JT Kench

Mr.Smith

Junior ELA

6 November 2023

The positive effect of religion on a society

It is becoming ever more apparent that some modern societies seem to be rapidly falling

apart whilst others are maintaining their law, order, and morals. Religion is one of the main

driving factors behind this. The topic of this essay corroborates the idea that Religion can make

a society both safer and stronger. I am not stating that everybody, or even a large majority of

citizens have to follow the religion, however, society would be safer if many of the modern day

laws were modeled after humane religions. Additionally, In modern Europe and the United

States, there are many people who do not fear if they die, and solely wish to inflict terror upon

civilization for the rest of their mortal life. They may believe there to be no afterlife, but if they

did, they may hesitate at the fear of eternal punishment. Although in rare cases religious

extremists attempt to harm others in order to pursue their false perception of religion, the

presence of religion in a society brings a set of moral values and a sense of community which

can be ultimately beneficial for everyone involved.

The main and most important factor to a society, provided by religion, is the morals

embedded within it. When you take a look at the laws of the United States, then look at the ten

commandments of the Bible, there is a very clear correlation between the two. Let us take a look

at the scriptures of both the Bible (Christianity and Judaism) and the Quran (Islam) and what

they explicitly state not to do. The ten commandments of the Torah (Islam) states “On account of

(his deed), We decreed to the Children of Israel that if anyone kills a person - unless in
retribution for murder or spreading corruption in the land - it is as if he kills all mankind, while if

any saves a life it is as if he saves the lives of all mankind." (Mufti) in addition to the Bible’s

rule which states “Thou shall not kill”. The same goes for many other rules of religions which

touch upon the deterrence of stealing, adultery, rudeness to others, and more issues that we

declare to be unjust. Furthermore, this increasingly advocates the notion that, according to Austin

Cline, “Laws are ultimately based upon commands stemming from God and are binding upon all

people — including kings, aristocrats, and other "higher" members of society” (Cline). The basis

of morality is not intended to only be exclusive to certain individuals, but also impact those

higher up in society. It is evident that religion is dissolving quickly in much of the western world,

that being said, many of our basic laws have a high chance of falling with them.

In addition to the influence of religion on laws there is the foundation of the basis of

having good character. Yes, there may be many people out there who find it necessary to force

their religion upon others, sometimes even violently, most people who live religiously tend to be

kinder to others. In this study, provided by cntraveler.com, we find welcoming indexes which

give a score on how welcoming countries are to travelers. This source, in addition to a map

which illustrates the prevalence of religion in different European countries (Wikimedia

Commons), shows a correlation, though not completely direct, between nice people and religion.

The reason for this may be attributed to the virtues presented by most popular religions, and the

general rule of treating others the way one wants to be treated. Just like how religion can make

societies better, it can transform bad people into much better beings. A recurring theme that you

may have heard of probably includes prisoners, who had believed all hope for a brighter future

was lost, found security in religious virtues and grew in character because of it. A great example

of such a story would be that of one Nicky Cruz, who had been a leader of a notoriously violent
gang, and through the Bible, he turned his life around in prison and became one of the most

famous evangelists. He got arrested a lot in his younger years, in fact, after one of his arrests one

physiatrist told him “he was on a path to prison, the electric chair, and hell”( Noord). Nicky’s life

was on a sharp downslope, until he met a minister named David Wilkerson, who would preach

the gospel to him. Cruz was extremely hostile to Wilkerson at first, but after a while “he felt

convicted. He started to pray and asked God to forgive him.”(Noord). Ricky Cruz would live out

the rest of his life in a happier and healthier order, and lead a life of ministry. This example goes

to prove that religion can give hope to the hopeless and allow for many ill-lead people to get

their lives in order.

