Religion and Political Parties

Religion and Political Parties have a tenacious grip over the life of people world-wide. Talking about Religions, it is an apparent fact that the world is full of diverse religions. Religions originated long before the inception of any political parties in the world and it is important to note that the lion’s share of the population is obsessed with religious beliefs.

Many political parties often take cover of Religion and use it to manipulate people to maneuver their way to achieve their goals which may or may not be necessarily beneficial. In an era where concepts such as political pluralism, indiscrimination based on caste, creed or religion and freedom of speech to all are being promoted to attain democratic milestones in order to give each and every citizen the rights to raise voice against malpractices and enjoy the facilities provided by the government without any kind of partiality, thus protecting people’s interests, some political parties are using policies such as Utilitarianism for the sake of their own selfish interests. Utilitarianism is a doctrine according to which decisions are made with keeping in mind the happiness of the highest number of people. Thus, it can be deduced that the voice of the minorities would be condoned with the enactment of such a policy.

Religion and Political Parties play a dynamic role in people’s lives. Religion is mankind’s quest to commune with the holy but Religious Political Parties that favor only one religion in a country with a wide spectrum of religions can be obstructive to democratic principles. So many countries have abolished such parties for the welfare of their people and to maintain a stable harmonious environment. People let the religion they follow to govern their decision to choose a political party and this shows the significance of influence of religions on people. However, it would be best to make a choice of a political party with one’s discerning ability and eliminating religious considerations.

Religions help to formulate values. All over the world, Religion and Political Parties mutually benefit each other and their association has its advantage in many aspects like abolition of practices that harm the society, civil rights, women being given equal rights as men, anti-terrorism efforts, prevention of wars, philanthropic organizations and so on. Religion has a direct impact on our personal values and influence our opinions and behavior towards several political issues.

Questions:

• What strategies are being implied to achieve the goals of democracy?
• How does the association of Religion and Political Parties benefit people?