Global Perspectives Individual Research Report

Centre Name – Good Shepherd International School

Centre Number – IN102
Candidate Name – Poorvash Muthumaheswaran
Candidate Number – 0032
Word Count - unknown

Topic: Belief Systems

Focus Question: How does religion influence harmony in humankind?

Report:

Religion shifts across the world . Different parts of the world have differing opinions and
principles that preserve their faith. Religions have their own rites tied to their opinions. Religions
create myths into how they learn, and why they learn by communicating the magic through
narratives or what man calls fiction. These so called narratives are used to help communicate
thoughts, knowledge and concepts. There are many religions in this world of the twenty first
century, but all of them land on the same purpose, to believe in and worship a higher spiritual
being that may or may not exist.

Religion can also be seen as joint belief of certain entities due to certain phenomenon that they
have been entitled to. Religion comprises of systems of attitudes beliefs, fictional symbols that lie
on the assumption of certain miracles and events that may or may not have happened. In my
opinion, the major components of religion are:

● The Belief in Supernatural Powers

● Humanity’s adjustment to Supernatural Powers
● Acts defined as Sacrilege
● Method of Salvation
● Man’s ability to communicate fiction
Can religious belief contribute to social disharmony?

Does Religion promotes monotone attitude which contributes social disharmony in a multicultural
society
India is one of the world’s most populous and diverse country with a wide range of cultures and
traditions that dwell within it. The followers of Hinduism make up almost eighty percent of
India’s massive population, followed by the Islamic faith with around fourteen percent and then
the Christians and Sikhs who make up the majority of the remaining community.

Religious Majoritarianism is where the major religious group controls or takes control over the
minor religious groups.With India’s major population being Hinduism, Religious Majoritarianism
takes hold and governs the decisions that go on in the country. Consider the example of the
religion motivated conflict in India. Many have succumbed as victims to this ongoing issue.
The graphs above shows the religious hate crimes in India by the states in 2018. As the graph
shows, there has been an increase in the number of religion motivated hate crime in India from
2009 to 2018. The number gradually increases until 2013, after which it starts rising in a very
drastic manner. Religion motivated hate crimes take place due to the perspective that people
choose to view other religions.
One of the conflicts is due to consumption of beef which is
Incidents of people being killed for the possession of the beef is on the rise . The majoritarianism
rules over with the confirmation bias .

Confirmation bias is a form of a bias that involves the favouring of information that is closely
related to or supports your beliefs and opinions. By viewing the other religions in a different view
from theirs, a person begins to notice the differences between them and due to the human
tendency to approach the confirmation bias leads to the noticing of differences. As the human
notion of thinking urges that only what they follow is right, they begin criticizing the other
religions on the basis of these differences.
According to the written constitution, India is said to be a secular country but the graph results
are contradictory. By definition, secularism is the exclusion of religious differences and thus there
should not be such a drastic rise in the religion motivated hate crimes while there is. A conclusion
that could be drawn is that the Indians are growing to neglect the written constitution and
become religious fanatics. Consider the beef ban in India. The RSS is a religious wing of the BJP
party that played a key role in the major protests against the consumption of beef. The RSS
comprises of the majority of the political group and controls most of the decisions made for
example of the beef ban.
The conflict between the muslims and hindus dates back from the Independence struggle and
partition of India and Pakistan. The religious flavour is being added to it . The yearly conflict of
Babri Masjid and Ram Jnama bhoomi is a politcaliticised religious conflict which causes
disharmony among the societies which is a black mark to Secular India

The graph above shows a spike in hate crimes against Muslims after the 9/11 attack. According to
the above statistics, the increase in the rate of hate crimes against Muslims has increased by 1554
percent after the 9/11 attack. In this situation it can be assumed that the hate crimes increased
because of the anger and hatred against the Muslims for the 9/11 attack when the main accused
was Osama bin Laden who was a Muslim.
The issue seems to lie in the situation where the Muslims are being stereotyped to be people like
those involved with the attack. Islamophobia is a term that has recently come up with regard to
the hate against Muslims and the Islamic faith. Islamophobic people promote the violence and
hate crimes against many Muslims even though they have no relation to the terrorism that take
place around the world. It is commonly assumed that just because most terrorist groups are
muslim, the innocent people face the consequences rather than the terrorist themselves until
they are caught.

Religious beliefs beyond the human indifference causing social harmony

Singapore is a small nation where people of different races and religions live harmoniously
.Singapore is ranked as one of the safest countries to live in and also visit. The graph indicates the
crime rate in the nation from 2005 to 2017.. It can be inferred that the crime rates are gradually
decreasing each year.
The low crime rates can be traced back to the very strict law enforcements that Singapore uses .
The country celebrates all different kinds of festivals including Dussehra, Diwali, Eid and
Christmas. The education system enforces and the ways to bridge any gap and also to appreciate
different religions.This enables young minds to accept the differences between themselves and
those they are exposed to One can arrive at a conclusion where it is evident that there is
harmonious living in the country not only due to the strict rules and regulations but also because
the people choose to live in harmony without noticing the differences between their faith and
beliefs. The government further promotes this by approving the construction of all religious
buildings such as Mosques, Temples and Churches. The government also gives equal importance
to all festivals regardless of the faith and religion.

