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Effects of Religion

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Effects of Religion
Billy Joe
HUM/130
Eric Stauffer
June 04, 2012

Organized religion has been and still is used for the good and the bad. “Huge numbers of people have been killed in the name of eradicating false religions and replacing them with true religion” (Fisher, 2005, p. 28). Problems are caused by religion because each person has their religion, and each religion thinks they are right and the other religions are wrong. Religion is supposed to unite people, teach people to love and respect one another but instead it has created war, and has divided people. With people thinking that they are right, it causes them to hate and kill other people with different beliefs. They will compete with each other on who is right, and who seems to be godlier. The Crusades was an event in the past, it was war between the Christians and Moslems. According to “The Crusades” (n.d.), “The Crusades were great military expeditions undertaken by the Christian nations of Europe for the purpose of rescuing the holy places of the Palestine from the hands of the Mohammedans” (The Crusades – What were the Crusades). Each religion thought that they had the right to have the holy places which resulted in wars between these religions. Wars have happened because one religion feels they are godlier than the other so try to have all authority or power over the people. Another event was the Spanish Inquisition. According to “Freeman” (2012), “Reasons for the Inquisition included a desire to create religious unity and weaken local political authorities and familial alliances” (How Stuff Works: The Beginnings of the Spanish Inquisition). This led to the people involved in the Spanish Inquisition to kill people who refused to become a Catholic. Organized religion was a way to control or have power over people. This led to people hating each other because of their belief or their religion. Organized religions are not all bad, they also help parts of the world by providing food, missionary travel to parts of the world to reach out and help with the physical needs and spiritual needs. Some missionaries from the different organized religions live in other countries to help out, they will stay to teach, help families stay together; they feed, clothed and shelter the homeless; and find ways to improve the way of life. Organized religion affects people in different ways. It has caused wars and has created hatred that led to killing people. Some organized religions feel they are right, and better than other religions that they go to war fighting for which religion will have power. This has led to disagreements and hatred between people and their religions today. Organized religions has also helped hunger in different countries, missionaries are sent out to reach out to people, help them with their needs, and invite them into their religion. References
Fisher, M.P. (2005). Living Religions (6th ed.). New Jersey: Prentice-Hall. Retrieved from: University of Phoenix eBook Collection.
The Crusades (n.d.) The Crusades – What were the Crusades? Retrieved from: http://www.middle-ages.org.uk
Freeman, S. (2012) How Stuff Works: How the Spanish Inquisition Worked: The Aftermath of the Inquisition Retrieved from: http://www.history.howstuffworks.com

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