The Rights and Obligations of Our People

            Seeking freedom from tyranny, people of many faiths traveled across the ocean to America—Quakers, Puritans, Anglicans, Evangelists, and so forth.  The early American Puritans were a simple people.  Some of their beliefs were that no human can be perfect, that God saves whomever He wishes, and that some, chosen by God, have the authority to interpret God’s will, to name a few.  Unfortunately, the Puritans of that time were about as tolerant as the King from whom they sought to be free—“In order to assure that Puritanism dominated the colonies, nonconformists were fined, banned, whipped, and even imprisoned,” among other trespasses. Though some our European settlers had difficulty letting everyone benefit from the same freedom they settled this land to find, eventually laws were set in place as the people were becoming more tolerant of one another’s beliefs.

Religious freedom was so important to the American People when our nation was formed, that the first amendment to the United States Constitution was meant to ensure that very freedom, and understandably so, after all they had suffered before.

            We can see from the tribulations suffered by those who settled our nation on behalf of religion, and the laws made to protect it, that religion was a serious subject. According to the Oxford English dictionary, religion is “the belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal God or gods; a particular system of faith and worship; a pursuit or interest to which someone ascribes supreme importance.”  This pursuit or interest has been a motivating factor behind entire ways of life and cultures as far back as American records go.  It has been a proclaimed focus of numberless wars and battles both between and within nations.  It is something people are willing to die for.  The importance ascribed to it is, without question, “supreme.”

            This supremely important interest has been the subject of many studies.  One such study, involving over 66 countries, done on whether or not religiosity substantially increases subjective well-being if it’s considered normative in a certain national context, found that there is a positive correlation between religiosity being accepted as a social norm and the level of happiness and life satisfaction in people.  It suggested that community involvement can sustain and increase one’s moral forces.  The authors discussed how involvement in moral communities strengthens belief and discourages antisocial behavior such as criminal activities, gambling, drug use, or even suicide.  They found that religiosity enhances one’s subjective well-being to the extent that it is supported by one’s community.

            The study supported Emile Durkeim’s idea that religion is the great binding force that keeps societies from disintegrating.  Durkeim also argued that religion is only a projection of the power of society, which so transcends their own existence that they must give it sacred significance in order to visualize it, whereas many today would give it more individual significance than that.  Scholar George Albert Coe, for instance, argues that religion is natural to the individual and is therefore a normal factor in both individual and social development.

So, religion is natural in individual development—societal support is not necessary for it to exist.  However, the reason it’s important for religion to be socially accepted or supported is because we, as human beings, are social creatures, as the renowned philosopher Aristotle so aptly reminded us.  He explains that any person who cannot live a common life (one within a society), or claims he does not need to, is either a beast or a god.

As far as socially isolated beings existing as either beasts or gods, there have not been very many studies on the subject; however, there is an extensive amount of literature affirming that “close primary relations are extremely important for the psychological well-being of the individual.”  It seems fairly logical that human relationships with other humans significantly affect our species’ well-being.

Because of society’s great power over the individual, society has a responsibility to do what is best for the greatest number of individuals possible.  Therefore, when  research  and logic tell us that what is best for the individual is to be tolerant and accepting of religious beliefs because such acceptance increases happiness, life satisfaction, and obedience to law, then not doing so has the opposite effect.  The opposites of those are depression, dissatisfaction with life, and crime—which are exactly capable of crumbling any society.

Religious tolerance has the ability to hold communities and societies together—whether it’s acceptance of religion itself or acceptance of the importance religious beliefs have on individuals.  The lives of every social group, every family, and every person are affected by the level of tolerance they encounter in their communities and their nations.  In order for individuals and societies to truly be free and to grow, religion must be tolerated.