“Religion is… the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions.” Even Karl Marx, a sociologist who was against organized religion, cannot deny the influence of religion on humans. Whether religion is good for humanity or not is a heavily debated topic, and has been a heavily debated topic for a long time. Religion is ultimately a force for good that provides structure, health, and community to those who seek it out. Despite having a deep association with violence, religion is not the root cause of violence and can be used to mitigate brutality. Religion is home to the core values of peace and love found around the world, even in Christianity, and formed the basis for many of today’s legal systems. It is a distinctly human
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Many of the well-known nonviolent movements were started by religious people. One of the most popular examples is Mahatma Gandhi, who lead India through nonviolent protest as they sought independence from Britain. While he was Hindu, his views were also influenced by the Jain perspective, and he found violence to be the source of all sin. Martin Luther King was a Christian man include by Gandhi who lead his own series of nonviolent protests during the Civil Rights movement in America. There was also a Christian conference going on when World War I started that was trying to resolve the conflict before it began. While they may not have succeeded in preventing the war, they showed a dedication to peacemaking that set an example that resulted in the formation of the Fellowship of Reconciliation. All of these are examples of how religion can used for peaceful conflict resolution. Religious motives can fuel violent attacks, but they can create a …show more content…
The main Christian text, the Holy Bible also preaches a relatively nonviolent agenda, even to those of different faiths. It is mentioned in two different gospels, Matthew 5:43-48 and Luke 6:27-36, that Christians should love their enemies. Stories like the “Good Samaritan” that show the importance of respecting all human life. Jesus also tells his followers to love their neighbours. Critics of Christianity and other religions may point out that despite these teachings Christian has a long and complex history with violence and followers of its religions have supported the use of violence to satisfy their own goals despite the Bible teaching against this. This is true, but not for all of Christianity. Initially, Christian tradition had a relatively nonviolent following until it became infused into Roman politics by Constantine. Since then however many Christians denominations have supported violence and participated in slave trade, anti-abortion messages, LGBTQ+ discrimination, and racist ideologies. This cannot be said to represent all of Christianity. The religion has too many denominations to say conclusively that every Christian tradition believes in the violence some parts of Christianity has participated in. While the Westboro Baptist Church is famous for its ignorance and hatefulness, there are many Christian denominations spreading the opposite beliefs. Where the KKK, a
Many of the well-known nonviolent movements were started by religious people. One of the most popular examples is Mahatma Gandhi, who lead India through nonviolent protest as they sought independence from Britain. While he was Hindu, his views were also influenced by the Jain perspective, and he found violence to be the source of all sin. Martin Luther King was a Christian man include by Gandhi who lead his own series of nonviolent protests during the Civil Rights movement in America. There was also a Christian conference going on when World War I started that was trying to resolve the conflict before it began. While they may not have succeeded in preventing the war, they showed a dedication to peacemaking that set an example that resulted in the formation of the Fellowship of Reconciliation. All of these are examples of how religion can used for peaceful conflict resolution. Religious motives can fuel violent attacks, but they can create a …show more content…
The main Christian text, the Holy Bible also preaches a relatively nonviolent agenda, even to those of different faiths. It is mentioned in two different gospels, Matthew 5:43-48 and Luke 6:27-36, that Christians should love their enemies. Stories like the “Good Samaritan” that show the importance of respecting all human life. Jesus also tells his followers to love their neighbours. Critics of Christianity and other religions may point out that despite these teachings Christian has a long and complex history with violence and followers of its religions have supported the use of violence to satisfy their own goals despite the Bible teaching against this. This is true, but not for all of Christianity. Initially, Christian tradition had a relatively nonviolent following until it became infused into Roman politics by Constantine. Since then however many Christians denominations have supported violence and participated in slave trade, anti-abortion messages, LGBTQ+ discrimination, and racist ideologies. This cannot be said to represent all of Christianity. The religion has too many denominations to say conclusively that every Christian tradition believes in the violence some parts of Christianity has participated in. While the Westboro Baptist Church is famous for its ignorance and hatefulness, there are many Christian denominations spreading the opposite beliefs. Where the KKK, a