The works of Emile Durkheim, Max Weber and Karl Max feature prominently in sociological attempts to reveal the role of religion in society. Archaeological evidence suggests that religion has been a feature since the beginning of society, its cultural significance acknowledged and studied by sociologists. Thus, a socio-historical view of religion along with its analyses through major sociological approaches should clarify the link between sociology and religion.
Durkheim (2012) describe religion as: “a unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things, that is to say, set apart and forbidden, beliefs and practices which unite into one single moral community, called a church, all those who adhere to them”. Religion can be associated with places of worship such as churches or mosques, with a concept that informs daily conduct such as sin, and with a practice like confession or meditation. Furthermore, religion can the basis upon which other cultural components and societal issues are examined. Further to that, sociological tools avail themselves to the study of religious culture to better understand its role in individual lives and its influence at the societal level (Durkheim, 2012).
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Historical evidence provides examples of leaders that have used, among other things, religious artifacts and tradition to provide a richer understanding of human existence and the universe. Further to that, religion has been a dimension of culture, publicly practiced by a group. Marriage and funeral services; feasts and festivals; music and art along with either meditation or initiation are instances of religious practice. While perceived as an individual level concern based on personal beliefs, sociology holds religion as a social institution (Clarke, 2009). This is because it is based on fundamental social needs and values that influence how it organizes its beliefs, norms, and behaviors. In varying forms, religious practices have been observed in all social groups. For instance, customs associated with funeral rites vary depending on cultural and religious connections. However, the ceremonies marking death share common features with regards to communication about the demise, care and disposition of the deceased, along with the rituals and ceremonies (Lundskow, 2008).
The sociological viewpoint holds that religious experiences, beliefs, and rituals bear different meanings. Experience refers either to the awareness of a connection to a divine entity and can be achieved through meditation or prayer. Rituals are those behaviors and practices required of the members of a religious group while beliefs address those ideas that faith members believe to be true (Roberts & Yamane, 2012).
The socio-historical view
Emile Durkheim
19 th -century European industrialization gave rise to secularization. It was against such a background that the works of the personalities mentioned above took hold as they attempted to analyze the connection between society and religion. Durkheim’s systematic viewpoint of religion distinguishes between the extraordinary/sacred and the ordinary. Not only does he attach the former to his concept of sacred, but he positions such discrimination as the basis of religious practice in society (Durkheim, 2012). Therefore, it is the meaning that society attaches that determines whether something is sacred or ordinary. According to Durkheim (2012), religious functions such as social control and cohesion along with the provision of meaning and purpose make religion community-centered. Furthermore, he asserts that it is the collective mindset of the society that is the source of religion and morality, and that common societal values are the basis of social order. Therefore, maintaining these values is preserving social stability making religion a vehicle of sustainable societies and cultures (Durkheim, 2012). Durkheim (2012) suggest that religion is a representation of societal power such that whenever members celebrate sacred things, they are acknowledging the power of their societies. Based on this, he asserted that the decline of traditional religion would not lead to societal decline.
Durkheim was, at one time, destined by family tradition to succeed his father and become a rabbi and to that end received good religious and secular education (Durkheim, 2012). Not only was he able to abandon his family’s tradition in favor of secularism, but his sociological work focused primarily on uncovering the function of religion in society. He asserted that behind the rituals and ceremonies of the most basic or sophisticated religions, both were able to satisfy social and human needs (Durkheim, 2012). Further to that, he also asserted that there was no false religion and their ability to create and maintain certain mental states brought people together, gave them focus through rituals, and unified them. His sociological approach to religion later became the basis of the functionalist viewpoint.
Max Weber
Weber asserted that religion was a catalyst for social change and developed his viewpoint by observing its effects on economic activity between the Protestant and Catholic societies (Adair-Toteff, 2015). Economically, the most developed capitalist states and businesses were from Protestant societies like Germany and England due to their ability to overturn the traditional Christian anti-materialistic values of poverty. There were strands of Protestants that encouraged the pursuit of material gain and motivated their followers to work hard and avoid spending their profits on unnecessary expenses. According to Adair-Toteff (2015), the Protestant viewpoint held that material wealth was a sign of divine favor upon the followers. Seemingly, the modern application of the phrase “work ethic” came from Weber’s work on the Protestant ethic. However, such religious compulsion to work declined in the 19 th and 20 th centuries as the acquisition of goods and services became the new connotation (Adair-Toteff, 2015).
According to Weber, Protestants were more aligned to capitalistic values of hard work and saving than their Catholic counterparts. By focusing on Calvinism, he was able to attach Protestant values to the rise of capitalism and the modern world order because it focused on individual achievement while Catholicism focused on community (Adair-Toteff, 2015). Currently, the compulsion to hard work has lost any form of religious connection as a reflection of the prevailing social and economic conditions. At the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, factory work required little thought and decision-making from the workers whereas today there is greater emphasis on decision-making and thought. Not only do modern employees work for wages, but they also work for independence and fulfillment (Adair-Toteff, 2015). Prevailing social and economic conditions require higher education levels, people management skills and access to the most recent information on any topic of interest. The common expectation among modern age workers is that talent and hard work should be rewarded both materially and career advancement. The sparse realization of this expectation has led many in western society to examine the role and power of religion in society (Adair-Toteff, 2015).
