Discuss the importance of religion in society today The human society today is a very vibrant, dynamic and most

importantly entirely different entity than it was in the previous century. Just a hundred years ago, when one is born into a trade or faith, one has to follow suit or prepare to face seclusion from the society. The status quo today however is a totally different one. We all indeed, have a choice; a choice to subscribe to different schools of thought, a choice to be different. However, these choices are affected by a major player in today s society; religion. Religion is like a packet of popcorn at the movies, they are all different but they are all the same and they have one purpose and one purpose only; to supplement. A supplement to a rather mundane journey called life. Unlike the British Empire or the Indian Raj, religion although important today; exists between the crevices of enforced secularism in our world. By looking at pure statistics, religion dominates our demographics. Religion influences our thoughts and ideas. World s largest religion to date remains to be Christianity; with around 2.5 billion adherents with Islam following behind at 1.5 billion adherents. Both religions are Abrahamic religions which subscribe to monotheistic views. The third largest religion and onwards; counting at 1 billion and below for each, are polytheistic institutions. Albeit adhering to various perceptions of God, the world predominantly subscribes to the moral codes of religion. Thus we arrive at the morality clause and what it means for each and every one of us. As individuals part of a larger society, we today allow major decisions to be influenced by primal religious instincts. The human moral system is one that has stemmed from the concept of religion and God. There have been arguments that morality could have come into existence independently without religion, unfortunately proof proves otherwise. All of our morals have subconsciously been affected by religion even if one declares him/herself to be an atheist. With our core principals, our morals, being clearly affected by religion, aren t our daily life decisions which depend on our moral values also ipso facto based on religion? Today we, as the majority of humanity, frown upon and disgust at the act of murder or rape. How did this repulsion towards such acts develop? Were these moral standards conjured from thin air? No. They are a result of centuries of exposure to the religious values that pinpoint that these acts are wrong. We as humanity have been so overly exposed to the strongholds of religion that even without us realizing, we are born with a set of moral values that we didn t pick and choose. When brought up in a religiously pious family or community, the tendency to indulge into the respective religious text is inevitable. However further indulgence into religious texts, will only reinforce these basic values that we possess. Through this indulgence arises another problem; fundamentalism. Religious fundamentalism has been the reason behind many terrorist and criminal acts. Being the two largest religions; Christian and Islamic fundamentalism is pervasive in today society. From the Koran burning pastor to the plane crashing Islamic terrorists, they embody the influence of religion on today s society. Religion, though recommended as a guiding compass to one s life, is being used as a weapon. A weapon that will ensure this vicious cycle of fundamentalism continues. In today s world, such fundamentalism has rendered the society at large catatonic. They are paranoid, and through this paranoia they develop ignorance. It is this ignorance that leads to Singapore s most racy and debated topic; Racism.

No matter black white or beige; chola or orient made, you were born this way - the words of the world s most controversial and most followed artist; Lady Gaga. I decide to take Gaga as a reference point to racism as her songs celebrate the individual; although hugely different; identity of every one of us. As mentioned above, no matter what colour you are, you are born this way. However the society thinks differently, we as individuals cannot celebrate individuality due to restrictions set by religious principles. Islam in particular has a strong set of decrees for its followers. The females are required to always wear the tudong or a head scarf that covers the majority of their face. The females are required to adhere to strict dress codes and failure to do so will result in the judgment of the Muslim community. Thus, people who are restricted by religious principles cannot dress however they wish; which already is an obstruction to the celebration to self-identity. By dressing up differently, these women are now set apart from their counter parts whom are Hindu or Christian. Standing out in today s society as a Muslim, as prejudice as it maybe, draws unnecessary attention to a person. A perfectly normal human being is scrutinized for being different. This is but the fruits of religious principles; we are all mutually exclusive because of religion. This brings about the division of society. Although all major cities in the world dance in joy and mirthfully announce about their diversity; it is fairly obvious, the divisions in society. Apart from apparent geographical divisions, where majority of Hindus are in India and majority of Christians are in Americas and majority of Muslims are in the Middle East, religions are pervasive and do overlap. It is in these regions of overlap do we see subtle divisions. The most prevalent division is the discouragement of inter-religious marriages. Our world has seen a significant increase in religious hybridity; however it is still not widely accepted or encouraged even in first world countries such as Singapore or the Americas. This inability to accept various religions drives my argument home to the point that religion is considered to be so important in our lives that our basic principles and decisions are being affected. The case of atheism does not exist independently; it is rather interlinked with the importance of religion today. It takes a certain amount of faith to believe in God and that exact amount of faith to believe that God does not exist. As a matter of fact, both theistic and atheistic people subscribe to the same set of basic moral principles that affects their daily life. Atheism today amounts to about 2.5 percent of the global population and this 2.5 % predominantly come from very affluent countries. For example, a recent article the in local papers stated that there are more and more people opting a non-religious life and have joined hands to form an organization called The Humanist Organization . Other atheists actually take their disbelief to a different level by inventing the Flying Spaghetti Monster faith group; one that mocks the existence of god and the concept of religion. If religion was not important in society, would such groups with such strong opinions surface? As a conclusion, religion today serves to guide society and nurture their moral compasses.; like the rotten fruit of a harvest, there always ought to be extremists and fundamentalists over exaggerating the principles of religion and exerts pressure on society. Governments today although belief in the importance of religions, do not apply religious principles (explicitly) to run their country, this lack of religion in governance also reflects the importance of religion in today s society as it is because that religion is such an important and fragile issue that the governments of the world fear to meddle with it. All in all, it is important to take everything we learn with a pinch of salt; even religion.