THE POSTIVE IMPARTS OF RELIGION
Religion serves many
functions which include the following:
It is a catalyst for change
It can serve to
preserve social ideals and traditions. The role of religion as a way to
preserve the traditions of the society is based in the main functions of religions.
Religions are intended to reinforce group norms. This may be accomplished
through defining actions as either good or evil, such as in the Western
religion of Christianity. Killing is considered an evil, and so is prescribing
to idolatry. By defining these actions as evil, spiritual consequences can be
attributed to the actions that deter group members from participating in such
activities.
Provision
of moral sanctions and values
Religions are to
provide moral sanctions for actions and to provide values and common goals that
are intended to help society function orderly. This can be accomplished by
attributing certain gods, goddesses, or spirits to specific behaviors, events,
or items. Each god, goddess, or spirit has a function of control over some aspect
of the group member's life, and can be considered to be evil or good. In
traditional Chinese societies, ancestral spirits are thought to protect current
generations from harm as long as tributes of remembrance are continued. If
these traditions of honoring ancestral spirits are discontinued, or are not
conducted according to tradition, then the ancestral spirits will be angered
and they will spread misfortune to the family. These types of mythologies uses
fear to reinforce traditional rituals and practices.
Education
is another role that religion plays
They pass down the stories and knowledge
gained by the culture through oral traditions such as storytelling and rituals.
Rituals are used to make learning traditional ways memorable. This can be
accomplished through grand celebrations, such as those seen by the Maya, or
through rites of passage where there is a physical alteration imposed on the
adolescent, such as in the case of genital mutilation conducted in Somalia on
young women.
Religion
can also serve as a catalyst for change. When social
conditions are under pressure from outside sources, new religious movements may
sprout up and encourage actions to be taken. One example of such a movement is
known as a revitalization movement. In 1931 on the Solomon Islands a
revitalization movement emerged that predicted the divine removal of the White
oppressors. Prophets promised that once the Whites were removed a cargo ship
would arrive with Western manufactured goods. In order to provide storage for
all of the goods that were to arrive the prophets encouraged the people of
Solomon Island to build a large storehouse. Many people added their labor to
the construction of the storehouse, and in doing so, did not keep working their
traditional fields[1].
Another example of such a movement was seen in the United States in the 19th
Century with the Mormonism movement. The result of this revitalization movement
was an evolution of the base religion, Christianity, into a new secular form,
Mormon.
[1]
Haviland, William A. Cultural
Anthropology. (Fort Worth: Harcourt College Publishers. 2002) p 384
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