Many individuals have never considered how organized there life actually is. There is technically a group for everything in your life, this is called social construction. The definition of a social construct says it is “a social mechanism, phenomenon, or category created and developed by society; a perception of an individual, group, or idea that is ‘constructed’ through cultural or social practice” (Social Construct). The idea that everyone is in their own category based on their opinion over certain issues can have a positive or a negative effect on society. In todays world, there are three social constructs that are in a sense causing controversy, race, gender-roles and religion. Race and social construction is an issue that many people …show more content…
It has been a way to group people based on what someone’s beliefs. Religion is “a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, especially when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs” (religion). They may not even believe in anything, which is termed as atheism. The argument with religion not being a social construct is that “the term ‘religion’ being used to refer to such diverse institutions as totems . . . Christmas cakes, nature, the value of hierarchy, vegetarianism, witchcraft, veneration of the Emperor, the Rights of man, supernatural technology possession, amulets, charms, the tea ceremony, ethics, ritual in general, The Imperial Rescript of Education, the motor show, salvation, Marxism, Maoism, Freudianism, marriage, gift exchange, and so on” (Fitzgerald 17). People are basically turning the term ‘religion’ into what social construction is. Associating it as another form of grouping people based on similarities someone has with another individual. How does vegetarianism correlate with understanding the purpose of the universe? It is a belief system, that one shouldn’t eat meat, but at the same time it becomes a confusing way to group …show more content…
Some religions even go to the extent of persecuting people who have different beliefs. Scientist have argued that religion was created to give humanity rules and to help turn these early human savages into proper, domesticated people. If someone were to break these rules, they would be meat with an “unimaginable punishment.” “Religion is like a drug to some. And they need a 2000 year old hero to save them – from themselves that is!” (Werner, The horrible truth about…religion). Some say that there’s irony with in religion itself, that it is manmade, so humans have brought all these negative aspects that are tag alongs on
There is a specific meaning to race and how its role impacts society and shapes the social structures. Race is a concept that “symbolizes social conflicts and interests by referring to different types of human bodies” (Omi & Winant 55). In other words, Omi and Winant get down to the crux of the issue and assert that race is just an illusion. Race is merely seen as an ideological construct that is often unstable and consisting of decentered social meanings. This form of social construction attempts to explain the physical attributes of an individual but it is constantly transformed by political struggles. The rules of classifying race and of identity are embedded into society’s perception. Therefore, race becomes a common function for comprehending, explaining, and acting in the
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.
Imagine that you’ve been suffering through a time of immense hardship and you are economically disadvantaged. You haven’t eaten in days, you’re home is about to be foreclosed, and you are hopeless about finding employment. You take what little food you have left, scrounge together whatever possessions of yours that have value, and for good measure throw in your first-born son. Taking all of these items, you then light them on fire and utterly destroy them. If this happened today, no doubt would a person be arrested and deemed a risk to himself and others. But for centuries, people carried out these sacrificial rituals, wasting precious resources and time & energy, in hopes that things would get better. Religion is immensely costly both in terms of resources and time. We know that the most evolutionary fit creatures do not waste their energy on pointless tasks and that everything done in life is because the reward is bigger than the risk. So we ask ourselves, what is the reward of following religion given its immense expenditure. How has religion survived for so long and what does it offer to those who follow it? Furthermore, how did religion come to being and what purpose did it serve in the early days of its inception? When human beings first invented agriculture and settled down, the foundations of society began shaping. Tribes grew and became more permanent, people interacted with each other in more sophisticated ways, and civilization formed. Through this communal “puberty”, culture was born and memes (ideas, behaviors, and styles that spread from person to person) came to being. If we look at religion through an inverse perspective, one that says human society and culture developed religion as opposed to religion dictating so...
Social Construction Race Race has been one of the most outstanding events in the United States all the way from the 1500s up until now. The concept of race has been socially constructed in a way that is broad and difficult to understand. Social construction can be defined as the set of rules determined by society’s urges and trends. The rules created by society play a huge role in racialization, as the U.S. creates laws to separate the English or whites from the nonwhites. Europeans, Indigenous People, and Africans were all racialized and victimized for various reasons.
