Albaugh and Nelson 1

Brianna Albaugh
Courtney Nelson
Mr. Jay B. Gross
English 12 B (3)
14 May 2015
Religion: A Downfall or Benefit to Society?
A little girl sits in her bed alone. Her mother, gone from cancer, is a constant memory in
her head. Her father, a belligerent drunk passed out in the next room, snores loudly as the smell
of alcohol finally reaches her room. She slides out of her untucked blankets getting on her knees
to pray. She prays to God to give her mother back, to make her father better, even when she
knows it is impossible to do. She sobs as her prayers go unanswered once again. Now, the God
her mother once worshipped is nothing but a throbbing pain of false hope to the lonely child.
Religion is a simple word that defines many different practices and beliefs. However, it
also accentuates the walls dividing the human race. A word that not only categorizes who is good
or evil based on a set of morals that are hypocritical and impossible to live up to, but also one
that goes against all basic human instinct. With religion playing such a major factor in humanity
and its history, the subject needs to be addressed and demolished. Intolerance, wars, and societal
dysfunction are all major problems associated by religious affiliation. Groups that embrace
religion see it as the glue holding together societies morals, however it is untrue. Because of the
issues associated with it, religion must be banned around the world.
Religion is a primary factor for intolerance among individuals within society and why it
must be banned. Religion intolerance targets individuals, such as Muslims, and others who

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believe in different religious values than another. In Hebrew and Christian literature this is the
most prevalent. In Exodus 22:20 the Old Testament states, "He that sacrificeth unto any god,
save unto the LORD only, he shall be utterly destroyed. or in Deuteronomy 7:1-2, NIV, "When
the Lord your God brings you into the land you are entering to possess and drives out before you
may nations the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites,Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites,
seven nations larger and stronger than you 2 and when the LORD your God has delivered them
over to you and you have defeated them,then you must destroy them totally. Make no treaty with
them and show them no mercy" ("Does the Bible..." 1). This states people of this religion must
commit genocide over anyone who does not believe in what they do. To commit genocide in
itself is a horrible act of malice, but then to organize it just to do away with people of different
opinions is ridiculous. Throughout every religion there is intolerance to others of different beliefs
which can be seen in every belief system.
Buddhism, the supposedly peaceful practice has intolerance. Buddhists go to war,
discriminate against others, take Buddhism to be essential to national identity, and do things that
we might find completely contrary to the Buddhas teachings ("The Roots of... 1). In May
2013, Buddhist mobs attacked mosques and burned more than 70 homes in Oakkan, India, after a
Muslim girl on a bicycle collided with a monk. One person died and nine were injured (Strathern
1). The damage religious intolerance can cause is exponential and never ending. If even the most
peaceful religion is intolerant and destructive, it is apparent religion must be destroyed. Along
with intolerance, wars are also a major problem created by religion.
The biggest pitfall of all history are wars and many are caused by religion. The Thirty
Years war is one of the most prominent examples. The war started because of hostile Protestant
and Catholic camps located in German States. Roman Emperor Ferdinand II, attempted to

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impose restrictions on the religious activities of his people ultimately leading to Protestant
uprising and a war that lasted thirty years. The cost of the war was even worse, with over twenty
percent of Germanys total population gone and up to fifty percent along the Baltic to Black
Forest ("Thirty Years War." 1). Because of a religious feud hundreds of thousands lives were
lost, villages destroyed, and innocents caught in the middle of a preventable war. There are still
more examples of war with religious ultimatums.
A great series of holy wars also happened between 1095 until 1291 CE. A holy war is
driven by religion, with aim to spread religion, take back holy lands, and to avenge any
wrongdoings to the faith of the one starting the war (BBC News 1). During the crusades,
atrocities such as massacre, forcing people from their homes and even slaughtering children were
a common thing in order to appease God and assert religious dominance ("Crusades." 1). To
those of religious affiliations, all of this was deemed okay as long as it was for their God and
their religion. For every war, there are many deaths and when wars can be prevented, the logical
thing would be to do anything to stop them and save lives. Banning religion would prevent many
future wars, and that is why it must be abolished. Societal dysfunction is yet another problem
religion causes.
There are several studies which provide exceptional evidence about the truth between
religiosity and societal dysfunction. In the current issue of the 'Journal of Religion in Society'
evolutionary scientist Gregory Paul correlates the level of religion in society. Societal
dysfunction undermines the stability of society and takes many forms including violence, teen
pregnancy rates, and sexually transmitted disease ("Income Inequality and Societal
Dysfunction." 1). In all of the correlations studied, it was evident that the countries with the most
people with religious affiliations, the greater instances of these occurred (Paul). Statistically

