connect religion to our culture and society by looking at the impact of religion on various elements of life such as family, politics, education, media, and government.
Background:
Religion impacts society in many different ways. Religion, and more specifically, religious institutions, serve as socializing agents that guide individuals in lifestyle choices and opinion development. Supporting this claim, prior research has shown that religious lifestyles produce important effects on various aspects of individuals’ lives. Religious effects exist across the entire spectrum of society and impact our behaviors, opinions, families, and education, just to name a few.
Directions and Grading:
For this paper, you will explore the impact of religion on different aspects of your life and on society as a whole. You will cover each required element in your paper and show the impact of religion, or not, on different areas of social life. For each section of the paper, you will first write about the impact, if any, of religion on your own life and then you will cover how you see religion impacting society in general. You will need to cover all of the following sections:
Introduction – Provide a summary of what you will cover in your paper and provide a strong thesis statement in your introduction section.
Individual Opinions and Behaviors – How does religion impact your personal opinions and behaviors? Did you have religious or non-religious peers? Did these peers change or reinforce your opinions or behaviors at all? How do you see religion impacting the opinions and behaviors of others in our society?
Family – How does religion impact your family life? Was religion an important factor in your early life as you were growing up in your family? How do you see religion impacting the role of family in society? What about the role of religion when it comes to marriage, family types, and/or family size?
Education – What role has religion played in your educational journey, if any? How does religion impact education overall in our society?
Government/Politics – In what ways do you think religion should play a role in the political realm? Do you believe that religion currently impacts politics? How does religion impact governmental laws and policies? How does religion impact elections?
Media – Did the media impact your views toward religion throughout your life? Did the entertainment choices that you or your family picked while you were growing up reinforce the messages that you received from your religious institution? In our society, does the media confirm or contradict the messages from religious institutions?