€Å"Monkey† Trial, tested whether or not teachers would have to mention another theory of how we as humans came to be on earth (Singham, 2010). The intelligent design theory states that the diversity of life is the result of a higher being’s plan. While the Dover Area School District wanted to teach students that intellectualShow MoreRelatedSociological Perspectives Of Functionalism, Conflict Theory And Symbolic Interactions882 Words   |  4 Pagesinteractions. In looking at how religion functions in social structures, social systems, and small group interpersonal interactions a sociologist could formul ate a better understanding of religion s role in society and the human experience. The sociologist looks at the individual, and how that individual connects to a specific societal location or setting and specifically at religion a sociological study could determine the power religion holds over people and societies. 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