Essay Sample on Religion and Religious Oppression

In our contemporary society, different people have varying religious beliefs, political views and unique cultural practices. Pluralism refers to a social philosophy which seeks to enable different viewpoints to exist together in a given more massive structure. Hence, a pluralistic society contains groups with diverse religion and social setting that live in harmony while keeping their own identities (Pooja, 2014). The essay will explore religious pluralism, and religious oppression and show the effect of pluralism in our contemporary society.

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Religious pluralism includes accepting all other religious view and traditions as equal to promote co-existence. In the past, religious differences have been known to cause conflicts and divisions in society. Religious oppression occurs when a group of people are mistreated systematically due to their religious beliefs and affiliations. Also, religious persecution has been carried on throughout human history (Mead, 2015). Pluralism is, therefore, essential in reducing these conflicts since it identifies the value of multiple faiths and traditions.

Significance of Pluralism

Religious pluralism has encouraged better governance in different regions by allowing members of different religious denominations to come together and fight poor leadership. These people come together voluntarily to participate in activities such as demonstrations against poor leadership. From 2011 to 2013, Egyptians participated in protests and the revolution to remove President Mohammed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood from the presidency (Mead, 2015). The Christians and other smaller religious groups were against turning Egypt into an Islamist state since they would suffer persecution and discrimination. Also, the Muslims were against the Islamization of the country, which had been a pious but moderate state (Mead, 2015). Both Christians and Muslims came together to protest for better governance in the country.

Moreover, pluralism identifies that different groups have varying interests that may not be the same as the state's interests, hence, enables the various groups to interact with each other in harmony voluntarily. In the United States, many towns have regions referred to as Chinatown and Little Italy. People in the areas practice cultures from their original countries. These areas evolved due to anti-pluralist oppressions (Your Dictionary, 2019). However, with pluralism, oppression has decreased, leading to interactions with people from other regions.

Furthermore, pluralism has enabled many non-profit organizations to provide help to many people and impact on lives all over the world. The organizations use pluralists' approach in their work by hiring members from different religious affiliations to pursue values such as charity and kindness to other people. Such organizations include the International Red Cross and the Maher Ashram. Also, these organizations avoid affiliations with some given religious groups (Your Dictionary, 2019). Pluralism has, therefore, had an impact on society significantly by allowing different non-profit organizations to provide help to people all over the world. However, this could not have been possible in ancient times, where cases of religious oppression were high.

Conclusion

Pluralism is the most exceptional philosophical ideal of our times since it has dramatically improved interactions in society. Pluralism allows the existence of different viewpoints in the community. Besides, religious pluralism reduces cases of religious conflicts and persecution in the nation by showing the value of multiple beliefs. Through pluralism, citizens from different religious denominations can demand better governance in the country. Also, pluralism enables the success of many non-profit organizations. Pluralism has, therefore, improved lives in no small extent.

References

Mead, M. (2015). Religious Oppression. Retrieved January 2, 2020, from https://oppressionhumannature.weebly.com/religious-oppression.html

Pooja. (2014). Pluralism: Meaning, importance, and other details. Retrieved January 2, 2020, from http://www.politicalsciencenotes.com/articles/pluralism-meaning-importance-and-other-details/250Your Dictionary. (2019). Examples of pluralism. Retrieved January 2, 2020, from https://examples.yourdictionary.com/examples-of-pluralism.html