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For many religious people, the sociological approach to religion is offensive, as it seems to question their deeply held beliefs. Sociologically, however, the truth or falsity of religious belief is irrelevant. What concerns us is the part religion plays in social life. Alternatively, when we realize the huge diversity of religious belief in the world, the sociology of knowledge makes us ask why any one set of beliefs should be regarded as superior to any other.
Religion involves beliefs that explain experiences by claiming that there is a supernatural or superhuman agency of some kind, often a god or gods. It also involves rituals to express these beliefs in public and private ceremonies of worship; it also provides a moral code to guide our everyday behaviour.
The classical sociologists all attached importance to the role of religion in society,
Karl Marx never made a detailed study of religion, but his views are clear and follow from his broad themes of dominant ideology, alienation and false consciousness. Religion is central to these especially alienation. For Marx, religion is an illusion, which causes false class-consciousness. It originated among primitive people as a response to the fear of the unknown and he claimed it would disappear as people came to a rational understanding of the world. However, rather than being eliminated with the rise of industrial capitalism, Marx’s’ believes that religion was taken over by the bourgeoisie (ruling class) and built into the ruling ideology. It is therefore used, like all dominant ideology, to justify the status quo. In his famous phrase,
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“Religion is the opiate of the masses” (Marx 1844)
Constructed by the ruling class to blind people of their exploitation. Religion thus acts an opiate to dull the pain produced by oppression. It is simply a misguided attempt to make life more bearable and therefore dilutes demand for change.
An ideological conditioning device set up as part of the superstructure to help the capitalist infrastructure. Marxists claim most religious movements originate in oppressed classes. Their social conditions provide the most fertile ground for the growth of new religions. Religion dulls the pain of the demoralized in many ways, it promises a paradise of eternal bliss in life after death. It makes life on earth bearable as they have something to look forward to. It makes those who bear the deprivation of poverty with dignity and humanity will be rewarded for the virtue (Harlambos M. 000)
Religion offers the hope of supernatural intervention to solve the problems on earth. It helps those at the bottom of the social ladder to accept their position in society. Religion acts as an agency of social control by keeping people in their place, it also acts as a mechanism of social control, maintaining the existing system of exploitation and reinforcing class relationships. By offering an illusion of hope in a hopeless situation, it prevents thoughts of overthrowing the system. Marx implied two things; that the content of religion diverts the attention of the proletariat away from present miseries towards a (mythical) future salvation; and that religious belief is crucial in the process of alienation, whereby humans fail to see that they can take control of their destiny.
According to Marx religion legitimates the social order by claiming that those at the top are there by gods’ will, thus religions are often hierarchical, from god down. Marx was a thoroughgoing atheist. He denied the existence of a superhuman being, and argued that religion must be abolished before oppression and alienation could disappear. People invented God, and had now been taken over by their own invention. People must reclaim control of their own fate. For Marx true happiness and fulfilment are possible only when the exploited shake off the chains of oppression and seize and practice their freedom. Marxists exaggerate the influence of religion. It does not have the power to do all that Marxists claim as many people in some societies today aren’t religious at all.
Functionalist thought has made a strong case for religion ‘generating an agreed set of values, which operate in such a way as to hold society together’. It gives meaning to the negative aspects of life e.g. death; it also allows people to feel in control in un-certain situations. In contrast to Marx, the functionalist Emile Durkheim spent a good part of his intellectual career studying religion. Durkheim’s analysis of religion begins with the claim that all societies divide the world into sacred and profane things. Even apparently ordinary objects can provoke powerful emotions of awe, deference and respect. It seems, therefore, that their significance is as symbols� they represent something. And what they represent Durkheim concluded, is the collective conscience- the basic set of shared beliefs, values, traditions and norms-, which make social life possible.
Durkhiem doesn’t connect religion primarily with social inequalities or power, but relates it to the overall nature of the institutions of a society. He bases his work on a study of totemism, as practised by Australian Aboriginal societies, and he argues that totemism represents religion in its simplest form. A totem, was originally a plant or animal believed as having particular symbolic significance for a group. It is a sacred object regarded with respect and surrounded by various ritual activities.
“Primitive man comes to view society as something sacred because he is utterly dependent on it”
The worship of sacred things also functions to bind together a society’s members so promoting social solidarity or social unity. The very act of communal worship and the practice of rituals raises peoples awareness of their common situation and strengthens the bonds between society’s members.
