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Effects of Religion in Society
The impact of religion in society
Effects of Religion in Society
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Weber saw religion from a different perspective; he saw it as an agent for change. He challenged Marx by saying that religion was not the effect of some economical social or psychological factor. But that religion was used as a way for an explanation of things that cause other things. Because religious forces play an important role in reinforces our modern culture, Weber came to the conclusion that religion serves as both a cause and an effect. Weber didn’t prose a general theory of religion but focused on the interaction between society and religion. Weber believed that one must understand the role of religious emotions in causing ideal types such as capitalism. He explained the shift in Europe from the other worldliness of Catholicism to the worldliness of early Protestantism; according to Weber this was what initiated the capitalist economic system. As he mentioned in his book The Protestant Ethic and the spirit of capitalism, capitalism isn’t about being rich. Weber said that there was a connection between religions. He mentioned that Protestants are more likely to be successful businessmen than Catholics. The reason for this was because he believed that a protestant earns money to accumulate savings, not for luxuries. By implying this, he claimed that modern capitalism arose in Western Europe and it is specific to protestant values and faith. Marx Weber goes on and explains capitalism, he explains the work ethic in terms of religious sentiment claiming that financial pursuits was rooted from work ethic and in turn become the new religion. "Man is dominated by the making of money, by acquisition as the ultimate purpose of his life." While Karl Marx views capitalism as a way to repress from having the elite control the wealth,... ... middle of paper ... ...ity beyond this world which manifests itself in our midst and makes itself known and brings about a change in our reality.” In other words, his study of religion is the examination of the different forms and places in which the sacred is manifested. Weber and Eliade both argued that religion should be understood in its own terms. Although both Marx and Weber have different views about religion, they all agree that misery stems from the forces of society and capitalism. Marx believed that religion provides relief for suffering in the material world. Weber believed that motivation comes from the individuals wish to overcome problems, supported by religious work ethic to do well for the common good. Unlike Durkheim who mentions the sacred and the profane while relating it to societies needs, Eliade proclaims that the concern with religion is with the super natural.
According to Marx, religion comes from the imagination of the mind, “Man makes religion.” (H/R,p.11) Marx believes in Atheism and that religion is simply justification to our actions and behaviors as “followers.”
1. Why does Marx argue that religion acts as a drug (“opium”)? What drug-like qualities does it contain? What are the effects of this drug?
According to Karl Marx, religion is like other social institutions in that it is dependent upon the material and economic realities in a given society. It has no independent history; instead it is the creature of productive forces. As Marx wrote, “The religious world is but the reflex of the real world.”
Once capitalism came about, it was like a machine that you were being pulled into without an alternative option. Currently, whether we agree or disagree, for example if you want to survive you need to have a job and you need to make money. Weber believed that social actions were becoming based on efficiency instead of the old types of social actions, which were based on lineage or kinship. Behavior had become dominated by goal-oriented rationality and less by tradition and values. According to Web...
Religion is an organized collection of beliefs and cultural systems that entail the worship of a supernatural and metaphysical being. “Religion just like other belief systems, when held onto so much, can stop one from making significant progress in life”. Together with religion come traditions that provide the people with ways to tackle life’s complexities. A subscription to the school of thought of great scholars
...h all of their different ideas and concepts, it is somewhat difficult to say the one thing that they all believed held society together. I do believe that the importance of religion did make it one of the better choices. Each theorist studied religion and each had their own thoughts on the subject. With their studies, they each one show something that religion is doing to hold society together. This is why I say that Max Weber, Emile Durkheim and Karl Marx all see religion as the ‘glue’ that holds together society.
