Essay On Sociology Of Religion

Religion is a complex term and multifaceted phenomenon. Thus, definitions of religion vary based on our discipline or how we approach it. In this sense, there is a wide-range of definitions in various disciplines and some of them are broad and comprehensive, some of them are narrow and exclusionary. Hence, each definition can be seen as a way of understanding or seeing the multidimensional meaning and practice of religion. For example, I will fist give three basic dimensions of religion are interconnected to each other. The typical dictionary definition of religion refers to a set of beliefs, symbols, and practices (for example, rituals) which is based on the idea of the sacred and which unites believers into a socio-religious community (Scott

Religion is also a structural system with established status, organizational patters, and even bureaucratic dilemmas. Finally, religion is composed of a belonging system, with friendship networks, group boundaries, and informal norms that may be quite independent of the formal structure or official meaning systems (Roberts and Yamane 2015). Here, the task of the sociology of religion is not to judge the truth or false of any religion or belief but it is a sociological attempt to understand and explain the social reality of religion. Thus, many works of the sociology of religion define religion in two ways: substantive and functional, in some cases: symbolic (Davie 2013). Now I will look at these basic features of substantive, functional, and symbolic definitions of religion on the following

These perspectives offer various theories, which explain how society influences individual and vice versa. In this sense, sociology offers particular sociological theories to examine religion at individual and societal levels. Here, religion (religious behavior or faith) can be conceptualized as a dependent or independent variable on the effect of other social processes (Davie 2013) Two major perspectives are functional and conflict theories, which driven by a common purpose: the better understanding of the place (and role) of religion in the societal level and global scale. Many religions have appeared as particular set of ideas, values, rituals, and institutionalized forms of collectively shared beliefs and values in the modern societies. Thus, the sociology of religion looks at both aspects of religion to understand how they affect human behavior and its interpretive frameworks. Ultimately, it looks at the how do religion influence humans and how do people make sense of the world through