Running head: EFFECTS OF RELIGION 1

Effects of Religion
For many people, religion is a way of coping with and explaining the nature of life. In
this way it has had a very positive effect on many people personally in ancient and modern
societies. Religion brings people of similar beliefs closer together and is generally associated
with developing better moral character. While some people may partially blame religion for the
onset of the Dark Ages, there is no denying some of the positive effects they had on society
during that time. Christians started hospitals in Monasteries. In a more modern example, The
Salvation Army is, or at least was, a Christian organization. However, religion has also been the
cause of much suffering in our world, usually through difference of opinion. One major event in
history that can be attributed to differences stemming from religious viewpoints is the Crusades.
The Christians in Europe attacked the Muslims in the Middle East, and this didnt just occur one
time. There were four major crusades, and many minor skirmishes that were associated with the
hatred that European Christians held towards the Muslims in the Middle East. Jews and Muslims
in the Middle East have been warring for thousands of years. The hatred never ceases, because
each generation children are taught to hate the opposition and because the fighting never stops,
many children witness death at the hands of their enemy. This ensures that the problem will
never remain generational, but will continue endlessly until something dramatic and cataclysmic
happens.