Enduring Issue Essay 2

2/29/19

The impact of religion on society has beneficial effects on the behavior and social relations of people. The practice of religion is good for individuals, families, states, and the nation because it improves health, learning, economic well-being, self-control, self-esteem, and empathy. According to “www.heritage.org,” it reduces the occurrence of social pathologies, such as out-of-wedlock births, crime, delinquency, drug and alcohol addiction, health problems, anxieties, and prejudices. However, there are some aspects of religion that have negative effects on society also. The impact of religion is a significant enduring issue because it has had long-lasting negative impacts such as persecution and fear of excommunication, but also long-lasting positive impact such as cultural diffusion. Examples of the negative and positive impact of religion on society are illustrated in the following documents; Edward Gibbons, “The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire,” Shirin Ebadi, “Iran Awakening,” and “Life in China Under Mongol Rule: Religion.”

In the Roman Empire, many advances and accomplishments such as road systems and aqueducts marked the 200-year period of peace and prosperity known as “Pax Romana.” During Pax Romana, Christianity first arose in the Roman Empire, starting the dreadful impacts of religion in their society. Christianity started off as unacceptable in the Empire; Christians suffered the consequences of persecution, death, and living in constant fear. However, according to Edward Gibbons, in 1789 in his book The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, throughout the 380s and 390’s CE, Christianity became a major religion in the Roman Empire. Persecution of Christians came to an end and religious tolerance was now present due to laws within the Edict of Milan, created by emperors Constantine and Licinius in 313 CE. In 380, Emperor Theodosius I issued the Edict of Thessalonica, declaring Nicene Christianity as the state Church of the Roman Empire. As good as it seems to be, having made this Christian Church the top of the social hierarchy, withholding greatest authority in the empire, resulted in heavy negative impacts of religion on its society. Though many historians discount this as the main reason for the fall of Rome, and rather pin it on Barbarian invasions, constant war, overspending, division of land, and bad leadership, Gibbon argues that the people of the Roman Empire became so drained into Christianity and the state church that large portions of public and private wealth were given to the church and state, and the last remains of military values were diminished. Christianity took over the mentality of people that were part of the Roman Empire, making it weak and vulnerable, yet nobody suspected it. The irony is that Christians were once persecuted under the Roman Empire, but soon after they were accepted, Christians began to persecute and threaten the non-Christians with excommunication and had no toleration of any other beliefs. This is a phenomenon that occurred in the Middle Ages in western Europe.

When the Roman Empire began to experience governmental corruption, weak leadership, barbarian invasions, divisions between the rich and poor, and according to Gibbons, became partially dependent on Christianity, the empire declined and fell. Although, again, many historians disagree with Edward Gibbins input on the reason(s) behind the decline and fall of Rome. In the mid-600s, around the time of this gradual decline and fall of the Roman Empire, Islamic armies conquered land stretching throughout the Middle East, North Africa, and Europe. Much of this land was taken over by Spain, which had defenses, but the rest was home to defenseless, vulnerable Christians left over from the gradual falling of the Roman Empire. As the Islamic Caliphates conquered these vast regions, they were able to tolerate multiple religions, which is shown in the 9th-century Pact of Umar, and this reveals positive cultural and political impacts of religion. Since the areas they conquered were often home to people who were not Muslims, leaders of Islamic caliphates often made agreements with non-muslims (in this case with Christians) based on The Pact of Umar, a peace contract. In the excerpt from Pact of Umar used in the 9th century, Christians wrote to the Muslims asking “of you [Muslims] protection for ourselves [Christians], our prosperity, our possessions, and our co-religionists.” In return, Christians promised these few examples along with many more from the Pact; “that we will receive any Muslim traveler into our houses and give him food and lodging for three nights; that we will not make a show of the Christian religion nor invite anyone to embrace it; that we will not prevent any of our kinsmen from embracing it; That we will honor the Muslims…” Christians wrote anything and everything they could to avoid conflict with the Muslims, but, at the same time, be able to keep their culture to themselves. They pretty much surrendered to the Muslims in The Pact of Umar to keep their land and possessions because they were defenseless. This follows up on the negative impacts of religion on the Roman Empire, but also the positive impacts of religion due to Christianity and Islam crossing paths and tolerating one another, although there were limitations. This is a nuanced topic, because although the Pact allowed Christians to keep their religion and not force them to convert, it put limitations on their freedom of expression and in a sense caused the development of separate Christian communities that were tolerated but never fully integrated. So the Muslims toleration of Christians was not on the persecution side of the spectrum and neither fitting into the full freedom side either, but somewhere in between. So the impacts of religion on society in this scenario weren’t 100% negative, nor 100% positive.