There is a belief of many that religion is harmful to a society in the sense that worshipers

may harm others if they do not convert to a specific religion and can hurt those who live in that

distinct society. There is a logical point to where this could be true, and many acts of

terrorism/violence can be attributed to it. Here’s the thing, there are small pseudo-religions which

are completely centered on harm to others, such as satanism, but most mainstream and widely

accepted religions completely denounce terrorism. The fact of the matter is, anybody who claims

to kill in the name of a religion, except for the purpose of defending themselves, is following a

false perception of such a religion. In the experience of many folks out there, religion did not

make them a more violent person, but instead brought them a new level of peace in their life. In

my personal opinion, some people are just born with psychological problems, which lead them to

hurting others in an attempt to convert them to their own way of thinking. There is a stereotype

believed by many Americans which suggests Muslims are terrorists. Especially because of the

9/11 attacks, many Americans believed muslims came here with the purpose of harming the

country, however, “The 2011 Pew survey data indicated a substantial gap between what the
general public believes about Muslim-Americans and what U.S. Muslims themselves usually

believe.”(Wihbey). The truth is, Islam is a peaceful religion, and many who believe pose no harm

to others, unfortunately, Islam has been weaponized in the middle east and has been used as a

tool to keep control over the citizens of middle-eastern countries. The problem here is not due to

religion, but due to leaders presenting a false image of what it actually is.

The purpose of this essay is not to claim everybody needs to be religious, it is solely to

argue that the values brought by religion are ultimately beneficial in a society. Having beliefs can

allow for one to find the good within themselves and present their best self to the world, which,

if this happens on a large scale, will bring a lot of good to the world. World leaders who abuse

religion and use the fear of a higher power to control their people distorts the view of religion,

and ultimately leads to people viewing the thought of religion negatively. Masses of humans then

fall into believing the stereotypes that religious people create acts of terror in an attempt to

convert others into joining their religion. In reality, anybody who threatens harm to others or

treats others with a lack of due respect, is in direct violation of the religious principles that they

claim to stand for. The purpose of religion is not to divide, but bring people together. Our society

will only grow stronger if we continue to live our lives by the virtues presented by religion, even

if one is not religious themselves.

Works Cited

Jailhouse Religion, Spiritual Transformation, and Long-Term Change - Sagamore Institute

The friendliest countries in Europe: 2023 Readers' Choice Awards | CN Traveller

 H Argument Essay Rubric

Skill Not Yet Foundational Proficient Advanced

Identifies a basic claim Appears in first Thesis establishes a

Thesis paragraph complex claim

Thesis establishes a Establishes

topic and a claim counter-argument in
claim

Topic sentences Topic sentences have Topic sentences have

Claims/Reasons contain basic claims clear and distinct clear and distinct
claims that relate to claims that relate to
the thesis the thesis and make
nuanced points that
consider alternate
perspectives or
counterarguments

Uses some brief Uses multiple pieces Uses a variety of

Evidence examples, or one of evidence (personal evidence (see
example, to support experience, anecdotes, previous column) that
each claim; may all be survey, research etc.) supports each claim;
personal experience to support each claim different types of
evidence in each body
paragraph

Use of reliable outside

sources

Brief explanation of Explains how Provides strong

Analysis how evidence evidence supports explanations of how
supports topic topic sentence/claim evidence supports
sentence of individual of individual topic sentence and the
paragraphs paragraphs and the thesis while also
thesis considering
counterarguments
Includes at least 2
concessions in body Seamlessly mentions
paragraphs concession, and offers
response/rebuttal

Counter- Makes some mention Structure Well-structured and

Argument of opposing argument counter-argument effective
which: counter-argument
Mentions the which:
 opposing argument, Establishes an aspect
some mention of how of the opposing
opposing argument argument, clearly and
may be disproven logically disproves the
argument
Some elements missing Heading is correctly No errors in MLA
MLA Format or some errors in MLA formatted format
format
Pages are numbered

In-text citations are

correctly formatted (if
sources are used)

Works Cited format:

hanging indent,
double-spaced,
alphabetized, starts on
a new page (if sources
are used)

Works Cited: each

source entry is in
correct MLA format (if
sources are used)
Shows evidence of Quotes are correctly Quotes are correctly
Conventions basic proofreading integrated most of the integrated
time (if sources are
used) Shows evidence of
careful proofreading
Follows essay
organization (claims in Includes fluid
topic sentence; transitions between
evidence; analysis; ideas
concluding sentences)
Eliminates wordiness
Shows evidence of
proofreading

Utilizes mostly simple Some varied sentence Consistently varied

Fluency sentence structures structures sentence structures

Some use of advanced Advanced use of

vocabulary vocabulary; including
use of active verbs