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Religion as a Conservative force: - Coggle Diagram
Religion as a Conservative force:
Durkheim on religion:
The sacred and profane:
Sacred - Holy and prohibited that inspire awe, fear and wonder.
Profane - Ordinary everyday things with no special significance.
The symbols represent something of great power which is society itself, they perform the essential function of uniting believers into a single moral community.
Totemism:
The essence of religion could be found by studying its simplest form. E.g. the Aboriginal Arunta tribe.
The collective conscience:
Religious rituals reinforce the collective conscience and maintain social integration, they remind the individual of the powers of society.
Religion reinvigorates and strengthens us to face life's trials and motivates us to overcome obstacles that would otherwise defeat us.
Cognitive functions of religion:
Religion is the source of our intellectual or cognitive capacities, it is the origin of the concepts and categories we need for reasoning, understanding the world and communicating.
Religion provides the basic categories such as time, space and causation so it is the origin of human thought, reason and science.
Criticisms:
Worsley says there is no sharp division between the sacred and the profane.
Mestrovic argues Durkheim ideas cannot be applied to contemporary society because increasing diversity has fragmented the collective conscience, there is no longer a single shared value system for religion to reinforce.
Psychological functions:
Malinowski:
Religion helps indications cope with emotions stress. There are two situations where religion performs this role:
Where the outcome is important but uncontrollable and uncertain (Canoe magic and God of the gaps)
At times of life crisis (death is the main reason for existence of religious belief)
Parsons:
Agrees with Malinowski but identifies two other essential functions:
Creates and legitimates society's central values (Protestantism in America)
A primary source of meaning (answers ultimate questions about the human condition)
Civil Religion:
Bellah:
Religion unifies society, especially a multi-faith society like America.
A civil religion is a belief system that attaches sacred qualities to society itself.
American civil religion is a belief in Americanism with loyalty to the nation state and belief in God.
Functional Alternatives:
There are non-religious beliefs that perform functions similar to those of organised religion. Although American civil religion involves a belief in God, Bellah argues this doesn't have to be the case.
Functionalism evaluation: Shows the positive functions of religion but neglects the negative consequences (oppression, conflict). Societies may still have an overarching belief system but is it necessarily religious?
Marxists on Religion:
Hindu Caste System -> Karma teaches us that if you behave well in this world by accepting and observing the rules of the caste, after death you will be reincarnated (re-born) into a higher caste.
This maintains inequality.
Alienation in dehumanising conditions causes the exploited to turn to religion as a form of consolation, it acts as an opiate to dull the pain of exploitation. Religion provides a distorted view of the world and an illusion of happiness.
Religion distorts people's perception of reality in ways that serve the interests of the ruling class as it is an ideological weapon used by them to justify the suffering of the poor as inevitable and God-given.
Marx says the role of religion is to cushion oppression whilst being an instrument of oppression.
Religion is a feature of a class-divided society, it is a means of control, therefore, there would be no need for religion in a classless society.
Marxism Evaluation: Highlights how religion can oppress but ignores its positive functions. Althusser rejects the concept of alienation as unscientific. Abercrombie, Hill and Turner argue Christianity had limited impact on the peasantry.