Religion And Its Impact On Society

From the start of civilization, religion has played a crucial role in the development of most societies. The proof of its influence is evident in the way daily life was carried out. Religion had the power to affect everything from social status to common law, thus dominating a large portion of the culture. In ancient Egyptian, Islamic, and Indian society, religion had the capacity to establish how the average person would conduct their daily life.

Religion plays a vital role in everyone’s life one way or another. Whether it be a small influence for major decisions or influence for even the most mundane tasks. Religion can be used as an excuse for certain actions, whether good or bad, and can spark hate amongst people who do not share their beliefs. Religion is a powerful thing. However, when left open to interpretation can cause a dangerous impact to everyone around.

Religion is one of the most important components of culture which has been used in understanding the universe, natural phenomena, what to die for and how to dwell among other people. Religion can be considered as culture by itself because it provides the set of values, beliefs and guidelines for specific behavior (Samovar, Porter, McDaniel & Roy, 2013, p.40). Religion helps to control the social behavior, maintains conflict, supports emotions and gives explanations to unexplainable.

Religion is important to most of the world's population. Throughout history, religion has played a key role in shaping events. While ignorance contributes to intolerance and hate, understanding how others believe fosters not only respect but also peaceful coexistence. Through the centuries, people have done much good in the name of religion (Haynes). Examples can be given to the Crusades.

Praying is an important aspect of all religions as well as Christianity. To observe this specific religious phenomenon, I went to the Church of St. Vincent Ferrer. I attended to see one of their prayers. What they were practicing was not an individual action. They were praying with other Christians not by themselves. Also they were praying out loud. The Priest was saying the prayer and the others were either repeating after him or saying “Amen” when he finished his prayer. After praying, most of the Christians light up candles at specific part of the church. A famous sociologist Emile Durkheim discusses about religion in the perspective of sociology in his book, The Elementary Forms of Religious Life. He mentions in his book that society creates the religion to live with moral rules. Since I observe the atmosphere of that holy place, I came up with several questions. What are the forces to make them go to the Church and pray together? And how do they use the symbols to become a motivated person?

The conflict theory is a theory that places more focus of competition, inequality, and differences in one’s perspective that others may challenge to prove their view to be beneficial, as well as accurate. Conventional wisdom suggests that religious armed conflicts are more intractable that nonreligious conflicts (Svensson, 2007). Could it be that the expectations that leads to the conflict within religion are due to perceptions that nothing is equivalent to the values that each denomination holds.

There is a popular saying about religions that I hear since my childhood and it 's said everywhere; that religions are all "the same", and that they all call to the same ethical matters, ultimately lead to the same result as achieved the same end. This popular saying among revealed religions which used to relieve tension and historical conflict between their followers, they also quote my favorite physical and intellectual currents atheistic view that all religions are just a way to control people. But do all religions lead to the same end? Let us look a little on this question. Religions are not all the same, they might have similarities, but that doesn 't mean they are the same. Each religion has a certain purpose in life, it has its own rituals and beliefs that are followed by its followers.

As defined by Durkheim, “a religion is a unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things, that is to say, things set apart and forbidden---beliefs and practices, which unite into one single moral community called a Church…” (Durkheim, 1912/2004, 75). Religion in its totality is, but a spectrum in people’s lives that has prolonged itself to be the subject of study for various sociologists, including Durkheim. By studying religious systems and all they encompass allows for the analyzation of its sociological core that is “religion is eminently social” (Durkheim, 1912/2004, 73). This foundation is what Durkheim thrived to analyze through primitive factors to indicate how society’s members are impelled to associate this commonality of beliefs and practices in their daily lives through means of religious functions; how religion has a hold on society (Veugelers, November 14th, 2017). In our society, there is much diversity between everyone’s beliefs and attitudes, which in turn, is justified through the different religions superimposed within each community. This social classification by which the modern world is organized can be reasoned through the idealisms of Durkheim’s forms of religion that is categorized into two integrated domains: the sacred and the profane.

