The influence of religion on human activity. How does religiosity affect human behavior and mood?

Despite the fact that religion is a spiritual concept, it concerns all spheres human life and dictates a certain way of life. Naturally, religion has a huge impact on a person’s worldview, which is formed on the basis of its dogmas and beliefs. Moreover, religion has a great influence on the body, character and thinking of the believer. Below are the main points of the influence of religion on a person.

Effect on the body

Religion dictates a healthy lifestyle. Islam has established rules of behavior in everything, and, of course, rules for a healthy lifestyle. A Muslim abstains from everything forbidden. This applies to food, prohibition of alcohol and smoking. It turns out that a true Muslim is on the path to a healthy image. In addition, healthy lifestyle in Islam also consists of prayer, which acts as physical exercise, mandatory fasting, prohibition of excessive consumption of food, and early awakening. There is enormous benefit for a person in purification - taharat, the use of miswak. Allah, the merciful, has created every worship and injunctions of the sunnah to benefit the soul, mind and body of man.

Effect on emotional state

According to the conclusion of psychologists, religious people are, as a rule, happier than non-believers. According to , published in December 2010 in the American magazine Review, religion gives a person pleasure in worship, makes him meaningful to himself and gives meaning to every day of his life. Every person is born with an emptiness in the soul that can be filled and become the true meaning of life. In addition, believers, as a rule, have their own position regarding many questions to which non-believers cannot find answers, therefore they are in a state of harmony, which, of course, makes a person happy. Many things make a believer happy, because in everything that for non-believers is just an event or a fact, he sees the contentment, mercy and blessing of the Almighty.

Moreover, people with faith in their souls are emotionally stable, less susceptible to stress and depression, since they have a more stable emotional background.

Impact on character

According to research, believers in God have a more benevolent character and better adaptability to life than non-believers, due to the fact that believers have significantly higher levels of self-control. top level. In addition, prayer has a positive effect on strictly defined areas of the brain, which leads to an increase in the ability of believers to control their emotions.

Therefore, when a person’s action occurs in accordance with the rules and instructions that are established and approved by God himself, this leads to the imparting of strength, confidence in one’s own rightness, and mental balance, which helps protect a person from many vices and diseases.

Impact on mental abilities and thinking

According to research, constant worship and prayer promotes greater brain activity. Constant study of books and memorization of prayers form a strong memory, and searching for answers to religious questions develops logic and thinking. In addition, sermons promote reflection and develop analytical thinking.

Based on materials livescience

Religion is not just belief in God, but the whole system, defining the rules of human behavior in society. In the course of the research, scientists were able to establish that people who believe in God have a more benevolent character. According to scientists, the reason for this phenomenon is the better adaptation of believers to external factors environment, which arises as a result of the presence of self-control, which manifests itself at a much higher level than that of non-believers.

Scientists also decided to find out how religion affects a person physically. Studies have shown that prayer and religious rituals have a beneficial effect on certain areas of the brain of a believer, which leads to an improvement in the controlling functions of the emotional sphere. Acting according to the canons approved by God himself, a person becomes more confident in his rightness, which contributes to the emergence of balance and to a greater extent protection from vices and diseases.

You can understand how religion influences the economy by abstractly representing a certain model of modern society, consisting of 100 percent Christians who do not steal, do not envy, help each other and all their aspirations are directed in a creative direction for the benefit of Humanity. Of course, GDP in such a universal system will occupy a leading position compared to the most developed countries without Christian morality. That is, non-observance of the commandments hinders the economic development of society.

Attempts by atheists to create a new society without God led to the fact that the revolution of 1917 became a stumbling block to the development of the economy of a once prosperous state. Because to fight religion means to destroy the foundations of the morality of society and open the way to bribery, embezzlement, fraud, contract killings and other vices that easily take over the thoughts of a person who does not have an internal spiritual core.

Those who want to get their own personal religion, power and source of profit repeatedly try to speculate on the power of faith and deep human inclinations. In order to learn how to found a religion, you just need to study human psychology, its strengths and weaknesses. By skillfully manipulating these qualities, many hunters of human gullibility have achieved impressive results to date. Departing from the true canons of the church, these false preachers of pseudo-religious cults founded their own successfully thriving business based on deception and fraud.

