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Beliefs in Society MT1 Theories on the role of religion, Marxism -…

- - - - Collective worship and rituals are crucial in maintaining collective conscience as through these rituals society's norms and values are reaffirmed thus binding together society’s members.
        
        Function 2 - create cognitive capacity e.g. Biblical teachings about how God created the world at the beginning of time helps us understand time, creation and space (places).
  - - - Only a minority of people today attend church so it is difficult to see how religion can be functioning to socialise the majority of society’s members into shared norms and values.
        
        Rather than binding people together, many of the world’s conflicts have been caused by religion
        
        He fails to explain the origins of religion
- - - - Life crises – such as birth, puberty, marriage and death are potentially disruptive and involve religious rituals. These religious rituals, when performed in times of life crises, act to minimise the potential threat to social solidarity. For example, in times of death, religion’s promise of life after death comforts the bereaved and the funeral ceremony binds the bereaved with the rest of society.
        
        Activities which are important, but uncertain and uncontrollable – such as going into battle. In these events, religion provides a sense of control, diminishes anxiety and unifies the group.
- - - - Religion creates meaning by providing answers to ‘ultimate’ questions, e.g. Why is there suffering?, why do evil people prosper?
  - - - Religion often has dysfunctional consequences. Rather than binding people together, many of the world’s conflicts have been caused by religion.
        
        He fails to explain the origins of religion.
- - - - American civil religion includes ceremonies such as the pledge of allegiance to the flag, singing the national anthem, etc.
      - However, Bellah also argues that civil religion does not always have to include the belief in a supernatural power (God). For example, in Nazi Germany, the political ideology of Nazism became the civil religion uniting the German nation through ceremonies such as Nazi rallies and Hitler’s speeches.
        
        This he calls a functional alternative to religion – non-religious practices which perform similar functions to religion, e.g. promoting social solidarity.
        
        Bellah’s theory is therefore useful for explaining how civil religion can be a unifying force in a society which is characterised by religious and cultural pluralism.