Durkheim also recognized that religious belief and practice could provide a sense of renewed strength, confidence, serenity and enthusiasm, helping an individual either to endure the trials of existence, or to conquer them. In Durkeims views for that reason, all religions fulfil certain functions for the individual and for the society. For the individual, religion provides continuing motivation to face up to life, and social support based upon a sense of belonging. From a societal point of view, religion unifies members around the shared values, norms meanings and traditions of the collective conscience and therefore encourages social integration and social solidarity.
Durkheim claims that as the division of labour in industrial society becomes more complexed and specialised, so the collective conscience becomes weaker and less able to direct individual’s behaviour. However, rather than seeing society as sacred, people in industrial societies might come to see the individual as sacred. Thus Durkheim, anticipated that the religion of the future might be one in which the individuals are bound together, not through adherence to society, but by their common commitment to the ‘divine’ within each person and to individual dignity. The whole thrust of Durkheims theory is that religion does generate an agreed set of norms, values and traditions. (Harlambos M. 000)
Other functionalists have agreed with and reinforced Durkheims’ arguments. Malinowski also discusses the ways religion created a sense of identity. In particular he emphasised the role of religion in helping individuals and societies deal with threatening situations. Religion serves to reduce the tension that is an inevitable part of life. Parsons has placed religious values at the heart of the ‘central value system’, which he claimed, lay at the core of society. To Parsons, religion has a major role to play in socialisation. Learning the central values of the society to which they belong, benefits not only the individual but also the whole social group. It ensures stability, unity and social harmony. The fact that religious values can be fundamental in society is illustrated by the example of the Ten Commandments that have survived as the cornerstone of Judeo-Christian society for millennia. Religion offers meaning to events in today’s industrial society, which are otherwise incomprehensive and which may threaten the survival of society. Religion also helps to deal with the frustrations that may be experienced when individuals fail to achieve their individual goals. Belief in an afterlife helps individuals come to terms with any failure in this life.
Rather than seeing society as sacred, people in industrial societies might come to see the individual as sacred. Thus, functionalists anticipated that the religion of the future might be one in which the individuals are bound together, not through there adherence to society, but by their common commitment to the ‘divine’ within each person and to individual dignity.
The functionalist perspective is blind to the faults of institutions, religion causes conflict, not consensus. The religious conflict in Northern Ireland and the Middle East is a prime example of this.
Weber, in his study of religion, was, as usual, concerned with the problem of meaning, and he argued that religious beliefs provide the ultimate answers to the basic question of human existence. Weber accepted that religion often functioned to justify social inequality; but he was also fretful to show that religion did inevitably function in this conservative manner. Religion existed, he believed, because people everywhere needed a system of basic beliefs to make sense of their existence and have a sense of identity. Religion provided people with ‘meaning’. Weber’s major argument was that societies developed differently in part because the religious beliefs and ideas about ethical conduct of their members were different. In other words, religious belief and religious movements can help shape social change.
In his continuing debate with the ‘ghost of Marx’, Weber tried to show how religious ideas, rather than being the result of economic activity, could actually cause changes in it. He made wide-ranging studies of the relations between world religions and economic life, but his best-known work is ‘The Protestant Work Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism’ (104).
The thesis of this work is that the Calvinist version of seventeenth and eighteenth-century Protestantism in Europe resulted in behaviour that, together with other factors, produced modern capitalism. The Calvinists believed that their fate after death is predestined by God, and that their conduct in this life cannot affect that destiny. However, rather than treating this as an excuse to behave just how they chose, the Calvinists looked for reassurance that they were among the elect, and they believed that success in work was an indicator of elect status. Hard work is a form of worship, and glorifies God. Combined with a rational rather than a traditional approach to business activity, hard work results in financial success. However, since Calvinists must lead a puritan ascetic life, they cannot spend money on good living. All they can do is reinvest it in the business, which will produce more wealth. Thus the systematic and rational self-discipline of Calvinism is echoed in the systematic and rational business discipline of capitalism.
Nevertheless, he could reasonably claim to have demonstrated that religious beliefs can have a significant role in influencing a society’s economic system and development. (Sociology of Religion)
Feminist’s theories of religion follow Marxists theories in arguing the religion can be an instrument of domination and oppression. They tend to see Religion as a product of Capitalism. They see society as serving the interests of men rather than that of the capitalist class. Women are always ‘secondary’ in most religion- God is the ‘father’, thus women continue to be excluded from key roles even though there better attenders. Women’s second-class status is often related to female sexuality, female circumcision as part of some religions is further control of their sexuality. Menstruation and child bearing are often seen as “polluting”. In some religions such as the Muslim religion women are obliged to attend ceremonies of ‘purification’ after childbirth.
