Page 370 - ILIAS ATHANASIADIS AKA RO1

Does religion have an impact on the world?

Of course – there are huge consequences to religious belief and practice. Firstly,
countless wars and conflicts have had an overt or covert religious dimension
throughout history right up to the present day.

In the past few years, we’ve seen Islamic extremists waging war in the Middle
East, a power struggle between Sunni and Shia across the region, the persecution
of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar,

the Boko Haram insurgency in Nigeria, violent clashes between Christians and

Muslims in Central African Republic, to name a few.

Women are subjugated, LGBT people are persecuted, and “blasphemists” are
tortured and murdered in the name of religion.

Then there’s the political impact. Donald Trump won the 2016 presidential

election with the overwhelming support of white evangelical Christians.

Legislators in Argentina recently voted against legalising abortion under pressure
from Catholic bishops and the pope.

Hungary’s far-right prime minister, Viktor Orbán, has cited the need to protect his

country’s “Christian culture” to justify his anti-immigration policies.
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But it’s not all bad news. There are millions of people of faith across the world

engaging in social action projects to help the poor and marginalised.

Look at the involvement of churches, mosques and synagogues in food banks and
projects to support refugees, the sanctuary church movement in the US,

the extraordinary sums raised by Islamic charities for relief work in some of the

world’s most desperate places.