Law and Religion

Religion has been one of the strongest institutions in the world nearly since the beginning of time itself. There are and have been many types of different religions and/or belief systems throughout history. These different religions have been the source of many different conflicts over time such as wars. They have also been the source of unification and common ground. As religion has gotten bigger and bigger, it has lead to widespread changes in how it is disseminated amongst its constituents. This has naturally lead to the advent of religion becoming institutionalized and mainstream in a way.

          Ever since man has chosen to write down his history, organized religion has been a prominent topic and has influenced and shaped all people’s lives. There have always been believers and non-believers. Since the beginning, non-believers have been persecuted by inquisitions, prosecuted by witch trials, and murdered by stoning and crucifying for even questioning the “truth” about a supreme being and supposed crimes against that being. Religion had a purpose in earlier times to explain life, but today science provides more concrete answers. Religious beliefs are old and outdated and people should trust the scientific facts that have been proven, not what has been

Religion is one of the greatest creations of mankind. Human beings are different from any other animals because of their ability to think and to create. When man evolved to form societies or countries, when they need to understand better the world around them, religions were created naturally.

Almost all religions around the world are based on a belief. Almost every religion have certain rules and principles that order together within a society: Many people misunderstand and misinterpret the holy texts the Bible, Quran, Torah, and others fabricate. Religion is defined as faith to a higher being who one believes has created us. It has also been used as laws through history to stop the committing of crimes. In many religions, the consequences of breaking rules and regulations of the religion are burning in the pit of hell. Religion is man-made and was created for many reasons but mainly to keep peace and justice in the world. But the words can be manipulated and used as an excuse to start wars on this planet. This caused many to believe that the world would be a better place without religion.

Is there a god? This is a question that all types of people regardless of their religion have been asking for hundreds of years. If there is, why did the holocaust happen? Why is North Korea in the totalitarian state they are in now? These hypothetical questions can not be answered 100% correctly, however people from different religions have different explanations as to why god/god’s let bad things happen. This begs the question, is religion a worthwhile and beneficial practice for humans? The answer to that question is yes, religion is a worthwhile and beneficial practce for humans.

God in government has been a very controversial topic. It is controversial because people argue that if god is in government what will happen to the people that don’t believe in a god, but the people that believe in god can say that the government has to have something to overrule them because no one person can have all of the power. Case laws have proven that people have used their religion to prove their point by saying “in my religion it lets me drink alcohol at a young age so their for I did nothing wrong I was just practicing my religion (Founding Fathers, 2011)”.

Religion forms as a method for dealing with life and the world it makes up. It answers the questions that are beyond science and logic. It eliminates the question of "Why?", and brings the fellow believers together to cope with the community and personal problems. People come to religion to find stability, a sense of understanding, and help from other believers. These are the needs that religion fulfills.

Since the beginning of human civilization, there continues to be a strong relationship between the state and their chosen religious institution. According to an interpretation of an anecdote of Thomas Jefferson, “He didn’t say he say he believed in the Christian God; he evaded that point. But Jefferson did agree with what all his colleagues in the founding thought that a people cannot maintain liberty without religion” (Novak, M., 2006). While the relationship is inevitable as it is used to unify a population, true government should seek as diminished a relationship as possible. While religious freedom is essential to what America was founded on, it cannot infiltrate our governmental systems

societies usually desire the perfect reflection of them .As time passes and life changes so do religions ,however the bases of the religion remain. Each religion has different dominations, each to fit certain societies . some of the reasons why one may be religious could include social and psychological aspects. Religion could help cope with stress, give hope and peace of mind .It could give a sense of community , along with a support group , It also gives a worldview , purpose , and a system of ethics . Because religion fulfills human needs it has not extinct

Through out history religion has played a major role in history. For many people who settled in Northern New England came for religious freedom and the colonies were spread because of that. Believing in religion is often the spiritual thing that they lead their life with. Robert Putnam, in his book, American Grace; How Religion Divides and Unites Us claims that religion, when taken in high doses is toxic to civil life, this is true to an extent. Although many people can agree with his claim he isn’t completely right because religion can still be beneficial for people who truly believe in it. Its true religion has set back society a few steps with the prosecution of many innocent people and the deaths of thousands of people but, religion has also helped many people get through hardships they face.

The number of Federal lawsuits filed by inmates dealing with religious rights has increased significantly in the past several years. At the beginning of the 2000’s there were 43 lawsuits that were filed dealing with inmates and religious rights. In the late 2000’s there were 116 lawsuits filed. Which then later led to a whopping 1,588 in the years 2010-2014. Just within the first 8 months of last year there were 212 new religious lawsuits filed (Turner 76). Religious freedom has become a big epidemic in the Justice System. Harry R. Dammer Ph.D., an associate Professor along with Chair of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Niagara University, stated “Many of the leading court cases that provide current guidelines for the practice of religion in American Prisons were decided during the 1960’s and 1970’s. Until then, legal issues related to religious inmates were rarely brought up before the courts” (N.P.).

Theocracy is a form of a society that is governed by priests or a society whose government is extremely influenced by religious leaders. In its original sense, theocracy refers to a system where divine law is the foundation of all humanly created law and in which political and religious hierarchies are amalgamated. Therefore, it is correct to state that a theocratic regime is a regime that has religious meaning wedded to a specific religion. In that, the functions and beliefs focus on specific theological dogmas. A good example of states that are theocratic in nature are Iran and Saudi Arabia, where the status apparatus of the two countries is subordinate to religious leaders and Islam; where these are decision makers in political affairs (Oberschall,

Religion has been a powerful force in human history. Mankind has longed and searched for the answers to its purpose, the reason for being and the possibility of life after physical death. They reasoned that an afterlife would be a place of accounting and reckoning for the life they lived on earth. Religious belief systems seemed to give the answers as to how to prepare for the afterlife. Religion became the means of giving answers to those basic yet deep-seated questions of both life and death. Religion provided a format of rules and laws for conduct and treatment toward others based on the desires and wishes of a god or gods that people envisioned, imagined or invented. Religious belief systems have been a powerful force for good and bad...good in the sense that it provided a measure of individual behavior and order in society for the wellbeing of the whole, but bad in the sense that men of ambition who craved power and control over others would often use religion as a tool of manipulation and fear. A casual glance of history tells us that complete civilizations have been built, grown and maintained around elaborate religious systems, ancient Egypt being a prime example.

Religion is the basis of belief for humans, it is a belief that there is a higher being that watches over us guiding us, a belief that there is life after death and if we follow these beliefs we shall enter heaven the most beautiful place. However religion has also played a role in wars, religious conflicts in Ireland (Protestants and Catholics). Israelis and Arabs (Holy Land) and the Holy Crusades of the eleventh century (recapturing the Holy Land).

They became the cornerstone of many earlier and later civilizations. Even today many countries, especially those in the Middle East, have religious leaders who work with the government to enact laws and “guide” the spiritual aspect of the lives of their citizens. Unfortunately, with such strong beliefs and convictions can come conflict. This conflict can be on a small scale, such as discrimination against those who don’t share the same beliefs to full-scale war which was the case in the first Crusades. In more recent times we have seen mass genocides of people based in part on religious beliefs such as the annihilation of the Jews during the Second World War. Today we see it played out in acts of terrorism, jihads. Religion is a powerful tool that can be used both to help and enrich the lives of people or used as justification for intolerance against others.