Race as a “…social and historical idea, not biological” (Palaita, Lecture 1/25/18), only works because according to Social Construction Theory, “…these categories work because our complacency allows us to presume that the identities are natural and a group’s social status relies on biology, rather than social/cultural circumstances” (Palaita, Lecture 1/25/18). Our unwillingness to challenge these identities has allowed these categories to be used to determine who will be on the advantageous side of the inequality we face here in the United States. If we no longer accepted these conditions, and change the way social groups are viewed and treated, we may create a new norm and close the inequality gap between social
Has it ever crossed your mind why we have a religion? Can you imagine the world without rules or a world without the disciplines of faith, where no one or nothing can stops you of doing whatever you want? The world where only can live the strong people and the weak dies everywhere. No friendship, no love, no relationship value, no respect even to family members. People cannot go to street because of fear. No truth, only lie and liars everywhere, you do not know whom to believe or with whom share your secrets. No indicator of humanity and love, no evidence of world familiar to us. If there were not any rules that prevents you of doing these bad things, the world would like the same as you read a few seconds ago. As we do not have that bad world
For many people, religion is a very touchy subject. For most, it is a personal decision; people choose a faith that aligns with their beliefs, ideas, and faiths. Although people would like to think that religion is a personal decision, and they can adapt it to how they feel and what they believe, in practice, that is not the case. Religion represents a commitment to a set of principles that are not moldable, adaptable, or flexible. Religion, although it may be a personal belief, it is extremely defined, with little to no room for flexibility. If people try to modify their religion to their own beliefs or ideas, the pushback can be severe. The lines in religion and faith as to what is acceptable and what is not acceptable are clear, and crossing them can bring serious consequences.
Social structure is created by the distribution of wealth, power and prestige. The social structure consists of taken for granted beliefs about the world and both constrain and regulate human actions. The social structure consists of substructures such as class, gender and ethnicity. These groups are formed within society; each group shares common attitudes, values, social norms, lifestyle and material goods. People within society stay within the guidelines of the soc...
Throughout the course of history, man has looked to religion for answers. Curiosity as to how we got here and why we are have driven people to seek out answers to these somewhat unanswerable questions. Over the past few thousand years, several varying religions have been established, some more prominent than others. Many of them share a similar story of a divine creator who has always been and will always be. In the case of Christianity, whether true or not, it has proven to be beneficial to society as a whole. The Bible set the standard for the moral compass that humans live their lives by to this day. The key fundamental problem with religion, although not the fault of religion, is that man has often used it as a gateway to power and prominence. In the case of the 18th century Gallican church, the French were abusing their religious powers, thus creating vast inequality throughout France, which eventually led to a rebellion against the church, and the eventual destruction of the church within France.
According to Merriam-Webster, religion is based on “an organized system of beliefs, ceremonies, and rules used to worship a god or a group of gods” (“Religion”). In every part of the world there is a struggle between individual religions that are trying to institutionalize their “system of beliefs” on each other, and within those individual religions there is also a struggle of sects that claims that their teaching should be the basis for that religion, not the teachings that is presented by other believers of the same religion. These religious sect later go on to create religious organizations. The first thing these religious organizations try to propagate to their followers is that anyone that are not a follower of their doctrines is corrupt and needs a divine deliverance from themselves. This deliverance cannot be given to the individual in another religious organization, it has to come from them. One of the biggest organization that has openly declared themselves as the divine judgers of men from God is th...
With modern technology and the rapid advancement of science, it is easy to look back into history and point out the problems religion had created in the past (Violence, intolerance, ignorance etc.) However one must keep in mind that reli...
Race and gender groups are differentiated by more than physical differences as labels carry into the way in which we organize our social institutions, our ability co-exist within shared communities, and the availability of opportunities. Our way of life is shaped by the social constructions that have been embedded within our
Religion has made people blind, dumb and deaf to the reality. They have faith without reasoning which is blind. On the contrary, it has often made people to become bigots and fanatics. Bigotry and fanaticism have led to persecution, inhuman treatment and misery in the past.
This shows that the idea of race is not only a social problem, but remains prevalent in
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.