Living My Best Life - Free Essay about Punishments in Religion and Legally

Socrates believed that a world where people lived utilizing their natural abilities and talents would be a just world. Such a society would entail three classes of people, those who govern, those who help in the ruling like police and soldiers, and the ordinary people who would be the workers, merchants and the farmers. The third class of people would be the only ones allowed to own property or have families. According to Socrates, such a world would automatically be a just community. In this case, there still would be fear of punishment subjected to the people by the second class of people. Different forms of feared punishments in religion and legally are discussed in the paper. Effect of punishment on the character of a child is also discussed to insist on the importance of discipline.

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Some people view Christianity as a life of fearing what sinners will face in hell. According to various teachings in the Bible, there are conducts that if broken, one would meet eternal fire in hell after death (Johnson & Dominic). The bible mentions many curses for breaking set rules in life, especially in the old testament, and frequent mentions of hell in the new testament (Johnson, et al., 363). Most Christians believe that God is just, therefore, making it a must to punish all evil dowers. He also uses punishment as a method of teaching people the right ways of living. There are also people who explain that punishment is not the primary motivation for living right, but still, people should do good to at least avoid the eternal fire. In this set of beliefs, millions of Christians in the world do good to avoid punishment from God.

Most of the Christians who do not fear punishment, live right and do good to receive the ultimate reward, heaven. In the new testament, heaven as a reward has been mentioned regularly. People are motivated to live a just life for them to see the kingdom of heaven, which is depicted as the reason for a Christian's life (Johnson, et al., 363). If a Christian does not go to heaven, they have failed. Heaven is the materialistic reward for living a good life. On the other hand, some people help others because the act makes them feel satisfied or good about themselves. They do good to fellow human being not for a worldly reward that they would not receive if they behaved otherwise but for being altruistic (Johnson & Dominic). Therefore, the fear of not receiving the ultimate compensation motivates Christians' behavior.

The government uses prison as a form of punishing crime and injustices. Police and other law enforcer are meant to bring order to the country by using pre-set rules, like the constitution, to punish people who break the rules. According to Reilly, et al., crime rates are reduced by the fear of getting caught and sentenced to a jail term. If people were left to govern themselves with no rules, the world would be in chaos. Therefore, there are fewer crime rates where the chances of getting caught and punished are high. Peace and justice are achieved by forming a rigid justice system that can punish lawbreakers. In most cases, police stations are opened in some neighborhoods to reduce the crime rates by making the criminals fear the presence of law enforcers who impose punishment (Reilly, et al., 18). Thus, many people avoid participating in criminal activities due to fearing the sentence more than they would desire to participate in the crime.

Some studies have tried to prove that punishment does not work, suggesting the there are other methods of making people do the right thing. While bringing up children, parents are advised not to punish their children, but instead use different ways (Newman). According to such research, punishment does not work because the child feels they have paid for their misbehaving and had the right to misbehave again. Other research explains that punishing a child would turn them into hating themselves and believing that they are something wrong with them, making them think that they are bad (Newman). Such research suggests that children be disciplined using consequences rather than punishment and reward (Salali, et al., 87). An example of a consequence is taking away a child's toys if they misbehaved. In this case, the term punishment is defined as either spanking the child or shouting at them. Consequence discipline is a form of punishment, making punishment a disciplining child. A child, therefore, must fear the consequences, punishment, to behave well. Eventually, the child gets self-control and self-discipline which lead to good behavior.

The world is led right due to fear of punishment. All people have a form of punishment fear for specific actions. Christians live right due to fear of getting burnt in hell for eternity and missing out the reward, which is heaven. The government uses prisons as a form of punishment for crimes. People, therefore, fear to participate in crime to avoid getting into jail. Children have to be to be disciplined using the right forms of punishments to grow up into self-disciplined people. Therefore, people cannot find a reason to live a just if there is no fear of retribution.

Work Cited

Johnson, Dominic. God is watching you: How the fear of God makes us human. Oxford University Press, USA, 2016.

Johnson, Kathryn A., Adam B. Cohen, and Morris A. Okun. "God is watching you... but also watching over you: The influence of benevolent God representations on secular volunteerism among Christians." Psychology of Religion and Spirituality 8.4 (2016): 363.

Newman, Graeme. The punishment response. Routledge, 2017.

Reilly, Barry, Neil Rickman, and Robert Witt. "Robbing banks: Crime does pay-but not very much." Significance 9.3 (2012): 17-21.

Salali, Gul Deniz, Myriam Juda, and Joseph Henrich. "Transmission and development of costly punishment in children." Evolution and Human Behavior 36.2 (2015): 86-94.