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What specific positive effects does religion have on society?

Are there positive effects of religion on society?

When I say “positive effects,” ideally I don’t mean as in it benefiting certain individuals (eg those near the top of a religious hierarchy) at the expense of others, but in terms of it providing genuine benefits.

Some claims I can think of are:

What other benefits are claimed?

Background: Arose out of a discussion in this answer to Are there any real religions that don’t have negative effects?

Answer 3046

The problem I have with this question is twofold:

Answer 3063

i think the third point is (was) the only benefit of religion. that too, only to a certain extent of history.

promised Heaven is a great mind-crutch to billions of people who exist in inhuman conditions today and have no hope of being redeemed in the foreseeable future. don’t ask me where they are, they exist everywhere! if you can’t afford to put food on the table and roof over the heads of yourself and your family… if you can’t hope for a bright future for neither yourself nor your kids… if you don’t have even basic requirements of life like water, clothing and healthcare, do you think you can stay sane without the comforting thought that after you die, you might go to heaven if you stay virtuous? a lot of people can’t. their conditions and state of mind will lead them go on a rampage of jealously, and riot till the happier peoples are reduced to their state.

so religion offers them solace with the possibility of a happy ending - and any 1980’s - 90’s hollywood producer will tell you that everyone loves a happy ending!

and till a certain point in time, i think religion played a great role in controlling crime. i mean, before we knew that the earth was round, and that the sun was just a huge ball of hydrogen and helium, natural occurrences like thunder must have scared the cr*p out of most people. religion put this fear to good use, saying stuff like “even if you are not caught by anyone human when you steal, GOD will make sure that the next lightning falls directly on your head”. we can only estimate just how much theft this must have stopped :)

sadly, we see this great power, however flawed it may be because it was built on fear and false hope, being put to grotesque use across the planet by selfish individuals and groups. thus, today’s science-driven world would do well to leave all that fiction behind it and start rationally acting better. i mean, we are humans, not chimps! chimps need the fear of an electric shock to prevent them from jumping off a fence, but humans must need no more than rational and moral instruction from their environment and mentors to stop committing crimes…

Answer 3069

Religion has some positive effects on some societies but the net gain is a loss over all in my opinion.

Answer 3052

Religious people often disagree with you, what a positive effect is.

If you believe praising the lord is a positive effect or more believers are a positive effect and such, religious people will answer ‘yes, there are’.

But if you dislike religious practice itself, it has no positive effect.

Answer 3047

Does religion have positive impacts on society

Good question. One that needs to be asked before asking about how religion stacks up “on balance” after considering positive and negative. As you noted in the question, claims of positive impact are often tied up with hidden agendas. However you aren’t asking for that to be addressed.

You asked in the present tense, which makes it more difficult. Religion formerly had much more power and influence, so their impact on education, charity, politics and healing was greater. But that could be asked later.

  1. Look around at the names of hospitals. Although this is just big business now, pioneering health facilities has been a traditional religion role. Mission work continues to include healing as one of the things it does.
  2. Moral education and youth programs. There is more to education than math, science and sports. A place to discuss just what “love your neighbor” means is important for a growing mind.
  3. Counseling. From integrating military personnel back into society to helping a youth at risk to understand the consequences of his or her actions. Secular institutions have done a pretty poor job of this, unless you can afford $100 an hour once a week.
  4. Charity. I’m not sure what the administration costs are compared to secular charities, but the question isn’t “are they better at it”, the question is “have impacts”. It would be difficult to determine if people would give to secular charities if they were not going to church. As someone who has run programs needing volunteers, I know it is good to partner with churches. You just let one person know you need people and you get 10 or 100 people to show up.
  5. Tempering leadership. Unfortunately this is not true in all cases, and lately it seems like it is true in the minority of cases, but the sense that religion can give to a leader that he has a moral responsibility beyond his lifetime and a responsibility to give and to protect can keep that power in check.
  6. Renewal. Sundays are secularized now, but the ideas that there should be a sanctuary from war and a time of rest from work are traditionally religious. The relationship of stress and sickness bears out the value of this need for rest.
  7. Political change. Obviously there are differences of opinion on what is positive or negative, but the pulpit is a way to get people thinking about their ideologies. A case can be made for how religion kept slavery in place, but the history of abolition also shows a strong religious influence.
  8. Keepers of the rituals. Really too much to go into here, and you would have to agree on the positive impact of ritual to agree that performing them is positive. I’m speaking of the ritualization of things as a means to keep them from taking over your life. An occasional glass of wine is healthy, bottles of it in brown paper bags all day is not. Also the rites of passage, so a young boy or girl recognizes, and knows others recognize they are maturing.

Answer 3083

I think religion though shallow , has inspired many a mind. People need some sort of purpose and balance in their lives … and will always jump to the first thing that promises them that. Most great minds were in a way religious ….Sometimes its not what you believe in but its having a strong belief in something . Absence of god sometimes is God enough.

Answer 3115

I persist that doing anything should be to some extent. I view religion as belief to some things.

Religion plays either positive or negative in human society, and we can find evidence to support both sides. Obviously, religion has its negative aspects, as is shown in history and to date news. What I want to say here is some positive aspects of religion. From this view, belief to some political principles (or any general philosophy) is a kind of religion.

I am a Chinese, and there is in Chinese culture a long time of argument on whether human nature is good or bad. I prefer that human nature is neither good nor bad, just like earth which can be made into china or brick. That is to say we can become good or bad under some condition. Religion builds such condition, sometimes guiding people to good, othertimes to bad. Totally without religion, we are monsters. Just have a look at those countries completely destroyed people’s religion. People dare nothing inside their minds, so they would like to do anything to approach goals. Law? Commonly, there are no real laws where religion is totally removed from life. What big monsters say is what should be obeyed by small monsters (also a kind of religion—belief to big :-) ).

I also believe, on the other hand, people living in complete religion are monsters. Actually, extreme belief is always handy tool of daemons, those drastically selfish, stupid, and hypocritical people.

Answer 3064

No it doesn't have any postive effects on society, it's a virus-like irrational delusion only useful for contolling the masses and the cause of much injustice and bloodshed.

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Answer 3125

Yes, the good parts of religion have positive effects on society.

Answer 3128

Of course religion has positive effects. It also has negative effects. The really interesting question is whether it’s a net gain or loss. I tend to think it’s a net gain, but that’s just a gut feeling. Certainly there have been a lot of huge wrongs committed in the name of a god, but there have been countless small rights committed as well.

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