The Relationship Between Religion and Social Change Essay

The Relationship Between Religion and Social Change In this essay I will analyze and evaluate the relationship between religion and social change in several ways. I will look at the work of various sociologists and their findings and norm’s etc. One simple argument is that in technologically underdeveloped societies religion arises as a means of explaining the unexplained. Religion, in such societies, is organized into ceremonies that involve strict hierarchical relationships between the various participants. As countries begin to develop over a period of time many people don’t see a need for religion because they have better lives and simply exclude it. One way of understanding the†¦show more content†¦Religions such as Christianity prevents the family from changing too rapidly, for example, because it tends to support traditional family values and discourage alternatives such as promiscuity, homosexuality, and childlessness. This conservatism is seen by Functionalists as positive and desirable as it maintains society and prevents it from fragmenting. Durkheim argues that the function of religious ritual is to maintain social solidarity by affirming the moral superiority of society over its individual members. Durkheim believed that social life could only exist if values were shared and society integrated into a coherent whole. Religion is an important aspect of this process not only providing a set of unifying practices and beliefs, but also by providing a way in which people can interpret and give meaning to the world. Robert Wuthnow who studied Religious Movements and Counter movements in North America (1986) had several interesting findings. He found that rapid changes in science and technology in the post 2nd World War period, allied to the expanding role of education produced a clearly developed ideological framework that challenged the role of religion as an explanatory framework in American society. Also with religious ideas and explanations being challenged by science, organized religion was forced to adapt to this challenge. Changes were expressedShow MoreRelatedThe Relationship Between Religion And Social Change1814 Words   |  8 Pagesstudy of religion has produced a range of interdisciplinary perspectives because of the sheer diversity of religious beliefs and practices, which have evolved with human history. Sociologists have theorised, to what extent religious practices and beliefs have been socially constructed, and, how these religious constructions shape other institutions and discourses throughout society and their impact on modernity. 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