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speaking, this means there is significant evidence to establish a relationship between the two
variables. The countries with the least amount of religion are the most prosperous and advanced.
The country of Japan is one of the most advanced countries in the world and one of the
most secular. According to studies only 25% of Japanese believe religion is relevant outside of
tradition and ceremony. Another 31% believe that there is no such thing as a higher being (Top
10 Countries1). 50% of the Japanese population see religion as unimportant in their daily
lives, and choose not to visit places of worship such as shrines, temples and churches (Religion
in Japan1). Japanese religions are relatively unimportant in comparison to western religions
who ask their believers for absolute loyalty. These statistics may not seem very important to the
point at hand however, it is important to state that Japan, as a country that is very non religious in
its beliefs, is one of the most advanced societies on Earth. Japans economic and technological
development remains a model for less technologically advanced countries that have not yet
mastered the way modern technology and economic systems work. It is because of the fact so
few people practice religion that Japan has less societal dysfunction and has progressed to such
an advanced state. If religion were gone, every society would be at this level. Even with all these
problems, there are people who believe that religion is necessary.
Many religious affiliated people such as David Cameron and Emile Durkherim, argue
that God and religion is necessary for morals and it is the glue holding society together ("The
Role of God..." 1). However, these arguments are very flawed for a few reasons. In order for this
to be true, one would have to imply humans are incapable of creating social rules on their own,
requiring a divine ruler. Looking in the animal kingdom, there are many beings of lesser
knowledge than that of a human, one being chimpanzees. Chimpanzees have clear social
expectations of their community in which an alpha controls social standing and actions (About

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Chimpanzees 1). Primal as this may be, it makes it completely unreasonable to believe that
human society needs a creator to be civil when it is happening in less evolved areas of the animal
kingdom.
Another error is the false statement that religion is necessary for morals. Christians firmly
believe that their God is crucial for social order and behavior, even when many cultures do not
follow him. This tears a big hole in the belief morals are from the basis of God and God alone.
Even without this fact it is possible to see both atheists and religious individuals alike be
immoral, and therefore have no correlation between believing in a god and being a good person.
Steven Weinberg stated in his article With or without religion, good people can behave well and
bad people can do evil; but for good people to do evil that takes religion (Cline). Morals that
can be decided by humans alone do not need to be dictated by religion in order to be right and is
not needed to hold society together. It is an impractical invention that needs to be abolished.
The topic at hand is a controversial subject that can provide heated arguments from both
sides. However, most of them are based on personal bias regarding the subject. Looking logically
at the situation, many correlations between religion and various problems of the world are clear.
To solve this would take large amounts of efforts, but it is very possible. First of all, just making
it law that one cannot preach religious views or practice it in public would stop many people
from being subjected to religion. Along with the law, teaching children to think openly and
rationally without getting subjected to bias is another way. Starting young and teaching them to
identify bias and avoid it in school would be very successful. After generations of this, religion
would essentially be gone and all issues associated with it.
It is important to see the mistakes humanity has made and learn from them to create a

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better world for future generations. To solve a problem is how to grow as a society, and religion
is one that still has yet to be cleaned up. Intolerance is a terrible disease that has infected society.
Wars are deadly and ultimately futile. Societal dysfunction keeps progression halted. All of these,
and more problems, are associated with religion and why it must be abolished around the world.
It is ridiculous to think society needs religion when clearly no other animal does and
unreasonable to keep it around when it is possible to solve. Without religion the future is wide
open, with limitless possibilities and without walls keeping humanity apart. With, it is stuck in an
abyss of dangerous ideas and suffering.

Works Cited

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BBC News. BBC. Web. 22 Mar. 2015.
<http://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/war/religious/holywar.shtml>.
"About Chimpanzees." Social Organization. Web. 06 Apr. 2015.
<http://www.janegoodall.ca/about-chimp-behaviour-social-organization.php>.
Cline, Austin. "Does God Matter?" Web. 06 Apr. 2015.
<http://atheism.about.com/od/doesgodexist/a/doesgodmatter.htm>.
"Crusades." History.com. A&E Television Networks. Web. 22 Mar. 2015.
<http://www.history.com/topics/crusades>.
"Does the Bible Contain Hate?" Hate Literature within the Bible. Web. 20 Mar. 2015.
<http://www.religioustolerance.org/bibl_hate2.htm>.
"Income Inequality and Social Dysfunction | The Equality Trust." Income Inequality and Social
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<http://www.equalitytrust.org.uk/resources/our-publications/income-inequality-and-socialdysfunction>.
Paul, Gregory. Journal of Religion and Society Web. 14 Apr. 2015
"Religion in Japan." Survey:. Web. 13 Apr. 2015. <http://www.japanguide.com/topic/0002.html>.
"The Role of God, Religion and Morality in Contemporary Society." The Huffington Post UK.
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Strathern, Alan "Why Are Buddhist Monks Attacking Muslims?" BBC News. Web. 06 Apr. 2015.
<http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-22356306>.
"Thirty Years War." History.com. A&E Television Networks. Web. 11 Feb. 2015.

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<http://www.history.com/topics/thirty-years-war>.
"Top 10 Countries With the Least Religious People." TheRichest The Worlds Most Entertaining
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<http://www.therichest.com/expensive-lifestyle/location/top-10-countries-with-the-leastreligious-people/>.
"The Roots of Intolerance and Prejudice in Buddhism - DVB Multimedia Group." DVB
Multimedia Group. 02 Aug. 2014. Web. 20 Mar. 2015. <https://www.dvb.no/analysis/theroots-of-intolerance-and-prejudice-in-buddhism-burma-myanmar/42826>.