Religion in its many different forms undoubtedly controls the world. Some might even argue that it’s more powerful than politics in which case it influences society’s development and continuing integration. The 20th century has seen an escalation in political and social movements fueled by religious ideals. This is the true power of religion.
Culture and religion are two different things but ever since the earliest form of religion existed, the two have been coexisting ever since. Religion can be defined as the mortar that holds a culture together. The “sacred” element of religion has been used countless times to control cultures with little or no opposition for millenniums. As time progressed and live events became history, religion, as the primary driver behind culture, started to shape our world in ways unforeseen. It started to shape our boundaries, our languages, our stereotypes, our way of living, what jobs we got and what schools we went to and even what clothes to wear. The line between culture and religion has been run over so many times it’s barely there.
On the topic of development and integration, the Hindu religion’s caste system comes to mind. It is the Hindu conception of the social order is that people are different, and different people will fit well into different aspects of society. Social order or social class according to Varna forms the framework of moral duties according to personal characteristics of individuals (not necessarily birth). In other words the religion believes that people permanently fit into social roles in their lifetime and the only way to transfer to another social role is through reincarnation. If someone is poor, the religion sees fit for that person to be poor for it is what their reincarnation cycle tells. The rich remain rich while the poor stay poor. This caste system held India back from competing in academic,