And, surprisingly, sometimes their masterly ability to persuade reaches such perfection that even Christians begin to think about the correctness of their faith. Before changing religion, you need to seriously think about the correctness of your choice and the fatal mistake that you can make without thoroughly researching the issue. It’s worth talking to a priest and understanding the reasons for your doubts. Or study the essence of the issue yourself by turning to the study of literature and the origins of a particular faith. Or you can ask God for help, so that He can show you the way to the right choice and removed the path of lies. Sincere prayer will always be heard and help will come immediately!

Belief in moralistic, punitive gods with an interest in human affairs may have facilitated the spread and development of human societies, the study's authors say. published in the latest issue of the journal Nature. In this study, scientists test the hypothesis that

belief in an all-seeing and punishing god promotes increased cooperation, trust, and justice among people from regions geographically distant from other adherents of the same religion, thus promoting the social expansion of the group.

Benjamin Grant Perzicki and colleagues interviewed 591 people from eight regions of the world - Brazil, Mauritius, Russian Republic Tyva, Tanzania, as well as on the islands in the southern part Pacific Ocean. Interviewees were adherents of world religions such as Christianity, Buddhism and Hinduism, as well as adherents of a variety of local religions and traditions, including ancestral faiths and animism. The authors studied the behavior of participants during an “economic game.”

Each participant was given 30 coins, a cube whose edges were painted in three colors, and two cups. Participants were required to guess a color, choose a bowl where they wanted to place the die, and then toss the die. If the drawn color coincided with the one guessed, then the person had to put some of the coins into a pre-selected bowl; if it did not match, then into another. In one series of experiments, one bowl belonged to the player himself, and the second to a fellow believer living in the same region as the test subject. In the second series of experiments, the first cup belonged either to a coreligionist living next door or to a coreligionist from another region globe. In addition, the subjects were interviewed in detail and asked questions related to their attitude towards their gods; assessments of the qualities of the gods, such as, for example, morality, moralizing, mercy, and cruelty, were measured and averaged.

The participants in the game did not voice their decisions about the hidden color and cup, which means that the decision about where to put the coins remained entirely on their conscience. However, if all the players acted honestly, the final outcome would fit into the picture of statistical probability. Meanwhile, this did not happen.

Scientists have found:

how more people was inclined to characterize his god as “all-seeing” and “punishing”, so more money he was willing to sacrifice to strangers of the same religion.

The results also showed that people do this not because they want divine rewards, but because they believe in supernatural punishment.

According to the experimenters, this study clearly shows that people's belief in supernatural punishment contributed to increased cooperation in societies and their further productive development.

Magnets against religion

However, as another study shows, religiosity is not only associated with a sense of cooperation and cooperation and, moreover, is not a “fixed value.” Recently in the journal Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience study was published about the connection between religiosity and everyday nationalism and the brain’s reaction to threat. Researchers say that using magnetic stimulation of the area of ​​the brain responsible for searching and making decisions, it is possible to change a person's attitude towards migrants and religion.

In this study, people filled out tests determining the degree of their religiosity and attitude towards visitors. Next, the brains of the subjects were exposed to short magnetic pulses. After that, participants again had to express their opinions about religion and migrants, and before this, people were asked to think about death (as psychologists say, such thoughts increase the degree of religiosity) and look at texts written by migrants expressing their negative or positive attitude towards their new place of residence.

Despite external incentives,

the results showed a 32.8% decrease in religiosity and a 28.5% improvement in attitudes toward immigrants.

According to researchers, this reaction is explained by the fact that both religiosity and a negative attitude towards migrants are the brain’s response to a challenge—a threat. In a situation with religion, the threat is the fear of death; in a situation with migrants, it is the fear of representatives of another culture.

Beautiful landscape distracts from the church

You can reduce the degree of a person’s religiosity not only with the help of magnetic impulses; there are also more pleasant ways to do this. Thus, psychologists have found that the living environment directly affects the degree of a person’s religiosity: how better climate and more beautiful environment, the less often people turn to God and attend church. An article about this unusual research recently was published in the journal Sociology of Religion.

It turned out that

people living in regions with beautiful nature and good climatic conditions, are much less likely than others to identify themselves with one religion or another.

Psychologists naturally explain this by the fact that landscapes that are pleasing to the eye and good weather contribute to the emotional stability of people and have a beneficial effect on the psyche, that is, they do what a huge number of people are looking for in religion and belief in higher powers.

God is against stress

However, it cannot be argued that nature is a monopolist in the market for means of maintaining good mood, but faith does not provide positive influence on emotional state person. According to a new study from the American Psychological Association, published in the journal Psychological Science, thinking about God can make believers less frustrated and reduce daily stress, as can daily contemplation of beautiful scenery.

