Assessing the Claim that Religion is a Conservative Force

Assessing the Claim that Religion is a Conservative Force

The view that religion acts as a conservative force in society is

usually linked mainly with the Marxist approach. Marx argued that the

bourgeoisie (the ruling class) used religious ideas as part of the

‘ideological state apparatus’, this referring to those institutions

that served to conceal the capitalist exploitation of the proletariats

(the working class) and at the same time make them believe, under

false pretences, that society functioned in a fair and meritocratic

way. This Marxist approach can be identified within many religious

hymns; this Victorian hymn is one of many which highlight the Marxist

view;

“The rich man in his castle

The poor man at his gate

God made them high and lowly,

And ordered their estate.”

There are many hymns which make reference to social inequalities being

‘God-given’, together with the assumption that people should therefore

accept willingly these inequalities and therefore not question them.

An example that is often used to demonstrate how religion can act as a

conservative force in society is that of the Hindu caste system. This

existed for two thousand years, and huge inequalities between the

different castes were explained, justified and maintained by religious

beliefs, particularly that of reincarnation. In simple terms this

meant that Hindus believed that only if they strictly obeyed the rules

of their caste then they would consequently be reincarnated into a

higher caste. Failure to obey caste rules also resulted in punishment

in this life, not just in the afterlife, with people who committed

offences having to g...

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...eing treated

as slaved and ‘second class citizens’. The aim of the Nation of Islam

is black segregation, with followers lining in their own

self-sufficient society, with a strict moral code.

Finally, the ‘liberation theology’ of South America, where radical

Roman Catholic Protestants and nuns taught that it was the people’s

duty to rise up against oppression, is a further example to show that

religious ideas can be associated with social change.

In conclusion, the evidence suggests that in many cases religion does

act as a conservative force in society, helping to maintain the status

quo and prevent change, particularly revolutionary social change.

However other evidence suggests that there is nothing ‘inevitable’

about this process, and that religious ideas can also be associated

with a move for social change.