Negative effects of religion with real-life examples

Negative effects of religion

Introduction

Negative effects of religion: Without a doubt, religion is one of the driving forces of this world. People follow their own unique religion and live with their distinctive religious beliefs. Surely, as an institution religion has been very effective and relevant among us humans. In fact, religion has had a significant contribution in shaping of perspective, civilizations as well as cultures and traditions. But the shaping out does not turn out to be good in all cases. Whereas, many people around the world feel that they get hope, moral guidance as well as a sense of being part of a community. In contrast, some people even get derailed from the actual purposes of their life and suffer from other kinds of losses by engaging in different religions and their belief systems.

Undeniably, the positive aspects of religion get highlighted on every possible chance and opportunity believers get. However, the negative aspects, the criticisms and bad influence of religion in particular aspects get overlooked usually. Hence, not getting enough limelight. In this blog, you are going to understand the negative effects of religion with the help of facts and real-life examples.

An overview – Negative effects of religion

As a responsible human individual, you shouldn’t definitely overlook and ignore the dark side of religion around the world. If the positive aspects and outcomes of religion get celebrated around the world, it is also important to shed some light on the negative aspects as well. It is indeed an undeniable fact that religion has caused harm to human civilizations in a lot of ways and in different eras. You will be provided with real life examples of the same later in the blog.

When wondering about the downside of religion there are many things to consider and mention certainly. One of them would be the countless number of wars which have been fought or are being fought in the name of religion. Surely, many wars and violent conflicts around the world have been known to get influenced by different aspects of religion. And, this is definitely very relevant around the whole world. And, the downside of religion is not just limited to wars and conflicts. It has also caused many personal sufferings and losses. When religion gets handled irresponsibly or through intolerant ways it always leads to some kind of conflict.

Negative effects of religion – Suppression of intellect and individual freedom of thought

Individual freedom getting suppressed is indeed one of the most common as well as most prominent negative impacts of religion. Furthermore, organized religion has developed a reputation for suppressing the freedom of individuals around the whole world. To be more specific, they especially target and suppress the freedom to think critically and in depth. As you may know, all different kinds of religions in existence out there are known to impose some kind of rules and regulations on the followers. For example, rules about their behaviour, morality and even thoughts.

Hence, individuals get bound by such restrictions and really lose any interest in thinking about stuff critically. In fact, they will even stop welcoming other perspectives which might help them see the reality. The separation of intellect is very evident by how different religions restrict people to question literally anything or to make their own perspectives. They simply need to follow what their religion wants to teach them. Many religious institutions around different corners of the world are known to not like critical thinking. Especially, when challenging the narrators and other perspectives built by the religions. Indeed, such thoughts and claims get referred to as ‘heresy’ or ‘blasphemy’. Which simply means it’s nonsense and doesn’t mean anything. Lastly, even many limitations are imposed on personal choices of individuals by these religions.

Negative effects of religion – Causing division, conflict, manipulation and fear

Without a doubt, religion has been responsible for dividing people from each other around the world. And, even the source of the rising conflicts between these divided groups of people. For example, many religions teach their believers that the belief system associated with their religion is right. In contrast, they tell their believers that whatever belief systems the believers of other religions are following are wrong and meaningless. In simple words, religion arouses conflict between people by giving them a mentality of us versus them.

Surely, it has been a source of wars being fought for religion along with endless discrimination. All of this goes against the idea of global unity and peace. On the other hand, it is also a fact that many religious institutions and teachers have been responsible for psychological manipulation as well as causing fear amongst the individuals. For example, many of the religions out there set narratives of sin and punishment. Hence, inducing a fear of going to hell along with guilt and shame.

Other negative effects of religion worth mentioning

Many people around the world are known to use religion as a justification or reason for violence. Such people commit extreme and harmful activities in the name of their religions. Also, these people think that there is no kind of shame in doing that and they are protecting their religion. Which is definitely not the case.

Moreover, throughout the history religions and their narratives are known to clash with science. For example, religions conflict with scientific discoveries and theories such as evolution. Meanwhile, religion is also a kind of economic burden on the people who follow with all their heart. All to get nothing in return except false hopes and a sense of belonging. Lastly, religion is also a negative impact because it interferes and resists social progress. Therefore, there is a need for balance in the society in the aspect of religion.

Some examples of negative effects of religion

  • Christian and Muslim communities fighting against each other in the crusades. Basically, a series of religious wars were started by the Latin search back in the medieval period.
  • One of the biggest conflicts to arise and exist in the continent of Europe was “The Thirty Years War”. In simple words, it was a religious war being fought between Catholics and protestants. Most of this war took place in central Europe indeed.
  • Even though the partition of India was not entirely a result of religious conflict. It was definitely influenced by the clashes of Muslims and Hindus in the country. In fact, the religious tensions were present among Hindus, Muslims as well as Sikhs. It even led to massage violence with over 2 million people losing their lives. And, more than 20 million people lost their homes after getting dislocated.
Negative effects of religion
Negative effects of religion

Conclusion

Surely, religion is an integral part of society. However, their needs to be some kind of balance.  This is because if no kind of restrictions are put on religion then it can be destructive as has been seen in the past. In conclusion, it is hoped that you approached all the information related to negative impacts of religion with an open mind. Also, that you got some new perspectives regarding the same.

FAQs

Q – Do people actually take each other’s’ lives in the name of religion?

Yes, it has been known to happen in the past.

Q – Are the believers actually behind all the chaos caused in the name of religion?

They are to some extent but mostly it is a result of the propagandas and agenda is being post by the influential people of the world and religions.

[AUTHOR – PIYUSH CHAUHAN]