Experimental studies have shown that when people think about religion and God, their brains work differently, which makes it easier for a person to respond to failure. First, the study participants were asked to write down their thoughts on the topic of religion, and then they were asked to complete a very difficult test: the level of the tasks was so high that all subjects, without exception, made mistakes. The results showed that believers who thought about religion and God before completing the task had decreased brain activity in areas of the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), which is also responsible for behavior and preparedness for unexpected situations and mistakes.

As a result, they were not very worried or nervous about the mistakes they made.

Atheists reacted differently: if they were first given tasks related to God and religion, then activity in the ACC area increased. Researchers suggest that for believers, any life changes can be natural and explainable by faith and religion, so their stressful emotions from failures are much less. On the contrary, for atheists, thoughts about God may contradict their perception of the world and life ideas, which leads to greater nervousness and anxiety when they make mistakes.

The researchers believe that these results can help understand other interesting but controversial information about religious people. For example, there is some evidence that religious people live longer, are happier and healthier. Scientists, however, urge atheists not to despair, believing that such patterns can be associated precisely with a system that helps to understand the structure of life and one’s own own world. Perhaps atheists would be just as effective in dealing with stress if they thought first about their own beliefs and beliefs.

(A shortened version of a chapter from a textbook for universities "Beliefs of the World's Religions", St. Petersburg, Khimizdat, 2001)

The role of religion is understood as its influence on people and their environment, the “traces” that it leaves in the lives of individuals and society. The problem of the role of religion deserves many volumes of research. Let us dwell only on some aspects of this problem.

Specifics of religious studies in highlighting the role of religion.

As you know, the main commandment of a doctor is: “Do no harm!” We, teachers of religious studies, must be guided by the same moral norm. Considering that religious scholars speak to people with different, sometimes opposing worldviews, they do not have the right to condemn any religion as false and, accordingly, approve of any religion as true. The question of which worldview or which confessions are true or false should be taken out of lessons, lectures, textbooks and left for personal decision to each school student, university student, and reader of textbooks. In other words, value judgments based on the criterion of “truth or error” should be removed from religious information.

But if such assessments should be unconditionally excluded from teaching, then we must treat assessments of religious denominations on the scale of “moral or immoral” differently. The interests of humanity require solidarity in condemning all crimes, in whatever country and by whomever they are committed. There are also actions that world community recognized as morally unacceptable, although not legally punishable (depraved behavior, refusal of any participation in the public life of one’s country, intolerance towards dissidents without the use of violence, etc.). This means that inhumane behavior, if it was manifested in the activities of religious organizations and religious leaders, should also be condemned in the speeches of religious scholars. This type condemnation is not aimed only at religion: it is a condemnation of the immoral in life in general and in some religions in particular.

At the same time, we are obliged to acquaint listeners and readers with those points of view on the role of religion that exist in society. Naturally, we also have our own view of the problem and can and should present it, but only as one of the existing points of view, and not as an absolute and only possible answer to the question about the role of religion. Every student, every student, every reader of religious literature must make the final conclusion about the role of religion (as well as the final conclusion about the truth or falsity of certain religious views) for himself.

How can you evaluate the influence of religion on people's lives?

In principle (i.e., regardless of religion), the influence of any phenomenon on people’s lives can be either positive (helping them in their preservation and development), or negative (hindering them in their preservation and development), or contradictory ( carrying both positive and negative consequences). How can one assess in a generalized form (as a whole) the influence of religion on people's lives? How positive? How negative? Or how contradictory?

Clerics and theologians who divide religions into true, partially true and false believe that true religions play an unconditionally positive role, false ones - an unconditionally negative one, and partially true ones - a contradictory role.

Among atheists there are also those (we call them “extreme atheists”) who believe that any religion plays only a negative role. They, as a rule, are guided by the statement of V.I. Lenin, who called religion (religion in general, any religion) “the enemy of culture and progress.”

In the problem of “the role of religion” there is also a point of view of the so-called “golden mean”, which the authors of the book adhere to. According to this point of view, religion as a whole plays a contradictory role: there is a tendency in it that is hostile to culture and progress, but there is also a tendency of the opposite nature.

A tendency hostile to culture and progress is especially clearly manifested in the so-called religious pathology.

Religious pathology.

