The Diversity of Religious Beliefs Paper Example

How the diversity of religious beliefs benefit all mankind on the planet.

The diversity of religions has benefited most mankind. The society has come to understand and appreciate the existence of a multitude of selections. People have accepted to learn about other peoples' faith and beliefs and accepted the fact that differences are bound to occur. This will help alleviate the negative impacts of fear and hostility. Diversity also helps in preventing prejudice about what is different. The diversity of religions is also important as it promotes humility and compassion. "This article discusses the use and abuse of religious beliefs and their role in divide-and-conquer strategies. Divide-and-conquer strategies are engaged to disrupt potential coalitions between and among marginalized group members, specifically sexual minority groups and people of color. Tensions between these groups have been exacerbated by the debate on same-sex marriage and comparisons between the discriminatory treatment of each group. A component of this discussion includes a brief exploration of one of the historical abuses of religious doctrine used to legitimize the marginalization of people of color and sexual minorities in the United States. For African Americans, one form of marginalization was reflected in criminalizing interracial marriage, and for members of sexual minority groups, a form of marginalization is denying group members the right to marry. The author also explores culturally competent and respectful disciplinary and clinical responses to religiously derived prejudice against sexual minority group members and people of color and discusses the implications for multicultural discourse.(Greene, 2009).

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

How people use a diversity of religious beliefs to cause conflicts between people

There are several aspects of religion that has made it a source of conflict. All religions have beliefs and guidelines that the followers must follow without asking questions. This has often led to intransigence to other believers in the other religions. Hence, conflict can arise over which beliefs are the correct ones. Often this is a conflict that cannot be solved as they are no arbitrator. The interpretation with the most followers determines the winner. Diverse religions have strains of evangelism which brings about conflicts. After the 1998 political reform in Indonesia, conflicts between groups of different religions and beliefs continued to occur, regardless of the fact that attempts to bolster diversity have been carried out legally and formally by the government and the political elites. In view of such condition, this research attempts to disclose conflicts which increasingly pose dangers on national heterogeneity, various factors which create religious-based conflicts, the roles of government and political elites in handling such conflicts and the communication strategy adopted to establish a civilized heterogenous society. The research methodology is qualitative with its main focus on online data related with conflicts in Indonesia. Online data processing was performed to support the description of conflicts based on religions and beliefs in all its forms which potentially threat national unity in Indonesia. The findings of this research are as follows: Increasing frequency of conflicts, powerplay politics as fuel for conflicts, unoptimized roles of the government and political elites and lack of communication strategy substance between groups by those responsible for public security and welfare. (Susanto, 2017).

The believers are given the mandate to increase the number of followers and spread the word of God. For example, people attempting to spread Christianity surrounded the European colonization. A group, for example, may deny other groups opportunities to practice their beliefs. This occurs when a particular group feels superior to another group. For example, there has been suppression of Christianity in Sudan and China. For China, it has not been a conflict between religions but also the government's views on religion as a hindrance to the citizen's loyalties.

Why many people ignore the similarities between the different religions and only focus on the ways that they are divided.

Most people believe that their religion is the right one. For example, Christians believe that to go to heaven you have to believe in Jesus. Although God speaks the same thing to everyone, everyone hears it differently with regards to their culture and beliefs. For example, God says 'I love you,' but people from different religions interpret indifferently. For the Christians, it means believing in Jesus Christ. For the Jews, it means believing in the Torah. For Muslims, it means believing in Allah and living according to the Quran (Evans, 2005).

References

ADDIN Mendeley Bibliography CSL_BIBLIOGRAPHY Evans, C. (2005). The Double-Edged Sword: Religious Influences on International Humanitarian Law. Melbourne Journal of International Law, 6, 8-13.

Greene, B. (2009). The Use and Abuse of Religious Beliefs in Dividing and Conquering Between Socially Marginalized Groups: The Same-Sex Marriage Debate. American Psychologist, 64(8), 698-709. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.64.8.698

Susanto, E. H. (2017). The conflict between Groups of Different Religion and Beliefs Posing as Threat to Heterogeneity in Indonesia. Modern Applied Science, 11(12), 22. https://doi.org/10.5539/mas.v11n12p22