Religion and Social Stability
- Created by: Jacob Keyte
- Created on: 06-01-16 14:26
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- Religion and Social Stability
- Functionalism
- Durkheim (1912) said that religion teaches people norms and values they need tp stick to the collective conscience
- Therefore he saw the conservative nature of religion in a positive light, encouraging social harmony
- It means that society is safe from rapid social change, such as revolution, which would bring about anomie, leading to a breakdown in social order
- Durkheim was not entirely opposed to social change
- He recognized that slow change is necessary to prevent a society becoming stagnant and to allow it to progress
- For example: a steady rise is social status of women in Western societies over the past 100 years has allowed them to play a fuller part in public life, which benefits the whole of society
- He recognized that slow change is necessary to prevent a society becoming stagnant and to allow it to progress
- Durkheim (1912) said that religion teaches people norms and values they need tp stick to the collective conscience
- Feminism
- Many feminists assert that religion socialises women to conform to patriarchal norms
- Religious texts proclaim male superiority, placing women in a subordinate position
- For example; it is asserted in the Koran that "men are in charge of women ... hence good women are obedient"
- Feminists disagree, therefore, with the functionalist view that in maintaining the STATUS QUO, religion benefits society as a whole.
- They argue that women do not benefit, as they are oppressed in the male-dominated world advocated by traditional means.
- Men use religious texts to legitimate women's subordination and preserve their own social change
- They argue that women do not benefit, as they are oppressed in the male-dominated world advocated by traditional means.
- Feminists disagree, therefore, with the functionalist view that in maintaining the STATUS QUO, religion benefits society as a whole.
- For example; it is asserted in the Koran that "men are in charge of women ... hence good women are obedient"
- Marxism
- Marx (1957) though that religion is a tool employed by the ruling class to prevent mass rebellion that would free the working class from bring wage slaves
- His view is therefore opposite to that of the functionalists. He believed that radical social change would transform society into a communist utopia
- Religion is a device for starving off this revolution
- It is used in this way by the elite because they alone benefit from society staying just as it is
- Classless communism would mean that economic resources would be shared equally, which clearly threatens the ruling-class monopoly on wealth and power
- Marx (1957) though that religion is a tool employed by the ruling class to prevent mass rebellion that would free the working class from bring wage slaves
- Functionalism
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