The Greek word pathos means disease. Pathology refers to both the study of disease processes and these disease processes themselves within living organisms and social phenomena. Religious pathology is painful processes within religious denominations. Understanding the role of religion includes understanding the nature of the influence of religious pathology on the believers themselves and on the environment in which they live. Religious pathology finds its manifestation in religious fanaticism, religious extremism and religious crime. And these three phenomena are mutually connected and mutually transform into each other.

Religious extremism, as we have already noted, is an extreme form of religious fanaticism. The essence of any extremism, including religious extremism, is the use of violence against dissidents. Facts of fanaticism (including extremism) occur in many religions. Here, for example, is what the writer Sergei Kaledin said in the story “Tahana Marquisite” about the facts of religious fanaticism in Jerusalem. One of the characters in the story, a young man named Mikhail, introduces a guest from Russia to some of the Shabbat customs in Jerusalem. In this case (and the story reflects facts that actually take place), fanaticism does not consist in the fact that believers themselves do not work on Saturday, do not drive a car, and do not make phone calls. This is not fanaticism, but behavior consistent with their religious beliefs. Fanaticism begins there when they try to force dissenters to the same behavior.

The degree of violence can also vary: from blocking the roadway on Saturday to beating dissidents and even their physical destruction. And here religious extremism develops into religious crime. Religious crime can manifest itself both in a relatively weak degree and in a very strong degree. Religious crimes can be committed by individuals, individual religious organizations (the leaders of religious organizations and specific executors of criminal “guidelines” bear the blame for such crimes, but, of course, not ordinary believers) and even entire states (again, the blame in this case is not assigned to on ordinary citizens of these states, and on their rulers and executors of criminal orders).

In the past, one of the most striking manifestations of religious crime was the so-called “Bartholomew’s Night” in Paris (the night of August 24, 1572). The French writer Prosper Merimee spoke about it very vividly in his novel “Chronicle of the Times of Charles IX.”

But even at the end of the twentieth century, religious crime sometimes expresses itself in a very cruel form. The most tragic consequences were brought to life in Japan by the criminal activities of religious fanatics from the AUM Senrikyo denomination.

A manifestation of religious pathology, of course, is fanaticism within some faiths. For example, there have been cases when in Pentecostal communities the procedure of “casting out demons” turned into painful torture of unfortunate people. In a number of communities, rituals turned into hysterical fits, and individual believers, being in a twilight state of consciousness, committed criminal offenses.

But perhaps what is called religious pathology here has nothing to do with religion? After all, religion, by definition, is a synthesis of belief in the supernatural and rituals addressed to the supernatural. Where is the faith or rituals here? But, firstly, faith is present here: for in all cases, fanatics (including extremists and criminals) were pushed to uncivilized, inhumane behavior by a peculiar understanding of faith in the supernatural. And secondly, religion, by another definition, is an activity through which belief in the supernatural is expressed and realized. And, as facts show, belief in the supernatural can be expressed not only through civilized, but also through uncivilized, pathological activity.

Is religious pathology the rule or the exception? Religious pathology has always had a place in the history of religion. History does not know periods of development free from manifestations of religious pathology. And in this sense, religious pathology is the rule.

But on the other hand, pathological phenomena (even in their weakest manifestation: fanaticism without violence) have never characterized all religions and everything in religions. The civilized form of existence of religious ideas has always taken place in religious movements. Its scope expanded more and more over time. And in our time, religious civilization greatly prevails over religious pathology. And in this sense, religious pathology has become an exception.

Religious pathology is nothing more than religious fanaticism in different forms And varying degrees its manifestations. As the historical past of religion has shown and as its present shows, religious fanaticism is a negative phenomenon in the life of society. All civilized people - both believers and non-believers - in the name of the happiness of humanity, in the name of their own happiness, in the name of the happiness of their children and grandchildren, must fight to overcome religious fanaticism. But how?

The problem requires study. As they say smart people, you need to sit down at the table, take your head in your hands and think. But one initial and mandatory step should be mentioned now. In our opinion, this mandatory step is personal example. It should be borne in mind that religious fanaticism is not an isolated social phenomenon, but a part of fanaticism in general. Fanaticism can be not only religious, but also atheistic (for example, disrespectful attitude of non-believers towards believers), and political (intolerance towards people with different political views), and everyday life (for example, when a husband and wife cannot argue with each other without irritation, when children do not want to understand their parents, and parents do not want to understand their children). And this means that people will first be able to limit and then overcome religious fanaticism only when they successfully fight fanaticism in general, with all and every type and manifestation of fanaticism. And personal example consists, in our opinion, first of all in strict, consistent adherence to two basic rules of civilized attitude towards dissidents. The first rule: you need to listen to dissidents, let them speak out. And the second rule: you cannot offend dissenters either by your behavior, or by your words, or by the irritated or ironic tone of the conversation.