When a society can tolerate many religions, it’s far more likely to thrive, and in doing so, encourage cultural diffusion. This scenario was partially demonstrated in the 9th-century Pact of Umar, but also in Life of China under Mongol Rule: Religion. Beginning in the 13th century, the Mongols used their superior, nomadic tribal strategies to conquer the breadth of Asia. Several different factors explain the reasons behind the Mongols success; outstanding horsemanship and cavalry equipment (stirrups, saddles), along with the creation of the composite bow and arrow. This genius combination of excellent horsemanship, cavalry equipment, and superior weaponry resulted in the Mongols successes. Once the Mongols conquered the breadth of Asia, taking control over the silk road trade routes, they made great efforts to show their support towards the multitude of different religions that were up in the air, particularly throughout the silk road trade routes. They promoted Islam, Buddhism, and even Christianity. Buddhism had spread from its heartland in India because the king of India at the time, Ashoka, sent a number of Buddhist missionaries to travel north beyond the Himalayas, and onto the silk roads to initiate its spread. As the Mongol Empire extended westward, Christian missionaries fled to China as the Roman Empire fell to the rule of an invading people for the first time. Also, many Muslim traders found themselves living in China under Mongol rule due to the frequent friendly exchanges between the governments and frequent commercial intercourse along the silk road trade routes. While all these missionaries and/or traders of different religions were traveling along the silk roads, the Mongols had taken control over that land, resulting in a cultural diffusion trap. Since the Mongols tolerated and well supported each of these religions (Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam), more people of whatever religion were enabled to live freely and promote cultural diffusion with the upbringing of religious diversity in one general area. The document, Life of China Under Mongol Rule: Religion, truly demonstrates the kind of positive impacts religion has had on society.

The impact of religion on society is a significant enduring issue because it has had long-lasting negative and positive effects on people all over the world. Throughout history, some negative effects of the impact of religion are instilling fear of excommunication, persecution, and/or death as shown in The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. Some positive effects are cultural diffusion due to a ruler(s) toleration and support of religious diversity within their society, as shown in “Life in China Under Mongol Rule: Religion” and somewhat in the 9th-century Pact of Umar between Christians and Muslims. To show how religion impacts on society have endured, a more recent example was shown with Shirin Ebadi, in “Iran Awakening.” In 1979, the government in Iran changed from a monarchy to a theocracy, a government run by religious figures and based on religious laws. Since 1979, Iran’s laws have been based on Islamic law, called Sharia. Shirin Ebadi lived in Iran when this revolution took place and the religious government changed the laws. As a lawyer, defender of human rights, and Nobel Peace Prize winner in 2003, Shirin Ebadi stated, “The laws, in short, turned the clock back fourteen hundred years, to the early days of Islam’s spread, the days when stoning women for adultery and chopping off the hands of thieves were considered appropriate sentences.” The Iranian Revolution is a strong example of how the negative impacts of religion on society have endured. Positive impacts of religion on society have also endured all over the world by serving as a moral compass to many religious people. Religious teachings help people make decisions that differentiate right from wrong. The ideas expressed in the Ten Commandments would be an example of this. The impact of religion on society is significant and remains significant because religion elicits powerful emotions when people feel themselves in a relationship with something that they consider to be all-important. This relationship is usually the source of answers to certain existential questions, which have plagued the minds of humans since the dawn of civilization.