Another key time when religion seems to have an impact is when it hits war time. People and soldiers pray to retrieve metaphoric strength and confidence. It also provides answers that don’t get answered and also brings about questions that were never there before. It justifies reasons to kill. Such recent incidents have been in Iraq and the September 11th attack.
Religion also prevents anomie in society. This is good as it makes efforts to have a positive influence on people as teachings infer to people to not to commit crime or behave in an anti-social manner. Religion promotes consensus by sharing ideas, beliefs, norms and values that vastly correspond with each other to create solidarity.
Durkhiem who was one of the founding fathers of sociology also took the same view of society. He believed that collective conscience was needed for society to be settled. Durkhiem suggested that religion was a conservative force however in his eyes he saw it in a positive attitude. He believes that religion poses benefits for the individual. He saw religion as enabling the individual to face up to life when situations get rough and also awards them with motivation.
Robert Bellah talked about civil religion. He believed that there were religions that were rather profane rather than sacred as Durkhiem defined. He found that people believed in collectiveness, community, humanity and shared beliefs. An example is as such of ‘Americanism’ and the ‘promised land’ and ‘the chosen ones’.
However it is alright discussing how religion has still its importance in contemporary society however it has also declined. Also religion is misused to give religion a bad name by their followers. An example of this is Al-quaeda in Iraq.
There has been a great deal of secularisation among the population as there isn’t much temple attendance as their once used to be. Parish records of nowadays seem to show less attendance which shows that religion to people has become less of a priority which once was of higher importance. Also in contemporary society there are many more religions to follow other than the 6 main ones that exist in the UK at the moment. People are joining internet religions. This sort of arrangement opposes Durkhiems theory of a collective conscience as if there are loads of different beliefs then a collective conscience can never exist as people will have different beliefs.
Nowadays there are much higher divorce and abortion rates that totally contradict a strong sense of religion in society. This again shows a decline in religion in society today.
Religion teaches us to live by rules. Such as the 10 commandments. For example ‘thou shall not commit adultery’, but adultery is committed nearly everyday of the week in society today.
Marx who was another founding father also believed that religion was a conservative force. However this was in a much more negative attitude. He believed however it was a form of total social control over the people who worked by their employers. Marx main point was just that. He believed that the people were being exploited by religion in various ways.
Legitimising social inequality is one of the ways. This indoctrinated the workers that hierarchy among society is a natural thing and will always happen. It was believed that the divine people such as monarchy were chosen by god and so is more than just an average person. This sort of theme was also included in a poem that has now been edited and that verse had been taken out whereby it shows inequality. The poem was called ‘All things bright and beautiful’.
Another way is that religion disguises the exploitation of the workers. It makes out that if you are poor then it is because sin was committed in previous life however heaven is assured in your next life. This will keep the workforce passive and will not rebel against authority. Marx called this the ‘opium of the masses’. He also appealed to the workers saying that the only thing that they have to loose be their chains.
Marx agreed however those values were being transmitted to the new generation. However he argued that the values that were being transmitted were of the bourgeoisie to keep the proletariat in their social status. This would then jus make the new generation be passive and accept poverty and hierarchy. Evidence also showed that religious bishops at the top level have not come from a ordinary background either. The top bishops are the ones that attended public schools and then went to go onto Cambridge or Oxford University. This shows that even though the religious system should promote equality that even religion was unequal.
Feminists also argued their point. Feminists found that they were treated with less respect because of religion. They argue that religion promotes patriarchy within society. They feel they are oppressed by the male figure within society. Fundamentalists in Iraq Al- Quaeda made women cover them selves up and to stay within the household and turn back to traditional views or otherwise were killed.
Overall as in the introduction mentioned there is a vast opinion on how important religion is in modern society today. It can be said that yes religion is of very high importance as it is one of the main agencies in contemporary society that form the base of our infrastructure, but it can also be said that religion is no longer important as it used to be as science has proofed to answer just as many questions as religion has.