Social Isolation

Brahmins consider themselves superior as in older days people from this community is drawn
for teaching and maintaining religious and sacred knowledge. Hence they form a closed
community in the fear of outside influence outside influence which results in social isolation .We
notice belief systems inducing social isolation in the case of Brahmins.Social Isolation is the
absence of involvement in social activities or staying away from society. According to the Hindu
Caste system, Brahmins were of the highest order . In the case of certain Brahmin societies or
families, there is a practice followed known as agraharam. Agraharam is an isolated space where
Brahmins lived together as they did not wish to mingle with the other castes. Usually, this form of
social isolation leads to the development of ignorance and the fear of others and may thus
provoke strife among groups of people who follow different faiths or practices.

In China, among all the religions, the Muslim minority has been subjected to Social isolation. For
example, take the issue where Xinjiang schools used to separate children from their families. Even
kindergarten schools are high security facilities. Most of the children belong to the Uighurs, who
are the majority in the ethnic muslim minority. It can be presumed that the isolation of the
children can be a case of extreme religious intolerance and hyper religious majoritarianism. This
extreme intolerance may also lead to the social isolation of those in their ethnic groups also.
Social Isolation also leads to Social disconnectedness. Individuals who are the victims of social
isolation show a trend in the higher morbidity and mortality rates. According to one research
group, the exposure of social isolation to those in their adolescence can lead to issues such as
anxiety disorders, alcoholism and other mental issues that may lead to an increase in the risk of
these conditions later in adulthood.
According to Louise Casey, who was the former government integration tsar “We are helping the
extreme right wing if we do not take these issues on. They are nasty, horrible racist people who
have no place in our society but their numbers are growing. I also think in our desire to embrace
diversity we are creating division.”

Reflection

Reading the news articles on religious hate crimes and social isolation ,I had a premonition of
religious beliefs causing disharmony in society which led me to choose this topic and research
further within.

When I started my report, I had nothing but vague ideas on how religion affected harmonious life
in a society but as I researched further, I learnt of the various ways it can affect either an
individual or a community in society. I have researched about religion inducing social harmony,
social disharmony along with social isolation.While researching, I came across some issues
concerning social isolation and social harmony in a community. Although they are issues that are
of concern, they are not in complete relation and can be solved with considerable effort and also
efficient control of the activities going on in a society.

For example, in singapore the strict law enforces harmonious living between the individuals of a
multicultural society. Although the strict law is an enforcing idea, I think that the harmonious
lifestyle should not be forced upon but rather must come from the people themselves agreeing to
such living within the community. According to me, if this problem is overcome almost every
society will experience social harmony. As I proceeded, I learnt how religious beliefs can
contribute to harmonious living in a community in which I always wondered how a multicultural
society existed without causing any disruption to the individuals living among each other.

On the other hand, if the problem of living in social harmony is resolved, the problem of social
isolation may still remain or linger on. Consider the isolation of the Muslim minority in China.
The issue is escalating to a very high degree where even kindergarten schools are treated as high
security facilities leading to the children being separated from their parents. Continuing my
research further, I learnt about social disconnectedness and extreme intolerance.

Social Disconnectedness : ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2756979

sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/05/180517113856.htm
https://www.apa.org/monitor/2019/05/ce-corner-isolation
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4537360/

Social Disharmony:
legacyintl.org/highlights/disruption-or-disharmony/
researchgate.net/publication/317013296_Social_Cooperation_and_Disharmony_in_Communities
_Mediated_through_Common_Pool_Resource_Exploitation

Citations:
● Ansari, Zafar Ishaq, and Ismail I. Nawwab, eds. Foundations of Islam. Paris: UNESCO, 2016.

Print.

● "Hinduism." Hinduism - Hinduism Religion - Hindu Religion - Hindu Religion India - Hindu

Religion History. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 July 2019.

● "Roots of Hinduism." Khan Academy. Khan Academy, n.d. Web. 17 July 2019.

● The Hindu. "India's Religions by Numbers." The Hindu. The Hindu, 29 Mar. 2016. Web. 17 July

2019.

● Staff, Scroll. “Religious Hate Crimes in India Rose to a Decade-High Level in 2018:
Report.” Scroll.in. Scroll.in, 27 Dec. 2018. Web. 17 Sept. 2019.
https://scroll.in/latest/907238/religious-hate-crimes-in-india-rose-to-a-decade-high-level-i
n-2018-report
● https://news.vice.com/article/hate-crimes-against-muslims-spiked-in-2015-at-rate-not-see
n-since-911

https://www.un.org/esa/socdev/rwss/2016/chapter1.pdf
http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/32555/1/__libfile_REPOSITORY_Content_Fuller%2C%20C_Agraharam%
20transformation%20of%20social%20space%20and%20Brahman%20status_Fuller_agraharam
_brahman_tamilnadu_2013.pdf
https://whatsyourgrief.com/social-isolation/
https://www.sunday-guardian.com/analysis/indian-majoritarianism-is-all-about-tolerance
https://www.thoughtco.com/who-are-the-brahmins-195316
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/nov/02/social-isolation-behind-extremism-and-t
errorism-police-told
Sapiens by Yuval Noah Hararri