Is religion a conservative force or a force for social change?

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Is religion a conservative force or a force for social change?

Functionalists, Marxists and Feminists have generally dismissed the idea that religion can cause social change in society. They believe that religion acts as a conservative force, i.e. that it prevents social change. However, if any change is going to happen, it will be changes in society that shape religion. Religion as a conservative force can be defined in two ways; the first way of defining religion as a conservative force is to refer to religion as preventing change and maintaining the status quo. The functionalist perspective and Marxists perspective both provide arguments to support this definition of religion as a conservative force.

Functionalist Emile Durkheim supports the idea of religion as a conservative force with the idea of a collective conscience, which is the shared morals and beliefs which unite society. Durkheim believed “religion promotes social solidarity... which unites into one single moral community.” This example of religion acting as a conservative force can be seen in Italy, where the Catholic religion binds the population into one moral community, preventing social change and maintaining the status quo.

Another key idea by functionalists to support the argument that religion acts as a conservative force is how religion supports society through times of life crisis. This idea was proposed by Malinowski. Religion helps people cope during times of crisis such as death or puberty by having rituals to surround these events to help people cope, which in turn helps prevent radical change. Religion provided support through the death of Princess Diana with the ritual of the funeral.

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Following on from this, Functionalist Parsons supports the idea that religion is a conservative force because it maintains social order. Individuals are hit by events that they cannot control or foresee therefore religion helps to maintain the social order through these times. It will help to restore the equilibrium of society, therefore preventing change and maintaining the status quo. This can be seen in examples such as the incidents of 9/11 and 7/7; religion helped to maintain the social order and prevented social change.

Marxist sociologist Karl Marx supports the idea of religion being a conservative force through the ...

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