Religion and culture are two aspects which influence each other, according to this input. We discussed religious culture as a form of identity and as a way of life. It is clear to see that a persons religion influences how they dress and how they act etc. The theories we looked at by Karl Marx and Max Weber showed the positive and negative aspects of being dependent on a religion. Karl Marx described religion as the ‘opium of the people’ (the drug that deadens the soul). The two theorists had opposite ideas about religion and its effect on the economy, population and society as a whole.

‘Unchurched’ Spirituality are the forms of spirituality which are not involved in a church i.e. people with beliefs not associated with any churches. The pros and cons of this were discussed. My opinion is that although there are negative aspects, unchurched spirituality allows people to express their beliefs and embrace their own spirituality rather than adapting to a religion which already exists.

In this input, we discussed the true meaning of religion and what it means to be religious. The believer’s approach and the scholarly approach were looked at in detail. Upon researching these aspects and discussing the pros and cons of having a religion, I believe that it is important and beneficial to some people as it gives them hope and, in some cases, a reason to live. However, in terms of religious cults, which we looked at in detail, I feel that some religions cannot be considered healthy or of any great help to believers in any way as it is having such a negative impact on them and leading them to believe suicide is the only option they have to be pure and be with God.

We also considered religious diversity as a positive and negative aspect in society. I believe religious diversity is important as it allows everyone to expand their knowledge of other peoples religion and helps them to learn to respect other peoples beliefs.

Overall, this input gave a really good insight into the good and bad of different religions as it showed the ways in which religion helps people but also how it hinders them.