Religion has always had a major influence on the public and politicians, regardless of how secular their culture may be. Ever since the Neolithic Revolution (8,000 B.C. - 1,000 B.C.), and the concept of faith, the belief of something intangible, it has played an important role in the development of civilizations and humanity as a whole. Religion has been used to shape a society and its future, it has been used to unite different types of people, and at some points in history, become so powerful it can influence the people to give the only things keeping them alive to spare them of pain in the afterlife.
The philosophical aspect of each religion gives people morals on how to live their life. For instance the Five Pillars of Islam, instructing muslims to Believe, Pray, be Charitible, Fast during Ramadan, and make the Pilgramage to Makkah once in a lifetime. Religion is also crucial to a society because it provides the impoverished people hope, and reason to remain in the society. For instance in the middle ages, the serfs who lived on the land owned by the lords and dukes were very poor, and stood virtually no chance in rising to a higher class. Therefore the only option they had was to dedicate themselves to the church, in hope that the next life would be better than this one.
Religion has also been beneficial to gender as well. Also in the middle ages, the woman were treated very poorly and the only chance they had of independence was becoming a nun. Therefore, the church provided less dominant figures with a chance, which is just one of the reasons why it was so well accepted. However religion did have the potential to take away some of the governments power. Which is why most empires decided to ally with the Church to help boost their authority. For instance when Clovis the Frankish king converted to christianity in 500 AD he strengthened the Frankish empire by having a good connection to the church and consequently spreading the churches rule.
In nearly all empire expansions faith assisted in unifying the people they conquered, making expansion easier for the empire. In the Islamic empire Islam assisted in bringing the people together as the empire quickly filled the gap that the Roman Empire had left. However, Religion can also have a detrimental effect on empires. For instance, before Christianity was legalized with the Edict of Milan in 313 A.D. There was extreme social tension within Rome, this is because in the 200’s AD, when Christianity was very popular it remained illegal in Rome.
Religious intervention into civilizations regardless of how secular they may be based is inevitable. In all civilizations, religion has had an affect on the moral code and political organization. Restrictions set by the church were followed without question, and turning against the church was an undisputed loss. It’s simple and obvious, Religion may be the most influential force that has ever existed.