On Fri, 28 Oct 2016 08:33:49 -0700 (PDT), Joe Bruno
Post by Joe Brunohttp://catalog.flatworldknowledge.com/bookhub/1806?e=barkan-ch17_s03
First, religion gives meaning and purpose to life. Many things in life are difficult to understand. That was certainly true, as we have seen, in prehistoric times, but even in todays highly scientific age, much of life and death remains a mystery, and religious faith and belief help many people make sense of the things science cannot tell us.
And in doing so, provides a crutch that inhibits one's own development
and ability.
Second, religion reinforces social unity and stability. This was one of Durkheims most important insights. Religion strengthens social stability in at least two ways. First, it gives people a common set of beliefs and thus is an important agent of socialization (see Chapter 4 "Socialization"). Second, the communal practice of religion, as in houses of worship, brings people together physically, facilitates their communication and other social interaction, and thus strengthens their social bonds.
Any club or institution will act in that way if it requires or
encourages people to meet and interact. Unfortunately religion
imposes an ideological burden and then forbids it's members from
openly discussing or being critical of the ideology.
The communal practice of religion in a house of worship brings people together and allows them to interact and communicate. In this way religion helps reinforce social unity and stability. This function of religion was one of Émile Durkheims most important insights.
A repeat of the last statement. Politicians of all stripes are well
aware of it and how to use it to control people.
© Thinkstock
A third function of religion is related to the one just discussed. Religion is an agent of social control and thus strengthens social order. Religion teaches people moral behavior and thus helps them learn how to be good members of society. In the Judeo-Christian tradition, the Ten Commandments are perhaps the most famous set of rules for moral behavior.
A third function? No. A repeat of the last two.
A fourth function of religion is greater psychological and physical well-being. Religious faith and practice can enhance psychological well-being by being a source of comfort to people in times of distress and by enhancing their social interaction with others in places of worship. Many studies find that people of all ages, not just the elderly, are happier and more satisfied with their lives if they are religious. Religiosity also apparently promotes better physical health, and some studies even find that religious people tend to live longer than those who are not religious (Moberg, 2008). [2] We return to this function later.
There is a placebo effect, no doubt about that; but encouraging people
to develop and embrace the positive aspects of their nature will
achieve the same thing - without the detrimental religious baggage.
A final function of religion is that it may motivate people to work for positive social change. Religion played a central role in the development of the Southern civil rights movement a few decades ago. Religious beliefs motivated Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights activists to risk their lives to desegregate the South. Black churches in the South also served as settings in which the civil rights movement held meetings, recruited new members, and raised money (Morris, 1984). [3]
That statement is redundant too.