Functions of religion.

The functions of religion are the ways in which religion influences people's lives. How many functions religion has and what they are called is still a matter of debate among historians. We present the view that there are four basic functions of religion. They are basic in the sense that they can be divided into second-order functions. The functions of religion differ from each other in answering the question through what (or how) they influence people’s lives.

The worldview function of religion is the way religion influences people’s lives through worldview ideas that are part of the content of religion.

The political function of religion is the way religion influences people's lives through political ideas and political actions of religious organizations.

The cultural-transmitting function of religion is the way religion influences people's lives through the attitude of religious organizations to culture.

The moral function of religion is the way religion influences people's lives through propaganda moral standards.

In all cases, from our point of view, the functions of religion bring both positive and negative results into people's lives. Or figuratively speaking, they give rise to both pros and cons.

Religion and worldview.

Worldview is a set of ideas about the most general patterns and about the most common problems life. This set of ideas can also be called ideological information. Worldview information answers the questions: does God exist, what are His properties, do miracles exist, can the laws of nature be violated, what is the meaning of life, does afterlife and others. If special information is of interest only to people of a certain profession, then worldview information is of interest to everyone at once. Worldview information greatly influences people's behavior. This is peculiar command post personality.

One of the advantages of religious ideological information is that religion helps believers overcome negative emotions. Or in other words, we can say this: the plus is that religion gives people comfort. People need to overcome negative emotions. If negative emotions (fear, grief, despair, loneliness, etc.) continue for too long and are experienced too deeply, then the human body “breaks down.” From an overabundance of negative emotions, people either die or go crazy. And this is also not a prospect. Religious consolation is a great plus. This is a unique form of psychotherapy. Moreover, this form of psychotherapy is widespread, cheap and effective. Thanks to religious consolation, humanity survived in the historical past. Thanks to this consolation, many people continue to live now.

Another advantage of this function of religion is that it generates and supports communication among people with a common worldview. Communication is an important need and high value in people's lives. Lack of communication or limited communication makes people suffer. Many pensioners especially suffer from a lack of communication. But middle-aged people also suffer from loneliness, and certain part youth. With the help of religion this negative side life is overcome.

Well, what are the disadvantages of the ideological function? Let us remember that only historians talk about the disadvantages. From the point of view of theologians, religion (at least the so-called “true religion”) did not have, does not, and cannot have any disadvantages.

Historians say there are two disadvantages to this function. The first disadvantage is the alienation of people from each other on ideological grounds. This means that people belonging to different religious denominations often treat each other with at least indifference, at most unfriendly, and in some cases even hostile. The more strongly the idea of ​​chosenness is propagated in a particular religion, the stronger the alienation between believers of different faiths.

However, this minus is not absolute. There is a religion (Baha'ism), the moral code of which not only does not practice alienation towards dissidents, but, on the contrary, condemns such behavior as a moral vice. The leadership of a number of religious organizations teaches their followers to have a brotherly, comradely attitude towards people with a different ideological orientation. In many religions (Orthodoxy, Catholicism, Islam, etc.), the presence or absence of such alienation, or at least its degree, depends on the level of culture and level moral development believers. The most civilized believers, contrary to dogma that pushes towards alienation, and in accordance with moral norms that call for rapprochement, behave friendly towards dissenters.

The second minus of the ideological function (according to historians) is a decrease in the level social activity believers. Social activism refers to non-religious activities aimed at serving other people or society as a whole. This is both socially useful work and socially political activity, and scientific and cultural activities, and helping those in need. Religions, through their ideological function, mainly interfere with the participation of believers in socio-political activities (participation in elections, rallies and demonstrations, in the development and discussion of political documents, in the activities of trade unions, political parties etc.). How? Sometimes through direct prohibitions on participation in social and political activities (this is the case, for example, in the Jehovah’s Witnesses denomination), but most often through an atmosphere of moral approval that has grown on the basis of the worldview of people who, in the structure of their personal time, give the “lion’s share” to religious activities(prayers, other rituals, study of religious literature, its distribution, etc.). In this situation, there is either no or very little time left for activities for the benefit of “others”.

