Sociological Function Of Religion Essay

Religion is one of the strongest, deeply felt and influential forces in human society .It shapes people’s relationship with each other affecting family, economic and political life. Religious values and beliefs persuade human action and religious groups rearrange their collective religious consciousness. Religion is a noteworthy part of social life, and the social dimension is a critical part of the religion. Religion is a unified system of beliefs, rituals, and practices that define and express the nature of sacred things in relationship to the profane things of the world . Importance of a religion as social phenomenon according to sociological perspective, cannot be dispensed away. Supposedly a code of conduct is to maintained for all the

Despite the fact that none of these three men was especially religious, the force that religion holds over individuals intrigued every one of them. They trusted that religion is basically a fantasy; since society and area impact religion to such an extent, the thought that religion displays a major truth of presence appeared to be fairly far-fetched to them. They additionally theorized that, in time, the request and impact of religion on the current personality would diminish.

Sociological perspectives on religion strive to learn the functions religion creates, the problems and other disparity it can strengthen and propagate.

There are three mainline theories which provide general perspectives in sociology. They are

1) Structural Functionalism: Religion serves a few capacities for society. These incorporate (a) giving importance and reason to life, (b) strengthening social solidarity and stability, (c)serving as an operator of social control of conduct, (d) advancing physical and mental prosperity, and (e) motivating individuals to work for positive social

He stated the theory of ‘’Religion as Society Writ Large’’, in which it is said that all the religious expression and devotion are born through the roots of society. As he argued in his book ‘Elementary Forms of the Religious Life’ that the main advantage of religious worship which was provided by the power and structure of society was the collective emotional experience, in other words, is society symbolized and writ large. The main interest was cultivated through ‘Totem’ which served as an elementary form of