Religion- A Ripple

Taken from: http://www.clipartpanda.com/categories/religion-cliparts

Religion is one of the cornerstones of the entire world history of civilization. The lifestyles of the people as well as the systems that govern them are often influenced by their faith of religion. What items are held sacred and encouraged to produce? How do people feel about their neighbors who are of a separate religion? What are the goals of the religion and how are the people affected by these goals? Civilization V captures the use of religion on kingdoms and subjects in an accurate way. While forming a religion is not required for a victory in a given match, it can be used to grant a powerful boon for players in meeting certain goals and gaining bonuses to do so. Religion in Civilization V also provides a system of pressuring other players and creating a competitive interaction with other civilizations.

Taken from: http://www.bodyforwife.com/the-weaponization-of-religion/

I will take a close examination on how religion often affects a society as well as how the society acts accordingly with the religion. I will mostly mention religion's effects on the Mongol period. In Civilization V, you can found your own religion if you follow certain procedures and meet requirements. A player would want to do this in order to receive bonuses that could greatly affect your goals in the game. Just as you can have a religion, so can other players. In history, multiple religions existed in large areas at once. There have been many attempts to stamp out religions in certain areas in order to promote a singular state religion in a given area. The Spanish Inquisition is notable in utilizing this process of eliminating opposing religions in an area. A player in Civilization V can build and use units called "Inquisitors" to the same effect. Why would a player want to eliminate another player's religion in their city? Players become stronger as a religion becomes more prevalent in the world. An example could be made with the religion of Islam. With the spreading of Islam during the Mongol period of expansion and trade, the religion had become more popular as it spread throughout the land. As more people follow the same religion, a civilization, undoubtedly, becomes more united and powerful. This is where politics comes into play.

These concepts are bedfellows in history.
Taken from:
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/joseph-weissman/michel-houellebecqs-novel_b_8213600.html

As the seeds of a religion are planted into a civilization, there is an intangible sense of pressure being exhibited on politics. This is shown in the gameplay of Civilization V through a mechanic called religious pressure. As cities would convert to a religion, nearby civilizations would be "pressured" into following the same religion. This can be compared to the effect of Islam and how it spread in the Mongol empire. While the Mongols were known to be fairly religiously accepting, Islam made the largest impact in the world of religions of this time. Rulers would often have to consider the effects of a religion on their people and decide how to act on it. With the Mongols, rulers such as Chinggas Khan saw the benefits in allowing religious exchange and made no attempt into stamping it out so long as it did not interfere with the interests of the empire. Ideas and culture would exchange among the people through religions and be beneficial for the empire. As empires and civilizations shared the same religion, there was a sense of a connection between them as shown in Civilization V. Some Mongol rulers converted to Islam solely for the purpose of a tactical political advantage.

Religion is most known for guiding people into a lifestyle of valued morals and beliefs. There is also an undeniable effect on a civilization's political scene as it is accurately portrayed in Civilization V. I would rate that Civilization V is very accurate in depicting a religion's effect on growing societies.