His most influential theory was he believed that it was the protestant faith which was linked with capitalism not exploitation which Karl Marx believed. Weber thought the protestant beliefs and ethics were the catalyst to the capitalism system. Weber believed it was not the Protestant ethic that caused capitalism but it provided the necessary moral in which capitalism could happen. It was both the Industrial revolution and capitalism in which massively impacted changes to happen. It was this in which Weber used to make a link between religious ideas and social change. Calvinism (16th and 17th century) is a branch of Protestantism that believed few were chosen by god to go to heaven. Accumulation of wealth was the sign of those chosen. This attitude and ethic caused people to try accumulate more capital and invest more in order to gain more. “The fulfilment of duty in worldly affairs is the highest form of moral activity” (Sztompka). This he interpreted as an encouragement within the protestant faith to work hard and save money which then resulted in the division in labour and social class. The people of this faith Were driven to work hard and save their money instead of spending it. They invested it into their businesses. As a result of this it meant that when the industrial revolution needed a large investment of capital, there were this particular group of people within society with good work ethics and money to
The wealth that was accumulated through this lifestyle was reinvested into the work process in order to create more wealth. This continual reinvestment of wealth provided the necessary capital and conditions that allowed for the development of modern capitalism. Weber starts out his essay with a few questions that he proposes to try and answer. He notes that European business leaders are overwhelmingly Protestant instead of Catholic. He also notices that the most developed areas of Europe in his time were those that had embraced Protestantism (Weber, 4).
Karl Marx, in the Capital, developed his critique of capitalism by analyzing its characteristics and its development throughout history. The critique contains Marx’s most developed economic analysis and philosophical insight. Although it was written in 1850s, its values still serve an important purpose in the globalized world and maintains extremely relevant in the twenty-first century.
In discussing the similarities between Marx, Weber and Durkheim, it is important to understand what social order and social change are. Social order is the systems of social structures (relations, values and practice etc.) that maintain and enforce certain patterns of behaviour. Whereas, social change refers to an alteration in the social order of a society, examples of such alterations can be changes in nature, social institutions, behaviours and/or social relations. (Bratton and Denham 2014) Throughout time, religion has always been a hot topic of controversy, whether it is based on being a part of the same religion, to having different religious views on life and how to live life. This is due in large to the ever changing views on religion and the way it can be practised. Religion can be viewed in both aspects of social order and social change because it is part of a system, however, alterations are frequently made. The three sociologists Marx, Weber and Durkheim have all expressed their views on religion with respect to society. Webers’ views show the effects
Weber also thought there was a link between capitalism and the Protestant work ethic. Specifically he looked at Calvinism. Calvinism was a simple way of life in which you were to do good for others. The way into heaven was to do the greatest good for the greatest number of
Marx views religion as a “universal source of consolation and justification.” (Marx 8) Meaning that humans are upset with something in their lives, but rather than facing what is upsetting them they turn to religion to forget about their problems. However, the problem with this is, religion does not solve any unhappiness or problems one is facing. Religion only gives temporary relief. It is for this reason Marx believes, religion is “the opium of the people” (Marx 8) because similar to the drug, religion gives temporary relief that makes one feel good but once one is addicted to relying on religion, they become powerless. It is for this reason that Marx sees the urgency for abandoning religion. Man must focus on making himself more powerful. Marx recognizes “man is the highest being for man, hence with the categorical imperative to overthrow all relations in which is debased, enslaved forsaken, despicable being.” (Marx 9) The meaning of this quote is to
Marx saw religion as a tool for class oppression because of the conflict it provided for societies. According to Marx, “religion is the opium of the people” and “religion promotes stratification because it supports a hierarchy of people in Earth and the subordination of humankind to divine authority.” Marx believes that man makes religion, and not vice versa. He argues that religion is a mere product of man and is for people who have not won himself or has lost himself again. He calls for the banishment of religion stating that religion is just an illusion of happiness and the abolition of it is a demand for real happiness. Religion highlights social conditions and causes people to think and act the way religion teaches instead of having individuals act based on their own agency.
According to Max Weber religion is an institution that is based on cultural needs of man and has added capacity to human development and human life. In his book “Protestant Ethics and the Spirit of Capitalism” Weber argues that the values of the protestant institution and its ethics played an important role in the economy of Western countries. His study focused on how a religious sect can influence the economic behavior of its attendants. The main concern of Weber was to know until what extension the religious conceptions of the world of existence have an impact on the economic behavior of Western societies. The strongest influences according to Weber on the development of capitalism was the Calvinist sect of Protestant religion. Weber examines
Marx saw religion as an evil that existed in society and that it brought down all the people that believed in that religion. Marx said that, ?It [religion] is the opium of the people,?[1] and in saying this, Marx meant that religion was contagious on society. Once the society had a taste for the religion, they became totally engulfed it in, and then they do not want to get out of that way of live because they see it as a good way to live. Then even if people wanted to get out of the religion it was hard to get out because the whole society had already been infected by the ?opium.?