Compare and contrast the Marxist and Functionalist explanations of the role of religion in society.

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JENNI SAYER

Compare and contrast the Marxist and Functionalist explanations

of the role of religion in society.

Marxists and Functionalists both have different views on the role of religion in society. Functionalists believe that the role of religion is to keep society stable and to with hold the norms and values of society. Marxists on the other hand argue that religion is used as a form of social control. Both views do agree that religion is used to keep society the same and not to bring about any change.

Emile Durkheim wrote from a Functionalist perspective on the role of religion. In his book “The Elementary Forms of Religious Life” Durkheim argued that all societies are divided into two categories, “the scared” and the “profane” (secular).  He saw religion as “a unified system of beliefs and practices relating to sacred things,” these sacred things could be gods, times, places, events or objects and are all symbols that represent something. Durkheim went on to argue that these sacred things represent not only their religion, but also their society. He used the religion of Aborigines, which he named Totemism, to develop this argument. Aborigines’ societies are made up of clans, with each clan having a sacred symbol. Durkheim argued that because these symbols represent their society, the people are actually worshiping society. Durkheim believes that we worship our own society in our religion because our religion embodies the ideas, morality and culture we share. Durkheim also sees religion as reinforcing the collective conscience. Worshiping society allows us to be united with common morals, values and norms, thus society is strengthened. Finally Durkheim sees the role of religion as allowing an individual to be able to “endure the trials of existence, or to conquer them”.

Some do argue that Durkheim’s work is of less value due to the fact he did not study modern industrial cultures. However, Durkheim himself countered this argument by predicting how religion in modern society may develop. He saw the collective conscience becoming weaker as society becomes more specialised and complex. Durkheim thought that attitudes to society might cease to be religious and the “cult of man,” the belief in the individual human dignity, would bind people together. Other people have criticised Durkheim’s work due to the fact that there are new religions that reject norms and values current at the time, e.g. the Amish. Also Durkheim does not recognise the fact that religion can be a force for social change. Another criticism is the fact that society does not always work as a force for social integration and consensus, with many conflicts being over religion, for example in Northern Ireland or the former Yugoslavia where religion challenges social order and cohesion. However, Bainbridge and Stark argue that people still do have a perpetual need of religion and new movements appear to fill the place left by those religions that no longer suit the needs of people.

Bronislaw Malinowski was an anthropologist who conducted a famous study called “Religion and Magic” among the Trobriand Islands, he was also writing from a functionalist perspective. Malinowski supported Durkheim’s views on religion’s role in society in reinforcing social norms and values and promoting social solidarity, but he does not see religion as reflecting society as a whole nor that religion is worshiping society. Malinowski instead believes that the role of religion in society is to provide for the individual in times of emotional stress. He argues that people turn to religion in what are known as “life crises”, birth, death, marriage and puberty. He sees religion as an expression of community feeling aimed to unite that community, it also gives the individual someone to blame, be thankful for or provide some one to talk to. The other time in which society turns to religion in response to emotional stress in when events take place whose outcome are important but uncertain and uncontrollable, therefore creating anxiety. Malinowski uses an example from his study of the Trobriand Islands. Fishing in open seas requires many rituals as they fear storms and are uncertain about catches, however fishing in calm waters does not require any rituals as there is no danger. Malinowski argues that religion helps society by dealing with individuals’ situations of emotional stress that could threaten the stability of society. However Malinowski does exaggerate the importance of religious rituals in helping people cope with stress and he also only looks at a small society. Homans supports his theory though by suggesting that Malinowski was correct because often the rituals can be reassuring to people if they are carried out correctly.

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The final person who sees the role of religion from a functionalist point of view is Talcott Parsons. Parsons developed Durkheim's analysis of religion as a force of social cohesion and agreed that religion embodied the values and morals of society. Parsons firstly sees the role of religion in society as providing guidelines for people to live by; religion legitimises the core values of society. For example, the Ten Commandments basically make up the laws of society, e.g. “Thou shalt not kill” or “Thou shalt not steal”. Therefore religion helps to keep society stable and in order by giving ...

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