Influence of Religion

Religion played a huge influence in the development of western civilization so a good place to start is the medieval times. Charles Martel, mayor of the franks stopped the Muslim invasion from much of Europe at the battle of tours so there was little Muslim influence to the western civilization. This allowed a very powerful Christian Church to emerge and religion to flourish. Religion was very important for the middle ages and in reality it became the most powerful force in Europe. The teachings and practices played a major part in reshaping the lives of the European Christians. One of the most important achievements of the Church was to Christianize the diverse people in Western Europe. Religion influenced the development of western civilization through Monks and Nuns, power, reforming to change the church, and corruption against other nations.

Religion has been one of the strongest institutions in the world nearly since the beginning of time itself. There are and have been many types of different religions and/or belief systems throughout history. These different religions have been the source of many different conflicts over time such as wars. They have also been the source of unification and common ground. As religion has gotten bigger and bigger, it has lead to widespread changes in how it is disseminated amongst its constituents. This has naturally lead to the advent of religion becoming institutionalized and mainstream in a way.

Two forces which gathered strength in the last half of the twentieth century now dominate the world religions at the beginning of the twenty-first century. The first is the globalization of religions and their resulting encounter with each other, and the second is the need to redefine attitudes toward gender as women have stepped forward to insist that their full humanity be acknowledged in the religious as well as the social realm.

Religion has held an important role in society since the beginning of civilisation and it has such power over people’s minds and shape the way our world developed. Whilst some sociological theories such as functionalist sees religion as performing a positive function in society as it can lead to social solidarity, integrating people into society, other sociological theories such as Marxist and Feminist totally disagrees with this and would argue that religion leads to instability and conflict in society.

Through history, religion has shaped civilizations in several aspects. In ancient Indian and Egyptian civilizations it was very strong shaping force in political structures, but both the religious beliefs and the resulting political system were different, just like pharaohs were different from rajas.

‘The relationship between religious beliefs, religious organisations and social groups is complex and diverse. Different groups have different needs and priorities.’ To what extent do sociological arguments and evidence support this view?

Usually pain is evident -we see it everyday, whether it be a tripping child or yet another attempt at genocide in a country far away. Sometimes Neosporin is all it takes to treat the wound, other times, the military comes thwart the pains of a nation, but what about the pain that we can’t see? How could a government fix the intangible? These are issues like shaming, homophobia, prejudice, all left unregulated. they can’t be. But they can be propagated. This is demonstrated by organized religion, or for these purposes, the Christian Church. A growing issue in America is that these intangible grievances are becoming far more visible and reachable with every coming day. It is far from an anomaly to see a dead

The use of religion as an agent of socialization plays a unique role for those who choose to participate in an organized religion, as well as those who do not. The reason

Religion is held sacred to everyone in the world. Every possible identification someone could label themselves is, in a way, a religion. Throughout history, it can be seen that it has affected many decisions. Religion has been the cause of wars, massacres, murders, expansion of land, and more. Every religion has some sort of rules that it goes by, even if those rules are that there are no rules, and they each have some sort of head (god or gods or none). For Catholics, Pope Francis is the oracle for God. Hence, Catholics look to Pope Francis for guidance in many areas of their lives. The Pope is seen making many speeches on many occasions. For each speech, he has a certain agenda. He seems to speak for major events or sectors in the world. Pope Francis adds his input of what God believes in to be right and just. However, do the Pope’s words have actual meaning, or is he just trying to make Catholic followers feel better? In many of his speeches, it can be seen that he doesn’t provide a true answer to many things other than to love one another and to wait for a better life in the afterlife. Even if he does give some input that could be seen as valid information for politics or economy, should Catholics trust his word to make their decisions when he is not an expert in anything but Catholicism? Pope Francis is an example to Karl Marx’s theory of religion. “It is the opium of the people” (insert citation for Criticism of Hegel’s Philosophy).

Another way religion influences ideology is in the cultural ideology of society. As society changes, religion’s effect on the ideology changes, but the main ties can be seen in different time periods. Religion played a key role in establishing the norms of the New World. When the new

As a student of religion I have learnt that religion is an indispensable part of human life. History shows that every religion, it may be revealed or not, has risen in the crucial moment of the human history. According to the Semitic tradition human history has began with Adam and Eve, first prophet in Abrahamic tradition. In Indian tradition, though God is omnipresent but he directly intervened into this world, what we called Avatara, to make a clear distinction between right and wrong. In primitive society also people’s lives were highly motivated with religious affiliation.

Religion has become the part and parcel of every society. It inculcates one with social virtues and moral values. It has become a ray of hope during the time of stress and strain. Religion promotes social welfare and universal brotherhood. It provides mental peace and promotes social solidarity. Different people have wrote a lot about religion. Once Karl Marx stated “Religion is the opiate of masses”. This is one of the most hotly debated topic. The theories of religion differed from sociologists to sociologists. For Emile Durkheim religion is not only about structures and institutions. He defined it very broadly that it is a system of symbols and practices. The significance of religion has been later emphasized in the book “Elementary forms

Organized societies frequently have religions that are largely associated with them. The United States is mostly Christian. North African countries are overwhelming Muslim (“Global”). Across the world, the number of religions possibly reaches the thousands due to various sects and circumstances. When analyzing religion, each example has different origins, but a general understanding of religion is necessary, and an interesting relationship between religion and society will appear. While one cannot define every known religion in a concise, comprehensive manner, Merriam-Webster defines religion as “a personal set or institutionalized system of religious attitudes, beliefs, and practices.” This definition applies to every religion because an individual intentionally makes a conscious decision to restructure his values for another system, which has implications in everyday actions. In Civilization and Its Discontents, Sigmund Freud claims that an individual uses religion as a method to pursue pleasure in life even though no one can achieve pleasure. Niccolò Machiavelli states that the influence of religion is advantageous for an aspiring ruler in The Prince, in which he outlines a strategy for upholding governmental power. These two authors, from distinct eras, both view religion as more than a set of rules for pursuing an afterlife. Freud and Machiavelli focus on roles of religion at different levels, but their perspectives can lend to a theme that compares religion to

There is great debate concerning the role of religion in society, and whereas some claim that religion acts as a conservative force (that is, it inhibits change), others argue that religion is a major contributor to social change. As would be expected, many sociologists have took the middle ground, and argue that religion can act as both as conservative force, and an initiator of change.

Every Sunday in churches across America, kids hear this story of a special man in the Bible- Jesus. They hear the famous story of this miracle man who healed people and rose from the dead. Sounds like an important person, right? Well, besides the miraculous stories taught in Sunday school and his impact on today’s religion, Jesus actually had and still has a major influence on today’s society too. Jesus was an influential person because of his impacts on religion, culture, and history by his religious preachings and followers.