The main function of religion in society today is to dull the pain of oppression To what extent do sociological arguments and evidence support the view of religion today?

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“The main function of religion in society today is to dull the pain of oppression”

To what extent do sociological arguments and evidence support the view of religion today? (33 marks)

The word extent could mean a number of things; how long something supports another could depend on the individual for example the extent could be small for one person but large for another. The term religion is also quite subjective as it could mean being a member of a traditional religion such as Christianity or Islam or could simply mean supporting a football team.

Karl Marx would be the main sociologist who agrees with the quote above. He was a firm believer in hegemony (the ideology of the ruling class will always be the main and ruling ideas) and thought in this way the bourgeoisie used religion as a way to control the masses (proletariats) and maintain a certain status quo. Religion is seen as the ‘opium of the masses’ and provides a smokescreen or false consciousness in front of the oppression being faced. This helps prevent social change. In this way, it can be seen that the main function of religion in society is to dull the pain of oppression.

There are four main ways in which religion helps dull the pain of oppression. The first is ‘Compensation for suffering’ in which it is thought that if proletariats dealt with their poverty and suffering without complaining about their status and worked hard then they would be compensated  in the afterlife. It was also thought that religion helped to justify social order. For example in the song ‘all things bright and beautiful’ it was stated that ‘god made them high and lowly and ordered their estate’ suggesting that God had already chosen your status for you so social hierarchies appears inevitable and those at the bottom should accept their situation. The ruling class were religious to help justify themselves. This shows that the main function of religion is to dull the pain of oppression.

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Another way in which Marx believed that religion dulled the pain of oppression was the promise of eternal bliss in the afterlife. It was thought that if working class dealt with their pain and oppression then they would be treated as ‘kings’ in the afterlife. Also, religion seemed to promise events of supernatural intervention. People would pray and hope to God for a supernatural event such as the 2nd coming of Jesus in hope that they will be saved from their oppression. Due to this, people would continue to be religious as they hoped for salvation. This therefore shows that the ...

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