But many religions call for charity? Isn't this a call for social activism? Yes, of course, this is a call for social activity that deserves approval from society. But this call is generated by another function of religion: moral. At the same time, the power of this call is to some extent extinguished by its ideological function. From the point of view of historians, there is a real contradiction here, in which, depending on the traditions of the confession and the level of civilization of believers, either the socially passive or socially active side dominates. Eat witty saying men about women: women inspire us to do great things, but do not give us the time to implement them. The same can be said about some religious denominations. You can agree with historians, you can disagree with them, but in any case you need to know what exactly they say about the influence of religion on the social activity of people. And they say that religion is a “brake” in the development of this form of activity.

This does not mean that believers are inferior to non-believers in terms of social activity. Why? Because in the lives of non-believers there are other “brakes”, and often stronger ones than the religious worldview. These include: a low level of culture, drunkenness, drug addiction, a criminal lifestyle, etc. For example, when a drunkard-atheist becomes a teetotaler-believer, both the individual and society benefit from this change. Compared to whom are believers inferior in terms of social activity? Compared to themselves, to what they could become. In other words, compared to the ideal.

Religion and politics.

Politics is Firstly, relations between parties, classes, nationalities, peoples, states, and this, secondly, the attitude of individuals to parties, classes, nationalities, peoples, states. Political ideas reflect these relationships, and political actions express them. Politics can be progressive (these are the policies that promote social progress) and reactionary (these are the policies that oppose social progress). Political ideology and political activity arose along with the emergence of classes. From that time on, the participation of religious organizations in politics became inevitable. The only question was what policy they chose. And if a religious organization through the mouth of its leaders declares that it does not participate in political activities (as do, for example, the leaders of the International Society of Jehovah's Witnesses), then this means only one thing: it does not participate in those forms of political activity that are offered by the state and existing There are political forces in the country (parties, trade unions, etc.). At the same time, non-participation in the proposed forms of political activity itself is a kind of political activity, the essence of which is the political boycott of generally accepted forms of politics. In other words, this is a policy of social passivity.

The “plus” of the political function of religion is the promotion of religious organizations to social progress. The “disadvantage” of this function, accordingly, is the opposition of religious organizations to social progress. Thus, in the 16th century, the Lutheran Church introduced a political “plus” into the life of believers and society by promoting the development of bourgeois relations in Europe. During the same period of time catholic church, defending outdated feudal relations, introduced a “political minus” into the life of believers and society.

Religion and culture.

Culture is divided into material and spiritual. The cultural-translating function of religion reveals the relationship of religion to spiritual culture. And spiritual culture is understood as the totality of positive achievements of humanity in the intellectual and emotional spheres of its activity. Spiritual culture includes such structural elements as the activities of museums, libraries, education, science, philosophy, art, morality... The interaction of religion with morality is particularly important and fundamental. And therefore, although morality is an element of spiritual culture, interaction with it is revealed through the special, moral function of religion.

At each stage of historical development in specific religions, two opposing trends coexist: the tendency to promote the development of spiritual culture (a tendency that generates “pros”) and the tendency to counteract the development of spiritual culture (a tendency that generates “cons”). The “pros” and “cons” in the relation of religion to culture are especially clearly visible in the example of the relation of religion to art.

The first “plus” is the concern of religious organizations for the preservation of religious art. Religious art is an artistic activity and its results that are capable of supporting believers’ belief in the supernatural. In particular, religious art includes: temple architecture, icons, religious music, religious fiction. Religious art, like all art, contains positive aesthetic and humanistic content. The presence of religious material inside these works makes data for believers works of art products in high demand. Thus, through religious art, religion develops and strengthens the artistic perception of believers and introduces them to the world of art. Religious art gives a positive humanistic and aesthetic charge primarily to believers. First of all, but not only. In principle, consumers of this type of art, as well as art in general, are all representatives of the civilized part of humanity.

Religion has, in a certain respect, a beneficial influence on secular art (secular art refers to such artistic activity and its results that do not support belief in the supernatural). Religion, as it were, “gives” artists many images, plots, metaphors and other artistic material. Without the use of this material, secular art would be many times poorer in its artistic expression.

On the other hand, many specific religions put forward certain obstacles to the participation of believers in secular artistic activity. One such obstacle is direct religious prohibitions on certain parties. artistic creativity and artistic perception. These prohibitions still exist, but there were especially many of them in the past. Thus, the Russian Orthodox Church, since its inception (the end of the 10th century), persecuted the folk art of buffoons and in the 17th century achieved its prohibition and destruction. And Islam in the past universally prohibited Muslims from depicting living beings. Bans on some types of art in some countries remain to this day. So, for example, in main country Muslim world - Saudi Arabia - theater and cinema are prohibited.

