Le Francophone.

24 août 2009

“What is social about religion? Analyse the role religion plays in the social organisation of society.”

INTRODUCTION

All human beings dwelling on this planet practise diverse activities for the purpose of staying alive and maintaining a balance between their physical, mental and social life.  Religion is amongst those activities, and it is accomplished by individuals who believe in the existence of a supreme being with a sovereign power. This assertion may not be proved by scientific methods or sociological thinkers’ approaches. 

The configuration of society depends on different factors; and since centuries, religion and churches in particular have played, and continue to play, a tremendous function in modelling societies. The religious implication in societal existence has positive and negative effects. To respond to the question: what is social for religion and analyse the role plays by the church in the organisation of society, it is plausible to consider: both sociological and scientific approaches to religion, the relationship between the church and society and finally to look at some particular study cases on a global scale.

Body

Classical sociological thinkers such as Emile Durkheim Karl Marx and Max Weber have analysed each issue, with a sociological approach to the concept of religion.  At the stage of defining the term religion, Emile Durkheim states that religion is a system of beliefs and rites which has a tendency to separate things into two categories, the sacred and the profane (Morrison, 2001:p.191). In contrast, Karl Marx defines religion as the opium of people.  The notion of eternal life as preached by many churches procures people hope for the after- life. Their current struggles due to injustice and discrimination while still alive are compensated with the notion of eternity. (Giddens, 1995: p.464). Finally, Max Weber underlines that religion is one of the various social ingredients engendering the financial shift that leads to capitalism. (Morrison, 2001: p.225).  Furthermore, the scientific approach describes religion as an abstract element of social life which cannot provide evidence.  The study of the natural world by scientists is confirmed by the fact that researchers can observe, test and probe the substance of phenomena and provide evidence. (Bilton & eds, 2002: p.414) 

Anthony Giddens, on his book: Sociology and Introduction, pp459-464; divides religion in four main groups: cultural, Monotheist, polytheist and ethical religions. Totemism and animism are cultural beliefs that are encountered in social groups with small number of population. Totemism is defined as a belief in some types of plants and animals supposed to hold supernatural powers.  Animism means the belief in a spirit or ghosts, living in the same globe than human beings. In contrary to Totemism, animism is seen and practised in big cultural cities. Besides this group, stands a religious tripartite made of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. This set of religions is well known and has huge influence in societies. Their belief is centred in one God.

Judaism has existed prior to the birth of Christianity and Islam.  The belief is grounded on prophets and God. Also, Judaism is considered to be the official religion of Jewish people who underwent persecutions until the creation of

Israel

after the Second World War.

Christianity was established by Jesus’ followers who called him the Messiah. First believers were tortured by anti-Christ activists. But later, Christianity became one the most popular religions of that time. Yet, in the modern time, Christianity has more adherents in the world scale than any other religion.

Islam came from prophet Mahomet teachings. It is understood that the prophet exercised his ministry prior to Jesus’. Furthermore, Muslims believe that Allah is God and Mahomet is his prophet; also dogmas established by the Islamic institution have to be respected by members.

Hinduism is a polytheist religion of the far eastern part of the world. This doctrine has existed before Islam and Christianity. The key points of the Hindus’ faith are based on the principle of incarnation, social and ritual hierarchical predisposition of individuals.  Hinduism has reverence to other religious confessions, and stands beside Islam in terms of number of members.

The final piece of general information about types of religion ends by the ethical religions. This group of religions consists of Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism. The teachings of Siddhartha Gautama served as the basic element of the foundation of Buddhism. The focus of this belief is the escape of reincarnation through the rejection of desires. Also, by means of self-control and meditation individuals get salvation. Confucianism was founded by Confucius and aims to moderate human life throughout the interior harmony of nature insisting on the worship of ancestors. Taoism was set up by Lao-Tze and shares the same beliefs that Confucianism. One particular aspect of this belief is that it claims for non-violence approach. The definition on religion and different types of beliefs demonstrates how social life can be affected by those spiritual ideologies.

           Religious practices operate in communities belonged to states. And the relationship between church and state has always been a crucial matter to handle from a sociological viewpoint. As mentioned by Share, Tovey &  Corcoran in their book : A sociology of Ireland, pp 308- Durkheim and Weber have analysed in depth the connection linking religious bodies and social life. According to Durkheim, the effects engendered by religious conviction are numerous, notably: communal solidarity, community control and determination of the essence of human being existence.  Moreover, the church as institution fixes rules and norms which have an effect on members and society at large. This is performed by a communal contribution in sacrament and symbols; the observation of established dogmas and discernment between good and evil. These regulations canalise people’s attitude within society. In contrast, a matter of interest for Weber was the correlation between Protestantism and capitalism. Weber argued that Protestantism played a role in revealing societies’ inhabitants the benefit of work, communal values and social deed. Furthermore, he stressed on part played by Protestant religion in

Western Europe

’s progress. The cornerstone of this economic improvement derived from the transfer of fulfilment on self-discipline and on effectiveness. Therefore, salvation and eternal life were considered as a grant. Also, this helped to financial savings and resources exploitation. These two asymmetric critical conceptions on religion influence on societies illustrate the place occupied by this later in society. The case of

Ireland

is a typical demonstration of a metaphorical religious dominion on society. By tradition,

Ireland

is a religious nation.