“Religion is a practice for people to believe in a higher deity—a superior to the mortal world in which we, humans, live in.” At the beginning of this semester, this was the definition I composed when I was asked to define religion. While this initial answer has some relevance to what religion is overall, it is still over-simplistic because it does not address all the various components that religion incorporates. During the course of this semester, I have learned how to more accurately define religion, distinguish why a person should study religion, and understand how religion can be both beneficial and harmful to society. Religion is a particular system involving faith and worship, sometimes of a divine being, based on traditional practices and moral teachings. It is important to study religion since a vast majority of the word population identifies with a religion which allows people to gain an appreciation and respect for other views different than their own. Religion can be both beneficial and harmful to society because of its controversial nature as seen throughout history and modern-day life. Religions are beneficial to society because each religious tradition has a set of core morals and values that promotes strong ethics throughout the community. However, religions can be harmful to society if individual members use religious texts wrongfully to promote violence or unethical principles. The three main topics that will be addressed are crucial to consider in order to

In society, people strived for social interaction among one another by grouping themselves with individuals who are like minded. This type of classification normally consist of various type of cultural similarities to include but not limited to ethnic background, food, music, fashion and arts. Another form of classification that has been instilled in the world for many years is religion. Religion is the organization of spiritual, sacred and biblical beliefs that express the existence of a higher supernatural power or god. Even though every religion has their own specific practices, it has been apparent that such beliefs have a profound effect on society. How much social purpose and control can religion have on an individual is yet to be seen.

Religion is a structured group of culture, beliefs, views that are related to humanity. These beliefs include the universe, human nature, laws of religion, lifestyles, and people derive morality. Religion studies and analyzes its concept, terms, arguments and practices. Religion affects our society in numerous ways, both can be in a good and bad way. With the different kinds of religion, one can choose which religion they should follow based on what they personally believe. In our country’s society, we respectfully allow people to practice on their religious beliefs even though some countries do not allow people to have freedom on what religion they choose. However, religion affects our society in positive and negative ways. We have so much freedom which our country gave us that religion can occasionally cause a conflict in our society. Some branches in religion can cause huge conflicts and arguments in our society because they do not get fair treatment unlike the others. Some of these examples of arguments that affect our society that I want to discuss in this essay include the controversial debate on abortion, rules in regard to dressing and how they dress, their food preferences, terrorism, and marriages. Mostly these arguments are a result of people who are ignorant, close minded, and have views that are different from others. If people respect each other’s views and beliefs, the positive aspects may exceed the negative aspects.

The study of religion has produced a range of interdisciplinary perspectives because of the sheer diversity of religious beliefs and practices, which have evolved with human history. Sociologists have theorised, to what extent religious practices and beliefs have been socially constructed, and, how these religious constructions shape other institutions and discourses throughout society and their impact on modernity. This essay focuses on the relationship between religion and social change as proposed in the theories of Karl Marx, Emile Durkheim and Max Weber. It will be argued that religion will continue to evolve with society while providing coherent meaning for the progressions and successes in people’s everyday lives, and thus providing a metaphorical platform for social change, as theorised by Max Weber. Karl Marx however, interprets religion as an opiate for human suffering. Marx drew influence from Hegel and Feuerbach’s philosophy and theories respectively to establish his own exegesis of religion. Durkheim however, sought to identify religion through social class and status, through which society was divided by faith, the profane or sacred.

Miriam, Deborah and Huldah all are names of prophets from the Bible; they also all happen to be women. There are even two books in the Bible about women, Esther and Ruth. Psalm 68:11 reads, "The Lord gives the command; the women who proclaim the good tidings are a great host." With all of this support for women, why are they treated as the inferior sex in the church?

In 2013, Pope Francis delivered an apostolic exhortation on family life, “Amoris Laetitia,” better known as “The Joy of Love.” Establishing a sense of resolution within the Catholic Church about homosexuality has also reopened the original debate on the propriety of a coexisting homosexual Christian. This has been a concern in not only the Catholic Church, but sub-religions within the entire Christian community. It is interesting to comprehend the relationship between religious organizations and society—mainly how one influences the other in doctrines, values, and beliefs, specifically in regards to homosexuality.

The role of religion in society is definitely an influential subject. As defined, religion is the beliefs and worship of people’s opinion concerning the existence, nature and celestial involvement in the universe and life. The relationship between both religion and society is always changing. Religion affects different societies in different ways and different forms. For many societies, religion is best understood at a spiritual level. Some people believe that religion is neither good nor bad and they simply believe it is irrelevant because there are many alternative ways to find meanings in ethical ideals and lifestyles. In my perspective, I feel that religion should have a some role in society today, but not too much.