‘Asses the view that religion always acts as a conservative force in society’ Many sociologists argue that the religion is a conservative force. A conservative force is a force that produces stability and maintains the same norms and values. This view is shared by functionalists, Marxists and feminists. However other thinkers such as Weber and neo-Marxists criticise this view, believing that religion is a force for social change. The main Functionalist view on religion highlights religions social role in society for example Durkheim believes that religion includes a mass of people worshiping.
The Rationalists were a group of people who believed that the world and everyone on it was basically good unlike the puritans who believed the total opposite. They also believed that people can discover the truth using there on reason instead of relying on only religious faith of intuition. Rationalists thought it improbable that God would choose to reveal himself only at particular times to particular people. It seemed much more sensible to
Another example is that voters in elections may decide which candidate to vote for according to his/her religion. This type of role of religion in politics appears to be legitimate and, I believe, would never go away. In addition, religion is often seen to enter our public political debate primarily as a voice on certain moral issues. I think this type of role of religion in politics should be welcomed because different groups of citizens could accept the same conclusions from quite different arguments. So religion should be a private affair having nothing to do with the public affairs.
With his ideas brought to the Puritans, they agreed that government should have a small influence on the church otherwise social accord will be corrupted. Governing economically, Puritans made it a priority to base their trade and commerce on religion. They made it clear that God and their religion was more important than worldly gain
William Penn had ideological beliefs that could provide an important foundation for the development of Pennsylvania into a tolerant society. He believed in liberty of conscience, the constraints of faith and the role of the state in religious matters. As well as his attitudes towards people of different ethnics or beliefs, and most important, he believed that people should believe in any religion they wanted to, without being persecuted, which he defined as illegal, immoral, and contrary to both reason and nature. After all, Penn attempted to convert a group of Labadist living in Herford, Germany, to Quakerism. He travelled a lot to some countries for the recruitment of German, Dutch, and French emigrants to Pennsylvania.
Religion is one of the institutions of socialization that has the most controversy. It has the most influence on how people think and live their lives and it therefore affects the wider society. It does not matter what religion you subscribe to, the basic elements remain the same for all. Religion can be defined as a system of beliefs and practices by means of which a group of people struggles with the ultimate problems of human life. Functionalist sociologists believ in the notion that religion “generates an agreed set of values, which operates in such a way as to hold society together”, however, to what extent is this a reality?
These differences in answers stem from each individual’s personal beliefs and morals. These beliefs and morals in turn stem from that individual’s history and culture. Thus, religion plays an important role in answering this question. At the most basic level, the religious person would answer that the purpose of being human is to “do onto others as you wish to have done onto you”. However, as society becomes less and less religious and consumerism increases in importance, this foundational rule, the golden rule, is being replaced with an
This action led to the founding the colony of Rhode Island as a safe place for religious dissidents. The Puritan clergy, which dominated the political structure, tried to enforce obedience and opposed any separation of church and state, as shown with Nathaniel Ward’s argument against government tolerance of religions diversity (Doc G). The
Many theories, such as the Marxist theories, see religion as maintaining the status quo and preventing social change. Religions have also often been supporters of traditional conservative values, especially in relation to the family and sexuality, for example. However, many sociologists argue that religion can also be a powerful force for social change. This essay will look at how religion can prevent social change and how it can act as a force for social change. Sociologists have argued that religion can be a force for social change.
Certain cultures may teach that sex (of any form) before marriage is not wrong while others believe that our morals change as society allows it to. There are always new beliefs and philosophies being introduced. Chopin wants to open the eyes of the world and convince us that passion shouldn’t be just for marriage and that adultery is good because it can strengthen a relationship. Coming from a more conservative Christian background, I don’t agree with her ideas. Some people believe that society as a whole looks down on people who are simply “different.” The author's general attitude is that everyone needs a way of escape, at certain times in his or her relationships.