The Sociological Study of Religion

Do you believe in God? Religion comprises of belief and practice based on faith. Religion answers the questions that man cannot logically explain due to limitations of knowledge and understanding. I grew up in a religious family, therefore religion played a big role in my life. It impacted my everyday way of life on what’s righteous and not.

On a global scale, most everyone practices a form of religion. Hence, my interest in this topic. In order to get a comprehensive understanding of religion, it’s important to look at religion from different perspectives: using functionalism, social conflict, and symbolic interactionism. Functionalism looks at the basic elements of a social structure such as norms, traditions, cultures, and institutions. Within religion these elements also exist weather it be Catholic, Islam, Judaism, and other religions who collectively believe in higher power such as hinduism, buddhism, and etc. Many of these religious entities are either monotheistic or polytheistic believing in one god such as Islam or multiple deities such as Hinduism.

The above mentioned religions take on unique methods in demystifying ideas of birth and death and explaining how and why these events occur through their traditions, cultures, norms, and beliefs. Religion is a social institution that attempts to explain what is thought to be inexplicable. According to a functionalists perspective institutions such as religion exist due to the role it plays on societies integration and stability. For example, when families observe certain religious services or honor a religious holiday the children learn about their religion and how to inherent this way of life so they can pass it down to their children. In return this unites them with other akin minded children of a similar belief system all over the world. Therefore in a way the parents not only educate their kids about their own culture but as well as the culture of society from a larger scope.

In many religious entities, there may be Sunday school or religious school to further cultivate the youth about the religious institutions, cultures and traditions.Do you believe in God? Religion comprises of belief and practice based on faith. Religion answers the questions that man cannot logically explain due to limitations of knowledge and understanding. I grew up in a religious family, therefore religion played a big role in my life. It impacted my everyday way of life on what’s righteous and not. On a global scale, most everyone practices a form of religion. Hence, my interest in this topic. In order to get a comprehensive understanding of religion, it’s important to look at religion from different perspectives: using functionalism, social conflict, and symbolic interactionism. Functionalism looks at the basic elements of a social structure such as norms, traditions, cultures, and institutions. Within religion these elements also exist weather it be Catholic, Islam, Judaism, and other religions who collectively believe in higher power such as hinduism, buddhism, and etc.

Many of these religious entities are either monotheistic or polytheistic believing in one god such as Islam or multiple deities such as Hinduism. The above mentioned religions take on unique methods in demystifying ideas of birth and death and explaining how and why these events occur through their traditions, cultures, norms, and beliefs. Religion is a social institution that attempts to explain what is thought to be inexplicable. According to a functionalists perspective institutions such as religion exist due to the role it plays on societies integration and stability. For example, when families observe certain religious services or honor a religious holiday the children learn about their religion and how to inherent this way of life so they can pass it down to their children.

In return this unites them with other akin minded children of a similar belief system all over the world. Therefore in a way the parents not only educate their kids about their own culture but as well as the culture of society from a larger scope. In many religious entities, there may be Sunday school or religious school to further cultivate the youth about the religious institutions, cultures and traditions.Conflict theory posits that social groups or classes are competing with each other in order to obtain resources, wealth, or power that the society deems important. The fundamentals of social conflict theory centers around class warfare, in which the lower classes rebels against the upper classes who set the rules upon which society operates; laws are then generated to settle these conflicts.

Any violation of these laws is seen as a deviant act. In terms of religion, it is seen as a form of social control, and yet another way to keep the proletariat from realising they are being exploited. To elaborate, certain groups may allow themselves to be exploited in hopes of being rewarded for their action during their second life or afterlife. This all circulates on one’s belief and the religion one may exercise. Therefore not focusing on the now, and the conflicts they face. In other words religion may fall in under the category of ideology. Reason being, religion is being used to justify that exploiting workers or other groups is overall the way of life and is beneficial for the workers when in reality it’s not. Religion represents human self alienation by developing false consciousness and conformity amongst the working class. An example of this can be seen in the lines “God made them high and lowly and ordered their estate”. This clearly shows from a Marxist perspective how religion is used to justify social inequality. Marx see religion as a tool used by the bourgeoisie to control the proletariat.

Works Cited

1. Berger, P. L. (1990). The Sacred Canopy: Elements of a Sociological Theory of Religion. New York, NY: Anchor Books.
2. Durkheim, E. (1995). The Elementary Forms of Religious Life. New York, NY: Free Press.
3. Geertz, C. (1973). The Interpretation of Cultures: Selected Essays. New York, NY: Basic Books.
4. Marx, K., & Engels, F. (1976). The Marx-Engels Reader. New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Company.
5. McGuire, M. B. (2008). Lived Religion: Faith and Practice in Everyday Life. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
6. Smith, J. Z. (1998). The Essential Religions. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
7. Stark, R., & Bainbridge, W. S. (1987). A Theory of Religion. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.
8. Turner, J. H. (2011). Theoretical Principles of Sociology, Volume 2: Microdynamics. New York, NY: Springer.
9. Weber, M. (2001). The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. New York, NY: Penguin Books.
10. Yinger, J. M. (1970). The Religious Seeker: Patterns and Trends. New York, NY: Macmillan.