However sociologists have come to acknowledge that women can be no longer seen as passive. Jean Holm (Harlambos, M. 000) sees ‘signs of hope’ in the religious situation of women in Western industrial society.
As well as the variety of religious beliefs in societies, there are a variety of religious organizations.
Troelstch (11) distinguished between models of church and a sect. A ‘Church’ is conservative and supports the established social order it attempts to influence the entire lives of its members, it is intolerant of other religious groups, its leaders are wealthy and powerful it is bureaucratically organized. A ‘Sect is radical and rejects the wider society. It is comparatively small, highly integrated, and dominates the whole life’s of its members, its membership is exclusive and members regard themselves as the elect, it is often connected with the lower classes, have a charismatic leader and last for a short time. There is also the ‘denomination’, this falls somewhere between a church and a sect; it does not claim a monopoly of religious truth; it is tolerant of other religious groups and it compromises wider society. As with all models, theses are not descriptions of the real world, yet they are particularly useful when looking at how religious groupings change with the move to industrial society. It may be argued that there is no church type organization in Britain today; there is only sects and denominations.
The change from sect to denomination may be linked to the changing status of it members. Churches tend to be related to the established order and encourage social stability. God ordained Social inequality. Sects, on the other hand, embody protest against the established order.
An alternative appeal to the deprived is offered by the various ‘millenarian’ or ‘messianic’ religions. These promise success in this world, with the overthrow of the oppressors and power being given to the dispossessed. Perhaps the best-known example is the Jewish belief in the coming of the Messiah. Many writers regard such beliefs, which occur over and over again in history, as weakening the political will needed to bring about genuine revolution. (The pursuit of the Millennium)
The term ‘Secularisation’ refers to ‘the process whereby religious, thinking, practice and institutions loose social significance’ (Wilson 166). Commonly, this process is assumed to have occurred in industrial society.
As far as religious practice goes, there has been certainly been a decline in Church attendance, baptisms, confirmations, church weddings and Sunday school attendance. However, it is difficult to collect accurate figures, and there are wide variations by region, by type of community, by age, sex, class and religious grouping (Wilson 177)
In institutional terms, the influence of the church in England and Wales has declined in politics, the law, economic affairs, family life and especially in education. Though church leaders comment more freely on earthly matters such as nuclear weapons, race relations or picketing, their influence is markedly less. Some writers now point to the way that due to the rise in industrial society and technology, science now provides rational answers to questions traditionally answered by religion, and to changing attitudes to sexual morality, divorce and abortion. Although the huge majority still believe in something they call God. In a pluralist society like ours we should not expect and one set of religious beliefs to dominate. Hence, while we see the decline in the position of the universal church, there is a vigorous growth of sect-type religions. The arguments about what secularisation is and whether it has occurred has become so confusing, and the evidence so contradictory, that Martin (167) has said that it should be abandoned.
The debate is more complicated if we look at the situation in other industrial societies. Church attendance has been increasing in the USA in recent years, and events in Northern Ireland show that religion is clearly not an ‘optional extra’ here. This is an important reminder to us that not all industrial societies follow the same pattern. (Heelas, Paul 16)
Sociologists of religion have usually stressed how religion contributes to the stability and the continuity of society. However, if we think of recent events in Northern Ireland and Manhattan it is clear that religion is often involved in instability and conflict. The key to explaining this lies in the concept of legitimacy. Religious beliefs can be seen to be capable of legitimating, that is justifying, or providing more or less rational arguments in favour of a wide range of activity, whether for or against the status quo.
The study of religion is a challenging enterprise, which places quite special demands on sociological imagination. The above themes and perspectives help us to make sense of the many different beliefs and rituals found in the various human cultures. Religion in industrial society can be read either in favour for or against the secularisation thesis. We observe at the same time a loss of the supernatural element in traditional religion and, in certain quarters, a re-magicalisation of the world; we see secularisation within some churches while more traditional and conservative churches flourish. It is a picture of instability, change and, above all diversity, which reflects fundamental contradictions in our present condition on the one hand, a widespread need to believe in something and, on the other hand, scepticism about anything incompatible with scientific rationality, antipathy to dogma and religious authority and affirmation of individualism and freedom to question and choose.
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