Religion and Society - Essay Example

Religion and Society Bureaucracy is the regularized procedure, and formal divisions of responsibility characterize its structureand set of rules and regulations to control activity in the government and large organizations. Bureaucratization of religion is seen in Middle East over past half-century. In Middle East three religious processes have grown together. Two things are seen in Middle East: 1.Growth of fundamentalism that has received worldwide attention both by the international establishments and journalists. 2. Bureaucratization of religion and the state co-optation of religion. The bureaucratization of religion focuses on the chain of command of religious professionals and the state co-optation of religion focuses on their neutralization as political rivals. Fundamentalism, the bureaucratization of religion and state co-optation of religion has become intertwined in equally supportive as well as in hostile relations in Jordan. Bureaucratization of religion and politics is also seen in contemporary Iran where there is due to emphasis on Shia radicalism, national character and revolution. In Iran, the relationship between politics and religion is because of historical context from the past time, and the role of religious leaders in the Iranian political movements and setup. It is said that the Iran has introduced radical sect of Islam for its national character of independence and for its historical culture and tradition to show itself as a great regional and world power. Shi'ism is an end product of the Iranian historical traditions of state, religion, and politics, and of its cultural contributions to the Islamic and world civilizations. Therefore, a remarkable continuity in Iran's past heritage of asserting her independence in the modern world of global transformation which is led by the superpowers of this modern world. Just like Zoroastrianism was of the ancient Sasanid Persia, Iran is the motherland of Shi'ism and Shi'ism is an integral part of Iran (Johnstone,2008). Another example for the Bureaucratized religion is Saudia Arabia.Although Saudi Arabia is thought to be the most religious among all Muslim countries, the question of who in the kingdom determines its central Islamic tract has been the subject of controversy since its foundation. The formation of Saudi Arabia in the early twentieth century involved the unique requirement of the Wahhabi da'wa in the service of the political aims of the Saudi family, Al Sa'ud. The regime has not been without its enemy, but for the most part the Al Sa'ud has been able to contain them. However, since the Gulf War, the social and economic problems that have inundated the country have led to the rise of a radical Islamic fundamentalist movement that has challenged Saudi Arabia's public role as the one Islamic country that has successfully combined culture, tradition and modernity (Wilson, 1986). Religiosity is a term used in sociology that refers to many faces of religious activity, belief and dedication. Religiosity refers more with how religious a person is, and less with how a person is religious in terms of practicing certain rituals, telling the myths, knowing some specific symbols, or accepting certain doctrines about his/her duites and life hereafter. Most of the debates in the study of religion have grappled over conceptualization issues that are really measurement issues. Much had been written in press in the 1960s and 1970s for the typology of the church-sect. Following that period people have seen similar disagreements about secularization which depend heavily on how one decides to measure the concept. Now we argue on what leads to a strict church (Hill & Hood,1999). Life would be more simpler if we could all use the same set of conceptual measures, apply them consistently, and be able to compare our findings systematically (Harvey Whitehouse,2000). Emile Durkheim(1858-1917) is considered to be the father of sociology. He is recognized for making sociology a science, and making it part of the French academic curriculum as "Science Sociale". During his lifetime, he gave many lectures, and published an impressive number of sociological studies on subjects like religion, suicide, and all aspects of society. There are seen two main issues in classical sociology: a) How religion has contributed to the maintenance of social order b) What is the relationship between a capitalist society and religion These two raised questions are typically combined in the argument that industrial capitalism would undermine traditional religious commitment and thereby threaten the integrity of society. More recently the subject has been narrowly defined as the study of religious institutions. He more interested in the studying the problem that which thing helds a complex modern societies together. He argued that the religion leads to the social integrity of a society. Thus, religion is an inevitable entity like a society when individuals live together as a group (Nisbet, 1965). He modeled that people and the supernatural have similar relationship like that of individuals and the community. He is famous for proposing that "God is society, writ large." Durkheim said that society has to be present within the individual. He saw religion as a process that protects a threatened social order. He proposed that religion is the cementing force of society in the past. He prefered religion to be communal instead for an individual experience. He wanted people to unite in a civic morality on the basis that we are what we