Does Religion Stabilize Society - Essay Example

? Does religion stabilize society? Introduction Religion means much for us. Since the existence of humans it has represented one of the tool people have used to explain everything around. Even now we still apply to religion to explain much. We should recognize that religion plays a very important role in the life of all the people, even in the life of those who are not religious (Bruce, 1996). This fact proves that our society really can’t do without religion. Religious beliefs appear to be very useful for the society and many people agree that no society can exist without religion. However, the issue still remains controversial as religion is not same for all the countries and its role is different in different parts of the world. Unfortunately, there are the societies, which do not benefit from their religious beliefs, but they on the contrary delay their development. Thus, the given paper will prove that religion really can stabilize society, but only if the society stabilizes its religious beliefs. Religion and behavior Religion controls our behavior and this is the most important role of it. If to analyze the laws, which exist in the modern society, it will become clear that they are based on the religious beliefs transferred to us by our ancestors. For example, in European countries murder is considered to be the hardest violence and the first and most important commandment is “do not murder”. In his article “The advancement of religion in a pluralist society (Part I): distinguishing religion from giving to ‘charity’ Donovan Waters (2011) states: “religion as the law sees it is concerned with belief of some kind in the power and influence of the supernatural; a set of such beliefs will make up a faith and that faith relates humanity and the individual’s destiny to a conceived spiritual essence which in one way or another is understood to bring succour to human kind” (Waters, 2011: 653). Certainly, many views we got from our ancestors were transformed but there are some principles, which should and do remain unchanged. There is a controversy about the issue if it is the task of religion to make us good and honest, but we still should recognize that our rules are based on religious principles. But for the religion our society would be quite different. We can’t know exactly if the life in this society would be worse or better, but it would differ much from the life we have now. We know that well and thus maintain religion. We feel that we can’t do without it. According to Emile Durkheim, religion is a product of the society as the society recognizes its essentiality: “If religion has given birth to all that is essential in society, it is because the idea of society is the soul of religion” (cited in Bellah, 1973: 191). Religion, self-reliance and cooperation Religion teaches self-reliance. We can find many religious teachings, which teach us to rely upon ourselves in order to be successful. Religion teaches us to work hard and get the desirable, we all know the rule: keep looking for and you will find. This rule was brought to us by religious teachings and its veracity was proved many times. Religion states that we should never give up, on the contrary we should look for the new ways to get the desirable and believe in our own forces. Religion teaches us to rely upon ourselves but at the same time it teaches us to work together. The problem is that we are selfish by nature. We feel that we can get better results working as a one team but at the same time we always try to benefit from our selfishness. Religion helps us resolve this problem by teaching us to provide each other with necessary assistance. It condemns selfishness and selfish behavior. It is necessary we should mention that modern society and the views of capitalism make people more selfish. Now many prefer to get advantage of others and benefit from the failure of others. However, such behavior is still highly criticized and this is due to the religious principles the rules established in the society are based on. Durkheim states: "...sacred things are simply collective ideals that have fixed themselves on material objects" (cited in Bellah, 1973: 159). Religion and culture Speaking about the role of religion, we should recognize that it provides us with something we believe in, thus it defines our culture. Religion plays a very important role in cultural development. People are different and they come from different families but every family still believes in something. No matter what the name of their God is, Buddah or Jesus Christ, they still have a belief that forms their culture. Religion defines the way we behave, the way we speak, dress, etc. For example, clothes people usually wear in Europe are quite different from that they wear in the Middle East. The way people behave, for example the way they greet each other, is also different and is determined by the religious views of this or that country to a large extent. Religion and the Middle East The given work is trying to prove that religion really stabilizes society, but unfortunately this statement is correct only for the developed societies like the United States of America and Europe. These countries managed to make religion stabilize their society by stabilizing the views of religion. Laws are based on religious beliefs, and in the developed states these laws are based on those beliefs, which are really fair and useful for people. Unfortunately, we can’t state the same about the countries of the Middle East (Bulliet, 1994). Here we can see another situation: the people from the Middle East fail to use their religious beliefs for the benefit of all the people. If to evaluate the views of, for example, the religion of Islam, we can find many good beliefs, which could be used to produce fair laws. But, unluckily, people from the Middle East prefer to use their religion to promote violence. They use it to suppress people, especially women who suffer a lot from the rules of Middle Eastern societies. However, not all of them want to change something because in the church they are taught to be subordinate and humiliated. Thus they think that it is the God who wants this. Certainly, it is not so, men are just using religion to have the power over women. There is no need to mention the cruelty Muslims kill each other with. The main problem of these societies is that they lack democracy. Emile Durkheim states that the religion is the product of the society, thus many changes should be implemented in the politics of the Middle Eastern countries in order to make religion stabilize them (Bellah, 1973). Conclusion Society can’t do without religion. Emile Durkheim states that the religion is a product of society and many people would agree with the scholar. The given work proved that religion really could stabilize society. It serves as the basis for our laws, regulates our behavior. However, we can’t state that religion stabilizes all the societies in the world. If we look at the societies of the Middle East we can see that nothing is stabilized there. They use religion only to promote violence and unfortunately, the situation is not going to change. Scholars are still looking for various ways to regulate the situation in the Middle East. Everything depends on us, we are the masters of our life, and thus our religion can really stabilize society, but only if the society stabilizes its religious beliefs. References Bellah, R. N 1973, Emile Durkheim: On Morality and Society, Selected Writings. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press and Thompson, Kenneth; Bruce, S 1996, Religion in the Modern World: From Cathedrals to Cuts, Oxford: Oxford University Press; Bulliet, R 1994, Islam: The View from the Edge, New York: Columbia University Press; Freud, S 1975, [1927], in Strachey, James, The future of an illusion, W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.; Waters, D 2011, The advancement of religion in a pluralist society (Part I): distinguishing religion from giving to ‘charity’. Trusts & Trustees, Vol. 17, No. 7: pp. 652–667. Read More