Is religion whats best?

         For thousands of years religion has been a common staple in a society. Religion would unite people of a society who shared common values and morals while also keeping societies under control with the idea that god is always watching. While religion isn’t necessarily a bad thing, the question of religion still being a necessity comes to mind. According to the Aggregate Religiosity index religion in America alone practiced religion has been on a decline for the past 60 years and attendance to religious service is at an all-time low, as well as a University of Chicago survey stating that religion has decreased in popularity in 27 of 30 countries surveyed. and although religion is not as heavily practiced as it once was society has not collapsed because the functions the contributions of a religion in society are also found in other places in a modern society which puts the purpose of religion into question.

Religion has been on a sharp and consistent decline since the early sixties, but that does not mean that the positive impacts of religion can’t still be found, they still exist in society today, only they don’t come from religion. While common values can still be found in a religious setting, they can also be found elsewhere such as school, work or charities. These relationships with people of common values are the same as those relationships formed through church and religion.

Although religion does not have the world wide appeal as it once did, it does not mean that control over a society has gone away as well. While society is not kept in control completely by religion and Gods judgment anymore, control is still kept through laws and government. Laws are put in place by a society’s government to maintain control of the population. Laws create restrictions to a society and provide consequences as well when laws are broken. A legal system provides the same kind of social control religion offers because both give consequences to a person’s actions.

With new establishments that provide the same functions as religion does, it makes it easier to see how religion is no longer a necessity in today’s society. With establishments that replace religion with the same functions that it provides it becomes clearer that why throughout the world the practice of religion is on the decline.

 Links:

http://tobingrant.religionnews.com/2014/01/27/great-decline-religion-united-states-one-graph/

http://americanhumanist.org/HNN/details/2012-04-the-state-of-religion-declining-belief-in-god-worldw