Another obstacle to the participation of believers in secular artistic activities is the atmosphere created in many communities of moral condemnation of those believers who are interested in secular culture: fiction, theater, cinema, dance, etc.

Religion and morality.

The positive significance of the moral function of religion is to promote positive moral norms. The “disadvantage” of this function is the simultaneous promotion of some negative moral norms. However, it should be emphasized once again that only historians consider the moral function of religion to be contradictory in its results. As for theologians, in their opinion, all moral norms that religion promotes are only positive (i.e., useful for society and the individual). Historians most often illustrate their point of view using the example of Christianity. This is what their reasoning looks like.

The main way of establishing Christian moral norms was their inclusion in the text of the Bible. The norms included in the Bible are of the highest significance for believers, because their source, according to Christians, is the will of God. From the point of view of historians, there is something negative in these norms. In particular, they include the requirements set out in the Gospel of Matthew as negative norms: turn the other cheek, love your enemies, do not make vows, do not worry about tomorrow, do not judge anyone, forgive “up to seventy times seventy times,” do not get divorced).

Historians also negatively evaluate those passages in the Gospels that, in their opinion, direct believers to refuse communication with dissidents. If in the Gospel of Matthew the call to refuse communication with dissenters follows as a conclusion from the interpretation of certain passages of the text, then in the Psalms of David this call sounds directly and directly: “Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked...” (Ps., 1:1).

However, according to historians, positive morality occupies a leading, dominant place in the Bible. The main positive norm is the requirement of a humane attitude towards people. The Gospels contain two different formulations of this norm. The first is: “As you would have people do to you, do so to them” (Matthew 7:12). With a slight rearrangement of words, the same moral norm is repeated in the seventh chapter of the Gospel of Luke. This formulation was later called by cultural figures the “golden rule” of morality. It is both a requirement to do good and a criterion of morality, a way to find out which action is good and which is bad. The golden rule of morality is formulated in some documents of the past older than the Gospels. However, millions of people learned about this rule only from the Gospels. The second formulation of the requirement of humanism sounds like this: “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Matt. 19:19, etc.).

But not only the wording of the norms is important, but also their explanations. In this case, it is important to understand what it means to love your neighbor and who exactly is your neighbor. The Gospels answer these questions in a humane spirit: to love your neighbors means to help them, and neighbors are all people who need help.

There are many other positive moral norms in the Gospels and other books of the Bible: do not kill, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not lie (more precisely, do not bear false witness), honor your father and mother, feed the hungry, do not insult people, do not be angry with people in vain, make peace with those with whom you have quarreled, give alms and do not emphasize this, notice your shortcomings, evaluate people not by their words, but by their deeds, do not get drunk with wine, etc. Let us especially note the famous requirement: “If anyone does not want to work, he do not eat" (3:10).

A state of logical contradiction often arises between the negative and positive norms of the Bible, because in its texts there are teachings that exclude each other in their content. For example, the Bible simultaneously teaches believers to love all people and not to have fellowship with dissenters. But one excludes the other. According to our observations, in such cases believers choose only one side of the contradiction, and temporarily “forget” about the presence of another, directly opposite indication.

As for the negative norms of the Bible, their “correctness” is recognized by the majority of Christians only in words. There is a contradiction between negative moral standards and the practical behavior of believers. This is a “good” contradiction, useful for the life of believers. While positively assessing all the norms written in the Bible, in practice both believers and even clergy often act not just differently, but in the exact opposite way than what was said in the biblical teaching. Thus, in the fifth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew, in the name of Jesus Christ, believers are given the following recommendation: “Do not resist evil. But whoever strikes you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also.” However, the clergy themselves often, for example, fight back against robbers.

Or another example. In Matthew 5, men are forbidden to look at women “lustfully.” In practice, “lust” results in an aesthetic experience - admiring the beauty of a woman. The Gospel says that a man who does not comply with this requirement must either pluck out his eye or cut off his hand. And how do believing men look at beautiful women? They look normally, as men are supposed to look - they admire. But are there many one-eyed and one-armed men among believers? There are some, but not all of them.

One of important means preserving and strengthening positive morality are moral ideals. The moral ideal is an image historical figure or a literary hero, whose moral qualities and actions are an example to follow. In religions, the role of moral ideals is played by religious characters, whose lives and actions are described in religious literature. Of these, Jesus Christ is the most well-known. Let us dwell on its characteristics moral qualities, which we meet on the pages of the Gospels.

