Religion

Perspectives of Religion

Perspectives of Religion
Religion has always been a part of society; it has played a key role in many social events and will continue to. Within all these religions there are many things they have in common and it’s interesting to see that even though they still continue to have conflict. Religion has many aspects and different ways to perceive it. Throughout this paper I will look at religion in four key perspectives, which are Conflict, Functionalism, Feminism, and lastly the Interactionist perspective.
God is seen as the ruler and creator of the world. People must be dedicated and behave in a particular manor in order to be rewarded. Religion gives an explanation for everything in life, influencing people to follow a specific path in order to reap the benefits in life. When following a religion they teach ideas, such as sacrificing and facing adversities in life to receive benefits in the afterlife. There might never be just one religion but each one is constantly expanding to accommodate the different types of people. To appeal to the younger generations, these religions have changed their books and incorporated activities for followers to participate in.
Within every culture there are different types of religions. By having several religions, there are conflicts between them. Each religion being ethnocentric, asserting their culture is the “social norm” (Summer W.G., (1906), p.56). Therefore religions will be seen as their social status, and will impact their course of life. When a religious group starts to act in a specific social status, from that point on the world will be associating their society’s views with their religious beliefs. There are many of these situations in today’s world, a prime example are how the terrorist attack on 9/11 are automatically associated with the Muslim religion, rather than it being tag as an attack from a group in the Middle East. The groups that associate religion and social status tend to also show the inequalities in the groups identity. Different social stature will serve different purpose, a great example in the book is how social institutions impact society. Religious institutions have different objectives when serving the community. Richard Schaefer points out the when religious leaders from the lower class work for their community they focus on providing food and helping the ill. On the other hand, when the upper middle class provides work they focus more on marriage counseling and putting together activities for the youth (Schaefer R. (2008b), p.117).
Society has many elements, each one has a specific role to play, to ensure that each function together in unity. Therefore, there should be structure and function. The function of Religion is to explain and gives answer to the things we don’t understand and might fear. Like how did we become to exist, where will be go after we die. Religion provides a society with values and norms to follow. In the United States we are founded on the values of Christianity, we have made our society around these beliefs to serve the good of humanity. There are laws in place to keep the people of the society in line, those who don’t follow will be punished, which will maintain solidarity. Religion acts as glue bringing people together in unity in a specific group, although when you look at it from a broad spectrum it is also the cause of conflict between different religions.
There has been and still is an issue with inequality between men and women in society. Religion sees women as inferior to men; men are and have always been in the role of leadership in both society and the family. In class there was a discussion about would not being able to chose who they marry because of the dowry process in India. There are some religious groups in India that will not give women a choice of where she lives, who she marries, or how many kids she wants. Men completely dominating the life’s of every women. Most faiths have a long tradition of exclusively male spiritual leadership, because most religions are patriarchal, they tend to reinforce men’s dominance in secular as well as spiritual matters (Schafer R. and Zellner, (2011), p.117). When looking back Religious leaders none of them are women.
Religion has many things and symbols that are associated with it these items play a key role on the whole image and aspect of it all. With in every religion there is a God, Gods, or a higher power, and each group follows the path that was said to them from this higher power. The reason that these groups are able to know what they should do and why things are, because they have a book to reference to such as the Bible or Koran. There are many symbols and rituals that all religions have in common. Prayer is there to speak with God/higher power, to ask question, look to for help. The interactionist perspective sees the different parts of a religion and its functions within it.
Religion is incorporated in every society, it is essentially the way everyone live their lives. There are many elements of religion and can be looked at in different ways. Karl Marx stated that “Religion is the opium of the people” (Everett, J. (2013)). Using the conflict perspective, Marx saw it as tool used to dominate over other societies. Emile Durkheim looked at all the functions in society and found that “religion reinforces a group’s solidarity” (Durkheim E, ([1912] 2001), p.10). Although religion is function is solidarity, there still seems to be an issue with inequality with men and women. Women are not able to achieve the same stature as men and are required to be submissive. Pulling all the parts of Religion seeing how each component works and why it’s there is the substance of this paper.
Reference

Everett, J. (2013). Class discussion.
Schaefer, R. (2011). Sociology: A brief introduction. (9 ed., p. 10). New York: McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages.
Schaefer, R. (2011). Sociology: A brief introduction. (9 ed., p. 56). New York: McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages.
Schaefer, R. (2011). Sociology: A brief introduction. (9 ed., p. 117). New York: McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages.
Schaefer, R. (2011). Sociology: A brief introduction. (9 ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages.