Research Paper: Religion and Theology

RELIGION AND THEOLOGY
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Introduction
In every one of the recorded cultures that exists in the world today and I the past, there has been some form religion, morality and worldviews associated with it. Ideally, religion has played a significant role in shaping the practices of the different cultures. Much like rules in any household, there are morals that act as a guide and principle of engagement in any society. Religion, Morality and Worldviews through history have had some confounding influence on the direction, choice of the policies and how they are implemented.
Religion, Morality and Worldviews in policies
In most of the world societies, religious acts as the moral compass for the citizens of the various countries. As such, in more than one occasion, religious leaders will insist that their views are taken into considerations. The development of a policy affecting the entire nation, takes several stages before it can be passed into a law. In most of the cases, stakeholders in various sectors will be gathered as delegates/ representatives to discuss how best to formulate policies regarding aspects that will affect them. Religious leaders always appear in these forums to ensure that their views give the policies religious poise.
In the recent past, various countries have had and some still have continuing debates on issues regarding sexuality, genetic engineering, euthanasia, rights of women, war, and free markets rights. The debates are fueled further by the aspects of the myriad of religious groups the various shades of secularism. During the fight for freedom of the African Americans with respect to slavery, religion played a fundamental role. This was illustrated by Martin Luther king Jr. as he fought to liberty the African Americans from the grips of slavery and oppression, through civil rights legislations.
Morality is generally encoded in the cultures of many of the world cultures. While most of religious doctrines will be taken to breed moral codes; there also exists morality devoid of religion. In the society, morality plays a great role in regulating the behavior of person in the community. There are certain aspects that are considered immoral and thus generally avoided within any society3. It is this same moral code that is borrowed during the formulation of policies. Aspects that are not generally accepted such killing, theft and others that are considered social ills, are prohibited through policy formulation4.
Most of the aspects that affect more than one country tend to be defined by worldviews. Worldview is the way in which human beings perceive realism, establish the setting in the surroundings which they are living, myths, history, common knowledge and religious beliefs are construction blocks of world view2. Aspects such as slavery, trade, defense and environmental conservation are defined by worldviews and thus influence the policies formulated between countries and within each country. In public policy creation and implementation, religion wants its grievances aired and taken into consideration. This is in the sense that all set rules and regulations in the society that guide the behavior of human beings are derived from the fundamental e...