Religion And Society : The Role Of Religion In 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.

Many aspects of society are affected by religion. Religion affects society through the beliefs on how men and women should act, how humans should treat nature, and the concept of good and evil. The native americans treat nature and women with great respect. Judeo-Christians believe in a patriarchy.

I believe that religion plays a huge role in society today. Not just in the United States, but, around the world. Religion plays a role with the amount of immigration we have in our country as well. People from other countries often flee their homelands to the United States, to avoid being prosecuted for believing in a religion other than what is being taught or worshiped by most in their country. When they arrive on U.S. soil, they are able to worship who

The United States of America was founded on the idea of religious freedom. Pilgrims came to America to practice their religion freely. In the Bill of Rights, Americans have the right to freedom of religion. Religion is the foundation in the United States of America, so it should be taught in schools.

The United States is one of the most religious nations in the world. A majority of the population participates in organized religion and others are privately spiritual. The role of religion plays out in our nation constantly.

What has once been an important role in society, is now uncommon due to outside forces such as education, peers’ beliefs, and the natural evolution of religion, in which all of the above causlessened need or want for religion over time. The underlying question is; do we actually need religion?

Society was affected by religion in a negative way the majority of the time, but most specifically to another specific group of people. For example, a Christian group would most likely make sure to change the perspective of a different individual who has a different belief. The new religion would force him to see the benefits of Christianity and how the individual has to convert their religion because it was morally wrong and any opinion stated would be irrelevant. Another example would be marriage. The action of getting married can force the women to change her religion just because the man is dominant and has the right since back in that era women were treated differently. The impact that religion made affected others in a way where those victims seemed like if they were

Religion is a set of beliefs based on a vision of how the world ought to be. Religion has been affected by globalization because it has allowed it to spread across the world, but also has change it because it gets mixed with existing culture. In the United States, the Catholic churches are being revived because of all the new Catholic immigrants. These immigrants bring new styles of warship, social needs and engagements. The Mexican immigrants have reshaped many of the Catholic churches in New York. There have been many immigrants who arrived to New York to work low-wage jobs and in the process have brought their home country religious practices with them. Our Lady of Guadalupe is the miraculous appearance of the Virgin Mary in Guadalupe

influence the way society is structured. Religious views can affect the way communities interact with each other, it affects a community socially as well as a government.

In Modern America, many values that people live by are influenced by the concept of religion. Religion teaches the values in life whether the religion is Christianity, Islam, Hinduism or any kind. The concept of religion being the overarching idea that teaches people values even goes back centuries ago. For instance, the Puritan society was heavily influenced by religion. They lived by the values the bible has taught them and religion was such a big influence that the power was present even in the government. From this kind of society, America has revolutionized into a new society while some concepts will always stay the same.

Religion has been a powerful force in human history. Mankind has longed and searched for the answers to its purpose, the reason for being and the possibility of life after physical death. They reasoned that an afterlife would be a place of accounting and reckoning for the life they lived on earth. Religious belief systems seemed to give the answers as to how to prepare for the afterlife. Religion became the means of giving answers to those basic yet deep-seated questions of both life and death. Religion provided a format of rules and laws for conduct and treatment toward others based on the desires and wishes of a god or gods that people envisioned, imagined or invented. Religious belief systems have been a powerful force for good and bad...good in the sense that it provided a measure of individual behavior and order in society for the wellbeing of the whole, but bad in the sense that men of ambition who craved power and control over others would often use religion as a tool of manipulation and fear. A casual glance of history tells us that complete civilizations have been built, grown and maintained around elaborate religious systems, ancient Egypt being a prime example.

Eighty-four percent of the world’s population identifies with a religion; that is more than eight-in-ten people (Harper). But as an increasing number of young individuals are beginning to turn away from organized religion, important questions need to be addressed. What are the benefits of religion and what are the drawbacks? What aspects of organized religion do millennials find undesirable? In order to properly analyze and form answers for these questions, it is necessary to acknowledge and recognize the opinions of the religious and non religious perspectives. Religion has, historically, been the cause of much strife and bloodshed throughout the world, and it has inflicted impediments on societal development as well; religion does, however, possess certain positive qualities which provide a raison d’êtra for many individuals, and if this were to be ripped away, there would be an immense amount of uncertainty regarding the future and stability of society. It is necessary to pragmatically scrutinize the many negative aspects of religion, such as the division (hatred), violence, ignorance, and oppression that are all results of the enormous effect religion has on society; it is also necessary to evaluate the positive impact religion has on individuals and humanity as a whole, such as being an inspiration for good deeds and moral responsibility, being an excellent policing mechanism, encouraging principled adolescent behaviour, and providing a sense of meaning and purpose.

Throughout history, anthropologists have explored religion in great depth and have explained in various ways how they believe religion should be thought of ethologically. In lecture, when asked what comes to mind when I think of religion, I thought of my church, and the traditions that my family and I have been doing for my entire life. The way of thinking about religion described in the passage Religion: Ritual and Belief by authors Robert L. Welsch and Luis A. Vivanco is shaped by an accumulation of many different anthropologist’s theories produced throughout history. In 1871, British anthropologist Sir Edward Tylor explained how religion was formed by the “fundamental error” of primitive peoples thinking, and how they confused their dreams with reality, formulating their belief in spirts with their “religion” (Welsch 204). Anthropologist Anthony F.C. Wallace argued that people should think of religion as not only the act of believing but the rituals dealing with the “supernatural” (Welsch 204). Anthropologist Clifford Geertz built off of Wallace’s definition and argued that religion must be thought of as a “system of symbols” that helped give a sense of “moral purpose” and “meaning” to people’s lives and a sense of “world view” (Welsch 205). In lecture, Professor Perez stressed the characteristics of religion with the importance of sacred stories, rituals and traditions that helped to form the social structure of a particular region and culture. In Religion: Ritual and

Religion is a universal part of many cultures and affects societies through its functions and dysfunctions. Firstly, religion offers a reason for life on earth, by explaining life after death, and giving its followers missions and motives for daily life. It also provides emotional and mental comfort for individuals going through a stressful time; as it gives suffering, stress, and death a purpose. Furthermore, religion sets guidelines for everyday life and is a form of social control. For example, the ten commandments for Christians, karma for Hindus, and the Shariah Laws for Muslims, are social regulations that set a pathway for specific behaviors and attitudes. Contrastingly, religion also negatively impacts society, as it opens doors for conflicts among different belief systems. Historically, crusades and torture were common forms used by religious groups to gain and maintain control. Currently, torture still occurs in some countries as religious groups are fighting for power and believe that anyone who doesn’t believe in their gods or follow their ways deserves to die. Religion may also create anxiety among individuals as they are consumed with following the “rules”, and feel distressed when they violate them. Some followers are not able to meet the set guidelines, such as, not having enough money to tithe, or not having a way to attend church. Meanwhile others have the means to follow the principles but for their own personal

Religion changes throughout time as people change their minds about what they read on scripts. It was once defined by anthropologist E.B. Taylor in 1871 as the “belief in spiritual beings.” But, essentially over the years many religions have came into this world and left just as fast as they were created. Therefore, I believe that religion is more of a behavior that is acted upon by certain groups and communities. It is more of a ritual that people take part of, rather than a belief in a spiritual being. In other words, religion was created by man to fulfill a purpose, not only to unify people through a symbol or a holist being but also to install fear in the hearts of those who blindly believe and follow.