Monica Gnutek 

3/22/19 
English  
Ms.O’Keefe & Ms.Robinson 
 
 
Religion and Mindset 
 
Many have been at a standstill when it come to following one’s 
religion/cultural beliefs. Everyone has their own moral compass in which they base 
their decisions on, but when one’s own beliefs and religion clash together, it 
becomes a situation. What does one do when they are expected to live up to 
religious expectations but wants to follow beliefs of their own mindset? Some think 
that religion leads to violence, thus deteriorating people’s confidence in the purpose 
of religion. While others think that violence can lead to an inquisitive speculation. 
Then there are some that believe that criticism acts as a catalyst for motivation. All 
these can be true but it is conflict among people that stops somebody from fulfilling 
one's achievements through following sets of beliefs. 
 
Intolerance, ignorance, and general misunderstandings hinder one’s wish to 
pursue their endeavors. People think that religion leads to violence, having that be a 
limiting factor because people would be withheld from fulfilling their goals: 
“Such fundamental and enduring  
questions, typically the province of  
lawyers, constitutionalists, political  
philosophers and ethicists, become  
ever more complicated when religion  
and religious actors are implicated in  
deadly violence. And lately they have  
been. Indeed, the last three decades  
have witnessed a theoretically and  
methodologically incoherent  
outpouring of books, articles and  
multimedia documentaries on  
“‘religious violence’” Triggered by the rise of virulent religious 
movements in the 1970s, this avalanche of reportage, analysis, and commentary 
ranges in subject matter from lone assassins, apocalyptic cults, and religious radical 
terror. Due to one’s religion and set beliefs, violence breaks out because it is not 
what societies norms. The disregard for other religions exacerbates tension among 
people who don’t share a common religion, and in most cases, leads to violence 
which limits how one can express their religious beliefs.  
 
Many people are largely unaware of the processes that go on behind the 
scenes of violence in the name of religion. The author of the book The 
Fundamentalist Mindset gives extraordinary detailed information and research on the 
mind of a fundamentalist. In the book, it says “ One way is through violence laden 
Christian literature- for example the phenomenally popular Left Behind series of 
novels- and violent Christian video games that are equal of any of the violence 
saturated secular video games.” Violence of any kind, regardless of association with 
any particular religion, will yield negative consequences. The automatic tendency for 
people to challenge other religions or creeds is an obstacle to harmony and peace 
amongst all. 
 
Criticism can often be a motivating factor in working to improve oneself, as 
indicated by research.“ A significant, medium-sized association was found between 
materialistic values and both environmental attitudes and behaviors; these 
relationships were moderated by population type and publication year, but not by 
gender or age. Adjusted for reliability, the effects increased considerably, largely due 
to the low reliability of both types of environmental measures.” Being more specific 
with my topic, finding reasons of why people act the way they act besides depression 
and self hate, explains how others take the negativity and make it their motivation. 
Showing that people do not have to be your obstacle from going to where you need 
to be heading.  
 
Some people believe that religion does not have to act as the definitive moral 
compass in their life. People think that religion leads to violence, having that be a 
limiting factor because people would lose their faith: 
“Intolerance need not lead to violence  
against nonbelievers; but, as we have  
seen, the logic of revelation readily  
moves in that direction unless  
interpretations of sacred texts are  
subject to non religious constraints”. Intolerance fosters negative attitudes 
towards one another and is essentially irrational, it only works discourage others 
from practicing their beliefs. Overall, it is difficult for a person to distinguish 
themselves amongst others if they are constantly berated and rebuked for their 
religious beliefs. 
 
  
 
Both sticking points disagree on the fact that there is a solution to this 
controversial issue. Leading to the point that religion does take a toll on one’s 
mindset rather it be physically or mentally.  
 
 
Works Cited 

Gutting, Gary. “How Religion Can Lead to Violence.” ​The New York Times​, The 

New York Times, 1 Aug. 2016, 

www.nytimes.com/2016/08/01/opinion/how-religion-can-lead-to-violence.ht

ml. 

Issa, Theodora, and David Pick. “Ethical Mindsets: An Australian Study.” 

SpringerLink​, Springer Netherlands, 20 Apr. 2010, 

link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10551-010-0487-0. 

Jim, Heather S. L., et al. “Religion, Spirituality, and Physical Health in Cancer 

Patients: A Meta-Analysis.” C
​ ancer​, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, 10 Aug. 2015, 

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/cncr.29353. 

Jim, Heather S. L., et al. “Religion, Spirituality, and Physical Health in Cancer 

Patients: A Meta-Analysis.” C
​ ancer​, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, 10 Aug. 2015, 

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/cncr.29353.