Sociology 2510 - Religion and Society

Daro Ba  

Professor Sheldon Weintrob

Sociology 2510

20 April 2015

Religion and Society

The role of religion in society is definitely a dynamic one. The relationship between both religion and society is always changing. Religion affects different societies in different ways and different forms. Religion can be a driving force in society; it influences a lot of what we do. It influences how we dress, act, and treat others. Because of religion people decide what is wrong from right. Without religion people wouldn't fear disobeying God and they would act as they please. Although our nation is a "secular" nation many people still believe in a religion in order to get on the good side of God. Religion is what stops our criminal numbers from skyrocketing. However with the technology we have in today’s society I believe religion does not as big of a role as it used to especially in younger generation.  

Emile Durkheim, the founder of functionalism proposed that religion has three major functions in society: it provides social cohesion to help maintain social solidarity through shared rituals and beliefs, social control to enforce religious-based morals and norms to help maintain conformity and control in society, and it offers meaning and purpose to answer any existential questions. He argued that religion was an expression of social cohesion. Karl Marx on the other hand viewed religion as teaching people to accept their current lot in life, no matter how bad, while postponing rewards and happiness to some afterlife. Religion, then, prohibits social change by teaching nonresistance to oppression, diverting people's attention away from worldly injustices, justifying inequalities of power and wealth for the privileged, and emphasizing rewards yet to come.

About 84% of the world population today is religious. So as the percentage would suggest religion plays a huge part in the way people live their lives throughout the world. There are roughly 4,200 religions in the world. However Christianity and Islam continue to be the two fastest growing religions in the world. It is estimated that about 32% of the world’s population are Christians and about 23% are Muslim. Some people believe that Christianity was the religion America was founded upon and that the bible was a great inspiration for the founding fathers. With words like God, Lord, and Creator found in the Declaration of Independence, it is easy to assume that the founders of the United States were Christians. John Adams, the nation’s second President, said, “The Christian religion is, above all the religions that ever prevailed or existed in ancient or modern times, the religion of wisdom, virtue, equity and humanity”. Benjamin Franklin, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, wrote to Yale president Ezra Stiles, “I think the system of morals and Jesus religion as He left them to us, the best the world ever saw or is likely to see”. Such statements imply that Christianity was influential in the founders’ lives. While the constitution does not contain any references to God, Jesus Christ, or Christianity or declares America as a Christian nation. The Christian religions still have a great impact on America society one issue that has been present for many years now is if gay marriages should be allowed. America is the land of the free, which gives each legal citizen the right of privacy, freedom of speech, and freedom of religion. However when the topic of gay marriage arises in conversations, the main opposing point would be that the bible doesn’t agree with it and that it is an abomination. According to the first amendment, the bible has no standing in American law. But gay marriage is still a big issue in America. In Senegal The Constitution, along with other laws and policies, guarantee the freedom of religion. About 92% of Senegalese are Muslim. The Quran, which is the central religious text of Islam, states that Homosexuality is strictly forbidden in Islam in all shapes and forms. While the constitution of Senegal sates that religion and the law is separated the Islamic religion still affects some of the laws Senegal is one of 38 African countries that outlaw homosexuality. In some cities you could get executed when accused of homosexuality acts.