Assess the contribution of religion to social change. (18 marks) _
There are many ways in which religion may have contributed to social change, but there is however the argument that religion tries to keep society the same by conservative force.
Most religions have some sort of conservative force that it sticks to, for example keeping to traditional beliefs such as monogamy, attending church on a Sunday, opposing to divorce, contraception, cohabitation and abortion and also sticking to the nuclear family way of life where the male is the sole breadwinner. Many religions defend their traditions if they are not seen positively by society. Functionalists see conservative force in religion as a positive force in three ways; it promotes social solidarity as people feel a stronger sense of belonging when they have other people in society to relate to and share views and beliefs. This then creates a value consensus and keeps social order as people all live by the same rules and beliefs. It also helps to deal with stress, as when something bad happens people are able to turn to religion for comfort and answers that may not necessarily come from anywhere else. However Marxists see conservative force as a negative force as it creates a state false consciousness, as it does not allow people to have their own views or beliefs they have to stick to what the religion preaches. Also it prevents a revolution for example the Methodist Movement. Feminists also think that conservative force in religion is a negative force as it legitimates patriarchy. They argue that religion makes it ok for women to be oppressed depending on what the higher power of that religion has decided. Also women were barred from becoming priests until the 1980’s in Catholic, and Orthodox Judaism. It also singles women out, as there are certain dress codes from women, access to divorce is more difficult. Also the number of spouses is different for a man than it is for a woman in certain religions – polygamy and certain religions go against abortion and contraception therefore not allowing a woman to control her own body.
