Effects of Religion on Society

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1. I need to know what effects religion has had on society / past or present two examples that I can start from.

Religion has always played an important part of world history and therefore shapes the minds and behaviors of the people that make up society. Thus, religion plays a vital role in the day-to-day events of human life for everyone, for example, whether religious or not, mainly because society is shaped by religion, religious values and rules of conduct (1). There are other effects, both negative and positive, that organized religion has had on society, as well.

Let's look at several of these:

a. Unified Set of Rules for daily living

One of the major effects that religion has had on society is to bring together a unified set of "rules" that govern how people live their lives. For the religious person, this allows people to understand what it is that God is asking of them, so that they have a clear understanding of their place in the world and what they need to accomplish in order to reach salvation and to live as a good person. One of many examples of this effect is how Jewish people have rules regarding what they are not allowed to consume. Pork is a food that Jews do not eat, which according to the Jewish faith is not eaten because of how filthy and unkempt the animals are. Eating the meat from such an animal is a direct reflection of that person as well as their religion, therefore pork is strictly forbidden (1)

b. Unified Set of Rules for Legal Codes and Systems

However, religion and rules of conduct also formed our legal codes and systems. For example, many legal rules of right and wrong behavior was based on the Ten Commandments and other religious prescriptions of what it meant by right and wrong behavior (e.g., murder is wrong, based on the commandment: Thou shall not kill). Gradually, though, secular rules are also shaping legal rules e.g., marriage being redefined, etc. Marriage as defined between a man and woman is a reflection of the Jewish and Christian religion documents (e.g. Torah and Old Testament). Even though ...