With more people leaving the church and embracing secularity, the role of religion in society has been questioned more and more. But despite the arguments against it, religion provides amazing benefits that enhance both personal and communal welfare. We’ve gathered 19 of these benefits for you.
Improves Our Mental Health
Religion has also been linked to improved mental health. Our faith and trust in a higher power give us the psychological stability to navigate life. A Stanford publication shares how “prayer is a lot like cognitive behavioral therapy,” with religion generally serving as a cushion against loneliness.
Encourages Charitable Works
Many religions make it necessary to give to the poor, encouraging us to be charitable financially and with our deeds. Some even say that religious people are more likely to be charitable for social causes, which is evidence of how religion inspires us to be kind and generous.
Prescribes Good Moral Values
Through holy books, religion provides a framework with ethical guidelines on how people can act and interact with others. It promotes the virtues of integrity, compassion, honesty, and respect, and it aids our decision-making when we’re faced with difficult or complex ethical issues.
Supports Social Unity
Over the centuries, the spread of religion has united people across the world, regardless of how different their cultural, ethnic, or societal backgrounds are. It encourages cooperation and understanding and brings everyone together through shared beliefs and communal engagements.
Fosters Forgiveness
Religion also instills the value of forgiveness in us, with evidence revealing that people who are religious possess higher levels of forgiveness than non-religious folks. Religion tells us how to manage both interpersonal and intercommunal tensions, and it emphasizes how conflict resolution through understanding and compassion is important for maintaining healthy relationships.
Reduce Crime Rates
Religion is also associated with a reduction in crime rates, especially when it comes to property crimes, and it isn’t hard to see why. Religion provides a moral deterrent against engaging in many criminal activities, offers a path to rehabilitation, and charges followers to respect authority.
Offers Emotional Support
Religion has also been many people’s go-to source of comfort during times of grief and hardship. Alongside a tight-knit community that provides a safe and supportive environment where you can be vulnerable, there are also meditative religious practices that help relieve stress and cope better with life’s challenges.
Promotes Social Justice
Most religions also urge us to show mercy to the less privileged and meet judgment with fairness. Religion gives us the moral duty to fight injustices, both internally and externally, and it explains the importance of equality and justice in improving societal welfare.
Encourages Healthy Lifestyles
With laws against gluttony, drunkenness, and harmful substances, religion advocates moderation in all aspects of life. It improves our self-control and discipline, which helps us steer clear of destructive vices and allows us to engage in tedious but beneficial physical development exercises.
Strengthens Family Relationship
Many religions also hold family in high esteem, encouraging us to respect bonds and commitments to our fathers, mothers, siblings, and close relatives. Overall, religion provides a guideline for maintaining harmony, tolerance, and understanding with family members.
Encourages Community Engagement
Religion, through its emphasis on unified worship, doesn’t just promote community spirit and active communal engagement. Religious houses are also popular community centers where people convene for social activities, perform civic duties, or engage in local governance.
Preserves Cultural Identity
Whether through the stories (cultural narratives) the books tell, or by adopting a people’s entire way of life, religion has also helped many cultures preserve their heritages over millennia. It has connected generations and fostered the spread of traditional customs, languages, and rituals to other parts of the world.
Provides Ethical Guidance in Business
Even in business and making money, many religions go beyond just prescribing the ethics of honesty, integrity, and fairness. They have their own specific guidelines on what you can and cannot do. Islam, for instance, has provisions for contracts, promotes free will in agreements, and proscribes usury.
Promotes Lifelong Learning
Many religions also charge their followers with the constant pursuit of knowledge and wisdom. But they don’t stop here. They also provide the resources and learning opportunities to support this obligation. Religion has also been a great source of intellectual discourse and philosophical inquiry.
Sustains Marriage Institutions
Religion makes marriage sacred and provides the moral and spiritual foundations for its success. It’s a deterrent against disloyalty and infidelity in marital relationships, and it has also been resourceful in providing counseling and communal support to navigate difficult times in our relationships.
Encourages Art and Architecture
Religion also encourages the appreciation of beauty and creativity. Over the centuries, we’ve seen religion inspire some of the best works of art, architecture, and music. The second-most valuable art in the world is a depiction of Jesus (Salvator Mundi), and many religious houses are built in styles you wouldn’t see anywhere else.
Enhances Social Capital
Many people also build trustworthy networks through religious integration, volunteering, and other forms of active participation. We enjoy group memberships where reciprocity is never a problem, and we also gain access to a wider community of non-religious institutions with which to work, collaborate, and share ideas.
Provides Hope and Meaning
For those who don’t know what life is about or the next steps to take to find fulfilment, religion has been a saving grace. It builds faith in a higher, supreme being and assures everyone facing difficulties that there is a brighter future as long as they stay steadfast on the right ethical, moral, and spiritual path.
Promotes Peace and Stability
Religion has also been key to conflict resolution and prevention, with messages advocating for peace and teaching us about the importance of tolerance among different religious, ethnic, and national groups. Religious leaders have also been important for diplomatic negotiations, helping many embattled regions secure ceasefires and mediate conflicts.
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