                   The Irish post-famine period allowed the Catholic congregation to emerge as a powerful force in

Ireland

and it kept on exercising tremendous influence in Irish political and social domain. In the early years of the

Irish Free State

, governments were in a difficult situation to prove their fidelity and engagement to the Catholic hierarchy. In 1930, the Irish government set diplomatic partnership with the

Vatican

, and the President of that time W.T Cosgrave after his election put into place a system of close cooperation with the church.  When Eamon de Valera took the Presidency of the State in 1932, he openly declared his will to lead the country according to the Catholic principles as stipulated by that Pope Pius XI on the social order. By 1937, De Valera incorporated Catholic social teaching in the current Irish Constitution. This is expressed in its Preamble and many articles under Constitution. The influence of Catholicism in

Ireland

was strong as education, hospital, and welfare agencies were in full control of the church. At the mid-1980s, the Catholic hierarchy became arbiter of social legislation, having a ban on divorce incorporated into the Constitution, the introduction of divorce legislation, encouraging the introduction of draconian restriction of books and films, delaying the legalization of artificial contraception until 1979. This proves that, the church held a significant power control on society as a whole. Private- lives of citizens were not spare at all. To be identified Irish required a deeply clerical involvement in someone’s life. Nonetheless, this reign of the church started to decline in 1980. In late 1980s and early 1990 the decline of church authority on moral standards and socio-sexual issues were perceptible; a range of challenges were noticed by legalization of contraception; homosexuality and divorce in 1995.  This legal implementation suggested the beginning of the process of securitisation in this country.

                   In simplest terms secularisation describes “the process by which sectors of society and culture are removed from the dominion of religious institutional and symbols” (Share, Tovey & Corcoran: p.324). It is difficult to know what besides public discourse might suggest that things have changed in

Ireland

. However, the level of membership, and the social influence of the church ideas attachment to religious symbols and gestures can be looked at somewhat objectively.  Membership of the Catholic Church in

Ireland

is not very formal and is reflected in practice, for example in weekly mass attendance. According to the 2006 Census of population classified by religion, nationality undertaken by the Central Statistics Office Ireland, in a total of a population of 3706.683 who were Irish Citizens, 3409.381 were Catholics, and represent 91.99 % of membership. In terms of mass attendance, not quite half of

Ireland

's adults attend Mass each week, according to the Statistical Evidence on active Citizenship in

Ireland

, on frequency of attendance at religious services in 2006 published on March 2007 by Taskforce on Active Citizenship in

Ireland

. Figures reveal in total, an overall regular attendance by Irish people at  59.7%, another 9% attend for more than once a week, and 41% attending Mass at least weekly, representing a sharp drop from 1990 when a survey put the figure at 81%. Furthermore, the survey shows that 16.8% of respondents attend masses several time per year, while 8% once a year and 4.5 % less often. The last group represents 10.1 % of those of Irish people who have never attended masses, while 0.8 % refused and 22.7% non-participants. This demonstrates a steady decline in mass attendance over the past 15 years. This decline in religious practice in

Ireland

might be justified by a mixture of European and Western attitudes, a wave of abuse scandals within the leadership and finally the media that serves as a supplier of an alternative value and optional way for leisure and socialise.

                   In additional, technology development and economic prosperity observed in the last decades in this country lead to a reorientation of belief and consecration. The consideration of God’s matters is no longer as effective as it used to be. Responding to a call for ministry by the youth has been drastically dropped. In addition, the wave of migration to

Ireland

has brought into

Ireland

people from all different parts of the world with diverse religious and cultural values.

Ireland

ceased to be a mono-religious country where Catholicism was considered the main and unique religion of the state. Minority communities in

Ireland

practise different types   of religion than the Catholicism: Protestant, Pentecost, Assemblies of God, Islam and so forth. This new wave of charismatic religions undermines Catholic influence in

Ireland

and leads to a change in domestic culture and attitudes in regards to the church.  Despite this decline, disgrace and challenges,

Ireland

remains traditionally a Catholic country. 

                   Elsewhere, in the world the social implication of the religion is unlike than in

Ireland

. In

United Kingdom

for instance, religions are grouped according to the concept of Trinity.  Trinitarian churches include Anglicans, Catholics, Methodists and Presbyterians. Their memberships dropped by 16 percent from 1975 to 1990. Nonetheless, non-Trinitarian churches made of the Mormons and the Jehovah’s Witnesses seen their   memberships’ rate increased in 1992 (Giddens, 1995:  p.481)

The separation between church and state is well established in the

US

and freedom of religion is fully exercised by many Americans. Therefore, ecclesiastic configuration is multiform; the diversity in religious organisation is prominent in the

US

than in any other developed nation.  Christians represent 90 percent of the American Christian population within a multiplicity of denominations. What is remarkable is the increase of fundamentalist religious organisations including Christianity and Islam.

Conclusion

Having considered the social effects produced by religious practices and the role plays by religion in the organisation of society, it is plausible to note that religions have different backgrounds, meanings, values and can generate different effects in individuals’ social lives and in society as a whole. Its relationship with the state and its contribution in the shaping of society organisation is effective despite the fact that societies around the world which are not religious fundamentalists continue to become more secular.

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