Structural Functionalism Religion

Religion is a very controversial topic in society and can be understood and looked at through many different views. These views can be studied through different sociological perspectives such as structural functionalism, conflict theory, and symbolic interactionism. Each of these perspectives pose different questions and thoughts on religion. With structural functionalism religion can be seen as an answer to life, explaining how and why things work the way they do. It can also serve as a place for people to come together to form supportive and positive communities. When people of the same religion come together to perform religious rituals it makes the bond between them stronger, and performing these rituals together will also give a sense of order among the people that share the same symbols, ideas, and behavior. Religion also gives a form of structure to the society by having certain rules that everyone follows such as how to dress, speak, or act in public. So mainly for structural functionalism religion helps
One conflict seen would be between different religions in a community and how the more popular one in the community is also the more supported one by the community. A conflict having to do with dominance in religion is how the leaders of a religious community are usually followed too strictly. They start making their own decisions and interpretations on what is to be said or done and how the religion is to be followed and make their own tweaks when explaining the religion and its beliefs. Another conflict having to do with dominance in religion is feminism. It’s more according to the community and the people practicing the religion and not the religion itself, since religion usually encourages a more gender equal atmosphere. But usually it’s more common for men to have bigger roles in the society and have more freedom than