Religion plays a very important role in every aspect of human life irrespective of place and culture. Religion remains the most important element in the basic human character building. Centres of worship have always shaped human life in different ways and influenced human towards doing various things in a positive manner and help maintain a social culture of respect towards the community. Religion has dominated as an important factor in our lives in determining the human behaviour. Religion is not a mere necessity, but a very significant part of human life and influences our lives in one way or the other. Religion has both cultural as well as a moral impact on our lives. Most people would find it very tough to live without religion or spirituality, on the other hand, there are peoples who find it hard to follow it because of various religious rules and practices that need to be followed.
Religion is something that everyone practices in their own way and with own rituals. A look at some of the most ancient and beautiful buildings of the world reveals that they have religious significance. Ancient tombs, churches, cathedrals, synagogues, account for some of the wonders of the world and are obviously related to religious beliefs. There are people who are willing to sacrifice everything for the sake of religion. There are also some who leave aside their businesses, jobs and family to follow a Godly path. There are others who even renounce the world, their families and everything they own just to follow some religious beliefs or paths which would bring them nearer to God.
Religion is something that plays an important role in the life of a person and acts as a light to guide people through the tunnels of life and bring them to light at the other end, it is believed that when all the opportunities close their doors then it is god that opens all the doors for prosperous opportunities and a religious person is never alone as God is always there to help honest religious people. Religion is important to not only guide people through life but necessary for people to reflect on the meaning of life and what they really want out of life and what is the purpose of their life.
Functions of Religion
Every religion, be it Judaism, Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism or Islam stresses the need for some moral values which can balance your life and lead you to follow the path of righteousness and prohibits its followers from doing wrong things. Every religion teaches its followers to choose right over wrong, good over evil, truth over lies, and live in peace and harmony in the world leaving aside all the bad deeds and evil practices. Our religion gives us a clear understanding of our basics and our evolution and tells us about the right path to follow to make our life meaningful and enjoyable. Religion teaches us all the moral values that need to be learnt to live with our family and with the outside world. It would not be wrong to say that religion is a moral responsibility of every parent and teacher, to inculcate religious beliefs and practices among children, bring God fearing and loving children into the world that will carry religious values and teachings with them all the days of their lives. Religion basically shows us the way to live our lives in a proper way and it gives meaning as to why we are put on this earth. Various other functions of religion are:
- Religion Enhances Self-Importance: Religion enhances the self-importance of a person, expands one's self to infinite proportions. Man unites himself with the Infinite and feels ennobled. The society also gains from the self-flattery provided by religious belief and man tends to become aware of his willpower. Religion assures a greater reward in the afterlife to worldly failures than to successful life and hence motivates one towards good causes as well. Such kind of assurance encourages members to continue to play their part in society.
- Religion Explains Individual Suffering: To understand the reasons for your suffering and your purpose of life, it is very important for a person to have religious knowledge that empowers a person to find answers to these questions. Man does not live by knowledge alone and is an emotional creature; we are related to our moral behaviour more openly than our academic fields. Religion serves to the emotions of the man in times of his sufferings and disappointment when we become confused about sufferings in our life and do not know which way to choose. On God religion puts faith and entertains the belief that some unseen power moves in mysterious ways to make even his loss meaningful and sufferings meaningful and the reason behind the suffering is revealed. In this way, religion gives release from sorrow and release from fear. It helps man to bear his frustration and integrate his personality with the proper knowledge of all the deeds and misdeeds with the reason for sufferings.
- Religion Encourages Social Welfare: Religion is not only limited to self-purification or service towards God, but religion is also far more than what people usually expect. Though religion helps an individual realize the purpose of his life and introduces with some universal truths of life, religion has also performed some other services to humanity like the provision of work, the priesthood often dedicated to art and culture. Religion also promotes community service and service towards the needy people. The priesthood lays the foundation of this by helping out the needy ones. It also fulfils the functions of scholars and scientists related to art and culture as in ancient times religious places were the only places to impart education. Religion has served humanity through the spreading of education and also creating the habit of charity among the people who open many charitable institutions like hospitals, rest houses, temples and to help the poor. Religion promotes the helping hand. It is not only in Hindu culture, that promotes helping the needy in fact every religion has a space for some charity work wherein all the preachers are encouraged to participate with full enthusiasm.
