The Role Of Religion Is Paradoxical. It Makes Prejudice and It Unmakes Prejudice I agree with Gordon Allport that religion is paradoxical in regards to prejudice (Gilovich, Keltner, Chen, & Nisbett, 2015).
The Christian religion is based on the bible, which has instructions about treating everyone fairly and with love, as we would want them to treat us (Gilovich et al., 2015). The guidelines are for every Christian to reach out to everyone and show them the love that Jesus showed to all sinners by giving his life to die on the cross for the sake of all. This requirement requires that Christians reach out to all sinners regardless their color, race, or background (Gilovich et al., 2015). The Bible is not based on our cultural or social affiliations rather the purpose of redemption of humankind. If this is followed, there will be no racism or discrimination, which would lead to the in existence of prejudice (Gilovich et al., 2015). Religion however has had doctrines, which oppose this guideline leading to prejudice (Gilovich et al., 2015).
Different religions have different views of their supernatural creator and the guidelines to follow (Gilovich et al., 2015). This can be seen in Christianity who believe in Jesus Christ and have a different view on any other religion that does not focus their service to Jesus Christ. Muslims on the other hand believe in Allah and focus their service on Allah but not on Jesus Christ. This difference in religion makes prejudice (Gilovich et al., 2015).
References
Gilovich, T., Keltner, D., Chen, S., & Nisbett, R. E. (2015). Social psychology. New York, NY: W.W. Norton Publishing.
