Mardheeya S.

Nuruddin
Legal History, I-A
Religion and Law

The debate on the entanglement between law and religion is a very interesting talk specially in thi
period of ever-developing principles and societal norms. For many years, we have been governed
by our laws that are undeniably influenced by the rules on Christianity. Religion has been a great
part of our culture. And it is good to note that religion has encroached its power in governing
Filipinos. A good example of this is church annulment. Issues on personal laws have been raised
with regards to those annulled in church but are still married based on Philippine laws. The
situation calls for laws that are synced with the religion of the people.

On the other hand, there are issues raised by Filipinos who are not Christian or who do not believe
in God. If we allow our laws to be influenced by one religion, Filipinos whose beliefs clash with
that religion will certainly protest. The two situations presented call for the right association, or
disassociation, between laws and religion.

To solve the puzzle, we have to understand first the relationship between law and religion. Law is
a set of rules to regulate individuals and group conduct and to prevent, redress or punish deviations
from prescribed social norms. From this definition, we can infer that the basis of morality
embodied in laws is the social norm. Religion is a part, not the sole basis, of the many aspects of
culture that guides and dictates the social norm. Therefore, religion has an impact on the social
norms that are accepted in a given society. And the law that must be promulgated is one that
reflects that accepted social norm.

Religion influences the way people act and react. Law, on the other hand, aims to govern
interaction of people. For example, entering into a bigamous marriage is a prohibitive act for
Catholics. That is, one cannot marry another person when there is a subsisting marriage. Now, the
purpose of the law is to govern how people marry. If the law says that bigamous marriage is not
allowed, it will be in favor of the first wife and problematic to the second wife. If the law will set
that bigamous marriage is allowed, it will favor the second wife and will be contradicting to the
beliefs of the first wife. Now, if we opt to have a law that is neutral and silent on the matter of
bigamous marriage, the parties are left clueless on how to resolve the issue.

In conclusion, because we cannot entirely disassociate religion and law, we have to come up with
a fair compromise. Our laws should be based on the social norm. It may or may not be influenced
by a certain religion. The suggestion is to make laws that will accommodate what is accepted as
moral. Whether or not religion has a say on what is moral or not, the important thing is for law to
embody the morality that is being upheld by the community.

If there is a clash on what is moral, the fair compromise must be the social norm in that community.
In the Philippines, the majority of the population are Catholics. And the social norm might be
dictated by the social norm of the beliefs of Catholics. In the issue of polygamy, as an example,
the fair compromise is not to allow it. It being permissible in the religion of Islam but
prohibited in Christianity which governs the socially-accepted norm of majority. Law must
follow the dictates of natural law and it should be founded in harmony with morality. It must be
concordant with natural order. But more importantly, It must be feasible.
 Mardheeya S. Nuruddin
Legal History, I-A

*answer*
*issues govern by religion is the very issue that law should solve

*fair compromise because it should uphold the welfare of the majority

*why is it a solution to uphold the religion of majority
*it Is not necessarily a law that accommodates a certain religion. however, it will be a law that
accommodates the most number of people.

Religion is a belief held by certain people. The usual characteristic of these people is that
they associate their existence to a higher being. These people subscribe to a set of rules and
principles that govern how they live. Beliefs and rules that find basis in religion grounds may cover
personal issues such as a marriage and _____ issues such as interest. The rules are also divided
into permissible, mandatory and prohibitive.

Religion, in the ancient times, have encroached its powers into lives of people as the law-making
body. This is evident during the Spanish colonization period in the Philippines. Now, we have
concepts of church annulment or shariah divorce. And if our laws dont recognize these, we end
up with people being married under civil law but divorced under the church. This poses a real
problem.