Religion impeding social progress

Some of you would have already come upon the point that religion impedes economic progress (think stem-cell research and the building of the IRs). Here is an article to show that it is not just economic progress, but also social progress/reforms that can sometimes be hijacked by a strict adherence to religion, esp outdated ones.

On a separate matter, note also how the notion of multi-culturalism (and hence multi-religion) can be an impediment to social/national cohesion and the strengthening of the national identity. LKY has mentioned before that Islam has resulted in a close-knitted Muslim group in Singapore, but this has also incidentally become a barrier to their integration to the rest of the Singaporeans who are not Muslims. This problem is not ours alone but also in many European countries where a lot of Muslim immigrants have problems integrating into the society because of their religion. In France, it was so bad that at one time, the govt passed a law to ban the wearing of the Muslim head-dress (the burqa).

Sample Qns:
1) 'Religion has caused more harm than good.' Do you agree?
2) How far should religion influence political decisions? (2009)

article 1a



article 1b