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Religion, a social institution involving beliefs and practices based on recognizing the sacred. sociologist Emile Durkheim has identified three functions of religion, establishing social cohesion, promoting social control, and providing meaning and purpose. These three functions are why the decline in the importance of religion is a threat to the U.S. society, but can also be taken over by schools and family to neutralize the threat to the society.
The concern for religion in the United States has been slowly diminishing. This is a threat to American society, because without religion the U.S. must find other ways to establish social cohesion. Social Cohesion is basically getting people to work together or find a way to include everyone into
Religion is considered as a pervasive force in this world. It shapes people as to how they behave and interact with almost everything present in the society. Influencing behavior, character formations, ideals, policies, standards are just among the dimensions and societal perspectives affected and impacted by religion. Because of these applications and implications in human lives and existence, religion should be understood deeply, particularly, on how it affects the world. Looking at the American perspective of the term "religion," it could be simply
Religion has always been a topic that makes people uncomfortable, it has sparked wars, legal cases and arguments. This is a controversial issue that reigns havoc in many countries and because of this American citizens are afforded religious freedom through the US constitution. The goal of the United States government has never been to make our nation irreligious but to uphold the values of religious freedom.
Religion has ingrained itself into mainstream American politics. The current Reform Party and many portions of the Republican party platforms evidence this.
Just like in Europe and many other parts of the world, religion has been on the decline for many years now in America. From the historical point of view, religion in America is very different from what it was in Europe. The first amendment of the American constitution forbids the state to establish an official church of the state. In other words, secularization is the very premise that America is built upon. In many European countries it is the complete opposite as in for example Sweden where the state church has played a huge role for centuries, and where the church was separated from the state only a few decades ago
Whatthe U.S. has done, indeed what most of us have endorsed, to traditionalreligion is well ! described by Jeffrey Haynes in his essay on religion andpolitics: Almosteverywhere, modern states have sough to reduce religions politicalinfluence, to privatize it and hence significantly reduce its political andsocial importance. But . . .states have also recognized the importance of religion for politics by seekingto create civil religionsthat is, bodies of state designatedreligious dogma. The purpose wasto engineer consensual, corporate religious forms that could claim to be guidedby general, culturally appropriate, societally specific beliefs, notnecessarily tied institutionally to any specific religious tradition. The development of civil religion wasoften part of a strategy not merely to avoid social conflicts but also to tryto promote national co-or! dination in countries with serious religious and/orideological...
Religion is a symbolic representation of society. The sociological approach to religious belief looks at how society behaves on a whole, to answer the question, “Why are people religious?” We express our participation in religious events through plays, acts of confession, religious dances, etc. To begin to understand why we have such term, let’s understand the common elements of religion. There are different types in which people believe in or follow and that is: animatism, animism, ancestral spirits, god and goddesses, and minor supernatural beings. Beyond these different elements, such one is to have religious leaders to follow.
Many people believe the United States is becoming a "Godless" culture. The argument is that we are losing our moral values, because religion is not an important part of our life anymore. This is the view of most Fundamentalist Christians and right wing believers. I vehemently disagree with this argument. I say this because there are many ways to practice religion. We have many ethnic populations in our country with many different religions. Because of this, there are many beliefs that differ from the Christian based or religions of only one god. Therefore, our country is not becoming Godless, there are many ways to practice one's faith.
Religion has always been and probably always will be a huge part of the majority of society’s life, dictating their every thought and action. Politics, communication, education, it’s all affected by religion. People’s opinions and views are shaped based on religious texts and speeches, and our laws are too. It’s everywhere we look within the modern world and it is not about to go away, and even back in Elizabethan England religion was a major part of the people’s lives.
Parsons claims that religion is our primary source of meaning; it answers the eternal questions and help to understand things like suffering and pain. It also produces, sacralises and legitimises the core values of society e.g. Protestantism in the USA encouraged individualism, democracy and equality of opportunity. Bellah claims that there is a civil religion and gives the example of America and its faith in Americanism, he says that civil religion unites society. However the functionalist view can be criticised: It focuses on the positive aspects of religion and ignores that it is the cause of conflict in much of the world e.g. Northern Ireland and conflict between protestants and Catholics, It does not explain the origins of religion, explaining what functions religion performs does not help us to know where it came from. Durkheim did his studies I small scale non-literate societies, it is difficult to see how religion performs its functions in out large complex religiously plural society.
Religion as a Conservative Force Describing Religion as a 'Conservative Force' seems to imply that Religion is an inhibitor of social change and used as a means by which to maintain the existing order of Society and the Status Quo. Some Sociologists such as Durkheim and Marx would agree with this and there are others who would argue against such a claim. It is a debate, one side says Religion inhibits change and the other says it sets social change in motion. As already mentioned Durkheim believed that Religion acts as a Conservative Force. In more detail what he actually thought was that Religious worship is like worshipping Society, in other words the beliefs in religion actually strengthen the values of the Society from which Religion originates.
The renowned French sociologist, Emile Durkheim saw religion as an influential force in society and believed that it could serve as a platform for stability. In a functionalist point of view, the institution of religion gives humanity a moral sense of direction and a place to belong and reinforce social norms. Furthermore, religion gives different groups a certain sense of connection to others who might be of a different faith but they still find themselves bound to others who have a similar belief system. Institutions such as education and families can be considered essential in relaying morals as the social norm, but religion may well be the institution that holds all of those to a higher
So what is religion? Religion is more than an institution of rituals and beliefs, its more than just going to church on Sunday, its more than just praying 5 times day facing mecca. Religion is a powerful tool for governments. Religion creates a sense of unity that unites all peoples with-in that religion, but also can have the opposite effect. It can cause wars between two opposite religions. Religion is also an inhibitor according to Karl Marx. It stunts progression of many social classes or slows the progression of rights for women. Even though all of these peoples were Atheists, they all could still see the huge impact religion has had on our society, and how it has made us the people as whole we are today.
Religion is the one element of life that has connected the races and societies of the world for hundreds of years. It has given meaning to lives that may seem otherwise hopeless. Religion has provided for a universal language and culture among those who believe in a higher power. The spirit or being receiving the worship and praise may not be the same, but the practices are usually similar and serve the same purpose--to give direction, insight, courage, and a divine connection.
There are those however that believe that the influence of how we live by religion is dwindling. They point to statistics of recent falls in the membership of religious organisations and the increase in crime and anti-social behaviour. Other behaviour that would have been seen as anti-social in the past has also increased such as shopping on Sundays and alcoholism.
Some would describe religion as actions and beliefs that are aimed at connecting people with what could be identified as most true, real, sacred, or divine (pg3). Depending on what religion one follows the beliefs and behaviors connect them with what is