are as a result of society. Durkheim condensed religion into four major functions: administrating discipline,a strong bond that brings people together, it boosts uo one's spirit, bringing a good feeling, happiness, joy and confidence in a person (Pickering,1984). Fundamentalism means deep and totalistic commitment for a belief and strict attachment to a set of basic principles. The violence is spreading to the whole Middle East that has hit Iraq, Israel and the Palestinians. In Syria attackers were engaged in an odd conflict with security forces in the centre of capital Damascus. Jordan authorities aired video- taped confessions by apparent members of al-Qaeda saying they were planning large-scale attacks in the kingdom. The common thing in Jordan and Syria have is a secular stance that puts them into conflict with Islamic fundamentalists of different groups. Now violence is flaring up again ( Marsden, 1982). Religious extremism is a hot topic that is being discussed almost everywhere. There is need to find the major reasons that are behind the spread of religious extremism. It is spreading day by day due to the illegal occupation of foreign troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. This so called war on terror is giving no results to the world except the bomb blasts and wastage of resource on an endless war. The problem of this extremism is giving a lot of loss of property and lives in not only in Middle East but in South Asia as well. There is need to review the policies of the countries which are doing collaboration with US in this war on terror. People are demanding change in Government policies because this problem of extremism is leading towards terrorism. This terrorism is giving loss of economy, lives and property to the member countries, which are working in collaboration with US forces. The problem is not only present in the occupied regions of Middle East but it is also being faced by South Asia i.e. Pakistan and India as well (White, 1997). The problem of extremism is not restricted to Middle east, it is seen in Afghanistan and Pakistan as well. There is need to address the root causes of extremism. The major factors like poverty, injustice, inequality, negative aspects of capitalism need to be addressed. Otherwise, this disease of extremism will engulf the whole world. The problem of extremism in Pakistan has lead towards the terrorism. Frequent bomb and suicide attacks in recent months have led the country to its worst condition in its whole history. Pakistan is, no doubt ranked, amongst third world countries. But this country is facing the worst condition of economy, foreign exchange and loss of property and lives in her whole history of sixty years. People are trying to migrate to developed countries, shifting their reserves and money to foreign banks resulting in crash of economy and reserves to the country. The main reason behind this whole economic crisis is mistrust on Government policies and frequent bomb and suicide attacks. That's why people are demanding the Government to change its policies. The basic meaning of the term civil religion refers to sociologist of religion or a professional political commentator. From point of view of sociology of religion, civil religion is the cultural religion of a nation or a political culture. Civil religion is a bit above the cultural religion in its social and political status. Civil religion is somtimes practiced by leaders within that society for their political purposes. On the contrary, Civil religion is a bit less than an establishment of religion, as established churches have official clergy and have fixed and formal relationship with the government relatively that establishes them. Civil religion is normally practiced by political leaders of the countries who are specifically spiritual (Richey & Jones, 2006). Civil religion comprise of such things like use of name of God in political speeches and public meetings, use of religious coatations on public meetings by political people, and religious gatherings called by political leaders (Cristi,2001). Civil religion is also practiced by using religious symbols on public buildings, and worshiping of those public buildings(Marty,1996). That's why people of some countries have ruled out the use of religion in their society like Russia. They think that religion is used as weapon to suppress people. But societies without religion lead to very harsh societies and societies without any feelings of humanity and sacrifice. Bibliography: 1. Johnstone.R (Jun 6,2008), Religion and Society in Interaction: The Sociology of Religion, Prentice-Hall 2.Frederick Wilson.JF (1986), Church and State in America: A Bibliographical Guide, Greenwood Publishing Group. 3. Hill.PC, Hood.RW (1999), Measures of Religiosity, Religious Education. 4.Harvey Whitehouse (2000), Arguments and Icons: Divergent Modes of Religiosity, Oxford University Press. 5. Nisbet.RA(1965) , mile Durkheim, Prentice-Hall. 6. Pickering.W.S (1984), Durkheim's Sociology of Religion: Themes and Theories, Routledge. 7. Marsden.GM (1982), Fundamentalism and American Culture: The Shaping of Twentieth-Century Evangelicalism, 1870-1925, Oxford University Press US. 8. White.PJ, Logan.WS (1997), Remaking the Middle East, Berg Publishers. 9. Richey.RE, Jones.DG (2006), American Civil Religion, Harper & Row 10. Cristi.M (2001), From Civil to Political Religion: The Intersection of Culture, Religion and Politics, Wilfrid Laurier University Press. 11. Marty.ME (1992), Civil Religion, Church and State, K.G. Saur. Read More