Religion in the World

894 Words2 Pages

Religion is intertwined with culture, economics, politics, and modern social relationships on every dimension. Whether you attend a cathedral, a synagogue, or a mosque, habitually, intermittently, or abstain entirely, you simply cannot escape religion.

Culture and religion share a symbiotic relationship influencing clothes, hair, attitudes, tradition, child rearing, how we pray, when we pray, how often we pray, and what we wear when we pray. In the Islāmic faith the custom of a woman covering herself in a hijab, modest clothing which covers the hair, neck and ears, is inexorably entangled with the religion, when in fact, the custom comes from Shari law, and not from the Qur’an. The religious habit worn by many Catholic nuns is also attire which does not reveal the nun’s body and covers her hair, neck and ears. The question begs to be posed, what is the difference, why does the West view the Muslimah hijab as oppressive, but the Catholic habit as a sign of piety and modesty?

An illustration of religion impacting the economy negatively is demonstrated in the method Religious Right asserted pressure to remove comprehensive sex education from the curriculum and teach abstinence-only sex education. A direct correlation of abstinence-only sex education is a proliferation in teenage pregnancy. Teenage pregnancy impacts not only the young mother negatively but the economy negatively as well. The monetary burden placed on society to support the young teen mother and her child is compounded with the distressing economic reality that a teen mother who is incapable of completing her education will earn appreciably less in her lifetime, pay considerably less in taxes, and statistically consume significantly more of society’s resources.2
...

... middle of paper ...

...2. Evans, Paul (2010). Straight Talk: Abstinence-only sex education. Retrieved [Date unavailable] from Evans Liberal Politics: 2. http://www.dailykos.com/story/2010/05/19/867987/-Straight-Talk:-Abstinence-only-sex-education

3. Mie, Ayako (2010). Oakland seeks help from churches in youth crime prevention. Retrieved [Date unavailable] from OaklandNorth: 3. http://oaklandnorth.net/2010/02/10/oakland-seeks-help-from-churches-in-youth-crime-prevention/

4. Brennan, Phil (2007). Falwell's Legacy Was Reagan's Too. Retrieved [Date unavailable] from NewsMax.com: http://oaklandnorth.net/2010/02/10/oakland-seeks-help-from-churches-in-youth-crime-prevention/

5. Privitera, Dr. Riccardo (2010). CHRISTAN RIGHT: THE WAR ON SECULAR SOCIETY. Retrieved 26 March 2012 from NewsMax.com: http://oaklandnorth.net/2010/02/10/oakland-seeks-help-from-churches-in-youth-crime-prevention/

Open Document