Karl Marx
Marx believed that religion reflected societal stratification and that it was a tool for maintaining social inequality and the status quo. Not was religion an extension of the suffering of the working class, but it was also a hindrance to reason that had prevented its followers from using reason to find solutions to their suffering (Raines, 2002). According to Marx, alongside the prevalence of European industrialization was the exploitation and alienation of the working class by the bourgeoisie. The outcome was that while the rich got richer, the working poor were exploited to the point of not only being detached from what they produced but to the point of their own commodification (Raines, 2002). Marx observed that religion served the roles of social cohesion and control and that capitalism exploited these functions to maintain both social inequality and the status quo.
Undoubtedly, the above-mentioned individuals asserted that religion was an important part of society despite their different viewpoints. Marx believed that religion was both a coping mechanism for the working poor and a tool of control and exploitation by the elite in society. Durkheim believed that religion promoted cohesion within society while Weber believed religion as separate from society.
Sociological approaches
Functionalism, symbolic interactionism, and critical sociology, these are the approaches advanced by sociology in the study of religion (Clarke, 2009).
Functionalism
According to functionalists, religion serves several societal functions and that both religion and society depend on each other for continued existence. Therefore, explaining spiritual mysteries, providing locations for social interaction and control as well as the provision of emotional support are some of the functions of religion in society. By defining both the spiritual world and its forces, religion fulfills the role of providing answers (Roberts & Yamane, 2012). Again, through its rituals, religion brings order, comfort, and organization in moments of emotional crisis, thereby, providing emotional support.
The functionalist viewpoint holds that the provision of social interaction and control is the primary role of religion in society. By providing a place where people of similar views can meet to interact and seek both spiritual and material assistance when necessary, religion is a platform for social support and networking (Lundskow, 2008). Furthermore, it can be an integration and cohesion tool in group dynamics. The significance of religion to the concept of individual identity might create an “in-group” versus “out-group” dynamic towards other religions or within religious practices. Also, religion promotes social control by reinforcing social norms that, among other things, regulate sexual behavior (Roberts & Yamane, 2012).
Critical sociology
According to critical theorists, religion is a tool for maintaining patterns of social inequality. Furthermore, they point to historical evidence where religion was used by oppressive monarchies to justify their “divine rights” and unequal social structures (Clarke, 2009). Therefore, the primary concern of critical theorists is how religions encourage their followers to be content with prevailing circumstances for they are divinely ordained. This, they argue, has been the basis of power that such institutions have used to maintain social inequality. They also attribute the loss of power of the Catholic church in the American continent to the oppressive perception of the church (Roberts & Yamane, 2012). Evangelical denominations have been able to adapt to social and economic changes while the Catholic church has not, in so doing, the former has been able to erode the power of the latter across the American continent.
Practically, religious institutions teach their followers that their rewards will come after death, therefore, there is no need to be concerned about their current socioeconomic conditions. Further to that, people in positions of power can control, among other things, beliefs and rituals through their interpretation of religious texts or proclaimed divine communication (Lundskow, 2008). Hence, the separation of state and religion is critical to ensuring that the public policy decision-making process is not only based on scientific evidence but also democratic deliberation and public scrutiny.
Feminism
Because their primary focus is on gender inequality, feminist theorists assert that while it is the women who socialize religion among children, few women have held traditionally powerful religious positions (Roberts & Yamane, 2012). Additionally, they suggest that European pre-history had societies that were culturally feminine-centered before the Semites and Kurgans invasions and patriarchal religions became dominant.
Symbolic interactionism
Based on the notion of a socially constructed world, this approach focuses on daily interactions and symbols and assert that beliefs and experiences only become sacred when the members of a society regard them as such. Among others, The Star of David in Judaism, the crescent and star in Islam, and the cross in Christianity are instances of symbols considered sacred by members of the respective religions (Clarke, 2009). Here, the focus of interactionists in the message these symbols convey. Given its primarily focused on daily interactions, this approach is concerned with the interactions between religious leaders and followers, how people express religious values in social interactions and the role of religion in daily life.
Religion relates to the beliefs, values, and practices based on spiritual concerns and because, through beliefs and practices that meet societal needs, it is a social institution. Furthermore, religion is a dimension that is present in varying forms across all cultures (Roberts & Yamane, 2012).
Atheists and agnostics
Despite the presence of religion alongside society and culture, there are societal constituencies that are not practicing any form of religion. According to atheists, there is no divine being or entity while agnostics assert that the ultimate reality cannot be known. Notably, these constituents have lacked a history of organization common among the forms of religion (Roberts & Yamane, 2012). Furthermore, a lack of religious affiliation does not equate to a lack of morality for such constituents have been able to coexist in societies dominated by religious affiliations.
Conclusion
Archaeological evidence suggests that religion has been part of culture and society. Sociology seeks to understand the connection between religion and society. Despite their different approaches to religion, the pioneering sociologists acknowledge the connection between religion and society. Durkheim asserts that religion is a belief system that relates to sacred entities. Weber perceives it as a tool for social change while Marx associates it with the inequality of capitalistic societies. Furthermore, symbolic interactionism, conflict sociology, and functionalism offer a sociological basis for understanding religion.
References
Adair-Toteff, C. (2015). Fundamental Concepts in Max Weber's Sociology of Religion . New York: Palgrave Macmillan
Clarke, P. B. (2009). The Oxford handbook of the sociology of religion . Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Durkheim, E. (2012). Elementary Forms of the Religious Life . Dover Publications
Lundskow, G. N. (2008). The sociology of religion: A substantive and transdisciplinary approach . Los Angeles: Pine Forge Press.
Raines, J. (2002). Marx on Religion . Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
Roberts, K. A., & Yamane, D. (2012). Religion in sociological perspective . Los Angeles: Pine Forge.