- Religion holds Social Control: Social behaviour of a community to a large extent depends upon their behaviour and religion. Religion is the main source or the block of social behaviour of a human. A person learns most from his ancestors or predecessors, and religion is something related to mans cultural background. Religion provides a model for the life following which a person can lead a healthy and prosperous life that would be cherished able for him, his family and community as well. It upholds certain ideals and values for life. The believer practices these ideals and values in his life for a happy and healthy life. Religion can help youth generation to become moral, disciplined and socialized citizens of society. Following the religious path, a person can well balance his social life towards leading a prosperous life with great respect in society and his community.
Role of Religion
The religion provides a framework to pass a decent and happy life in the light of universal principles and guidelines. Every religion teaches its followers to choose right over wrong, good over evil, truth over lies, and live a prosperous life with peace and harmony. Religion tends to teach us all the moral values that need to be learnt to live in a social atmosphere where you interact with outer human beings also. It would not be wrong to say that, religion is the central element in the life of civilization. Throughout the ages, it is proof of its values and teachings. Religion has been the propagator of basic values and ethical code which provide an individual with an opportunity to make him presentable and respectable in society and enhance his overall personality. Religion most importantly leads man towards a consciousness of moral responsibility towards his family or society in everything he does, whether great or small. There is a constant stress on the establishment of right and the abolition of wrong in every religion, hence various roles can be:
- Principles of Morality: Religion plays an important part towards promotion of the principles of morality like justice, honesty, brotherhood, equality, tolerance, sacrifice, help to the needy people and other kindred virtues. A true religion always encourages its followers towards a righteous path that is beneficial for one and all. These principles hold a very important place in our lives and are the virtues without which, not only our life will lose its order and normalcy but it is very likely to be turned into a chaos, something that no one would cherish and also bring along a feeling of hatred from others. Though it is possible to acquire these moral and social qualities without the aid of religion, certainly in the absence of firm religious belief, these values appear to lose their meaning and become series recommendations without any particular reason or explanation. In such a case they do not amount to more than a piece of advice that is commonly termed as a lecture and discarded by everyone. Hence the association of morality with religion holds a great importance. These qualities are rather based on an internal feeling and faith and are naturally beyond the scope of the ordinary law.
- Motivation Towards Life: Religion provides power for facing various adversities of life and serves as a defensive wall against undesirable reactions of despair and hopelessness. A religious man, with firm belief, never finds himself in lack of motivation and emotional support even in the worst moments of his life, because he knows well that he is under the protection of superpower. With true faith it is not difficult to find a solution to any problem and every deadlock can be resolved with faith, we can overcome every disappointment and hopelessness with a positive attitude that is provided to us by Almighty. Religion gives the power to overcome a difficult situation, this is the reason, that a truly religious man never suffers from the reactions of desperation like suicide, nervous breakdown or psychic ailments which are products of frustration and defeatism, no matter how tough the situations can get for him.
- Abolish Discrimination: Every Religion strongly opposes any kind of discrimination based on colour, race or class, because religion always regards all human beings as God's creation and every country as God's country. According to religious beliefs, all enjoy God's love and kindness equally and as such, all are equal, no man can be superior to another man on the basis of his colour, race, descent, language or class. Religion always inculcates a feeling of brotherhood and helpfulness towards the needy people. Though the problem of discrimination still prevails in the world but provided religious study never encourage this type of behaviour, the community has led to much-sophisticated approach towards the discrimination and always discourage such behaviour among humans.
- Provides Ideology: Man cannot live his whole life under the belief of false superstitions and ideological vacuum. Without proper religious teachings, his intellectual life is not filled with sound beliefs and healthy teachings. Understanding one’s religion gives a clear ideology and clears all the superstitious beliefs. Superstitious and even destructive ideas may find a way into spiritual firmament and may forever pollute the human brain. Instances of man's tendency towards diverse superstitions and credulity regarding the influence of irrational things over destiny can be witnessed even in the lives of world intellectuals. Hence proper ideology is something that can save us from all of these things and helps to distinguish between what can be right or wrong for us.
Conclusion
The key element in the running of countries and societies is religion. Even not believing in religion is a religion. Religion defines who we are and what we do. Making religion important in your life can lead to a life of love, joy, compassion, and service. True religion is not about the dogmas of the religion but is about the teachings and how they tell you to live your life. If religion is important in anyone's life, it should be evident in their behaviour, not just in their words. It is not important to tell that how much you love God, but what matters the most is to show your love in the way you treat your fellow humans because we all are his creation. If religion is truly important in anyone's life, the fruits should be seen by all.