Christians give the person of Christ an absolute moral assessment. In their opinion, he was a perfect man who did not give a single bad recommendation and did not commit a single bad act. From the point of view of religious doctrine, Christ is not subject to criticism. A Christian who perceives any, even insignificant, errors in his words or actions, thereby immediately ceases to be a Christian.

Historians, like believers, consider the image of the Gospel Christ to be the embodiment of a moral ideal, although they make one significant reservation. They proceed from the fact that in life the moral ideal is not the one who is impeccable in all respects (such people simply do not exist), but the one who, despite individual mistakes and shortcomings, contributes more than others to the establishment of goodness in the life of society. The exponent of precisely such a vital moral ideal is Christ. He gave some wrong advice and did some wrong things. But historians believe that both people and literary heroes should be assessed not by their individual mistakes, but by their lives taken as a whole.

The good prevailed in the actions and teachings of Christ. He taught to act in such a way that it would be good for all people, i.e. taught humanism. He condemned cruelty, violence, injustice, murder, theft, debauchery, deception; called on people to love their neighbors, respect their parents, be truthful, peace-loving, accommodating, and generous. And his actions are also dominated by a good beginning. Almost all the miracles he performed were good miracles. He heals the sick, feeds the hungry, calms the storm, raises the dead. All this is done for people, all in the name of improving their lives. But the most important act in his life is a feat of self-sacrifice. He went to the cross and died for the good of people, knowing that only his suffering and death could open the way for people to a better future. In the twenties, public debates about religion took place in our country, at which Metropolitan Vvedensky spoke from the position of religion, and People’s Commissar of Education A.V. Lunacharsky spoke from the position of atheism. At one of these debates, the Metropolitan said that everyone would like to have Christ in their camp. Lunacharsky replied: “But we don’t. We don’t need Christ.” Life has shown that non-believers also need Christ, but they need not Christ the God, but Christ - literary hero, which became a global public opinion and in world art a symbol of high good.

Culture

There is no doubt that the life of a believer is different from the life of an atheist. The influence of religion on human life is obvious. However, You may not be aware of some of the things that have resulted from your faith in God. Moreover, this can be something positive or negative.

So, faith in God....

1. Helps you stay away from junk food

Truly religious people eat healthier foods than atheists. In January 2012, the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology published the results of a study in which scientists asked volunteers to take tests and play games somehow related to religion. Scientists have come to many interesting conclusions, in particular, they found that faith in God helps young people keep themselves from eating unhealthy food.

2. ... and yet contributes to excess weight

According to a study presented at the American Heart Association conference in March 2011, young people who frequently attend religious events are 50 percent more likely to become overweight as they age than those who do not attend church. Perhaps this is due to religious holidays, during which it is eaten large number delicious food. However, the scientists note that these results should not be taken as a statement that believers have poor health. It has been proven that believers live longer than atheists, if only because they drink less and do not smoke.

3. Makes you happier

Believers are more likely to feel happy than atheists. According to a study published in December 2010 in the American Sociological Review, the secret to happiness among religious people is that they feel part of a community and regularly interact with people who share the same interests as them. In church and at various religious events, people find friends and do not feel lonely.

4. Saves you from depression

Believers, like everyone else, suffer from depression, but it is easier for them to get rid of this condition. According to a 1998 study published in the American Journal of Psychiatry, older patients hospitalized for physical illness and also suffering from depression were more likely to recover from depressive state when faith in God was an integral part of their lives. A recent study published in the Journal of Clinical Psychology in 2010 found that belief in God leads to more successful treatment for depression.

5. Encourages you to check your health more often

In a 1998 study published in the journal Health Education & Behavior, researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles, found that people who regularly attend church are more likely to seek medical attention for preventive health care, including mammography. About 75 percent of the 1,517 women who attended church had regular mammograms (breast examinations), while only 60 percent of the 510 women who did not go to church had regular mammograms.

6. Lowers your blood pressure

People who regularly attend church have lower blood pressure than those who don't, according to a 2011 study in Norway. It has been proven that people who attend church at least three times a month have lower blood pressure compared to less religious people. Similar results were noted in a study conducted in the United States. Moreover, a certain relationship was noticed: the more often a person attends church, the lower his blood pressure. People who go to church rarely have the same pressure as those who don't go to church.