The Contribution of Religion to Society (HSC SSCE Studies of Religion): Revision Notes
The Contribution of Religion to Society
Religion plays a vital role in shaping individual identity, culture, and society. This note explores how religious belief systems contribute to human understanding, social cohesion, and transformation.
How religion shapes human understanding
Religious traditions make profound contributions to how people understand themselves as human beings. They influence culture, the arts, relationships, and worldviews. At their core, religions address fundamental existential questions and explore concepts such as a supreme being or ultimate cause for existence.
Religious belief systems help individuals and communities answer what are often called the big questions of life or questions of human existence. These include:
- Who am I?
- Why do evil and suffering exist?
- Is there life after death?
- What is my purpose?
The answers provided by religious traditions can offer adherents comfort, a sense of belonging, meaning, and community. This contributes positively to both individual mental health and broader societal wellbeing.
Social cohesion
One of religion's key contributions to society is through social cohesion – the binding together of communities through shared beliefs and practices.
Understanding Social Cohesion
Social cohesion refers to the bonds that bring people together through common values, beliefs, and practices. In religious communities, these shared elements create strong connections that help maintain social stability and provide individuals with a sense of belonging and purpose.
Religion often acts as a conserving force by:
- Providing comfort during times of distress or uncertainty
- Establishing a moral code or law system for society
- Creating social norms that shape cultural behaviour
- Offering rituals and practices that mark important life transitions
- Building communities where people feel they belong
This stabilising function helps societies maintain continuity and gives individuals a framework for understanding their place in the world.
Social transformation
While religion can conserve tradition, it can also challenge and transform society. This is known as social transformation – when religious beliefs and movements bring about significant social or political change.
Religious groups and individuals may:
- Confront social or political injustice
- Challenge existing power structures
- Advocate for the vulnerable or marginalised
- Lead movements for change
Historical examples of religious social transformation include the abolition of slavery and the Civil Rights Movement. Both were significantly influenced by religious leaders and communities who believed their faith called them to challenge injustice.
The Dual Nature of Religious Influence
While religion can be a powerful force for positive change, it's important to note that religion's impact is not always positive. When believers become convinced their worldview is under threat, some religious movements can encourage extreme violence or intolerance. The impact of religion on society can occur at individual levels (such as personal questioning of beliefs) or at community and cultural levels (such as large-scale social movements).
Case study: the Quakers (Religious Society of Friends)
Worked Example: Religious Social Transformation Through Peace and Justice
The Quakers, established in the 1640s, demonstrate religion's capacity for social transformation through peace and justice work.
Key features of Quaker belief and practice:
- Ardently peace-loving religious group founded by George Fox (1624-1691)
- Worship through sitting in quiet contemplation
- Deep concern for social justice issues
- Commitment to pacifism – refusing to participate in warfare
Twentieth-century demonstrations of faith in action:
- Serving on battlefields as ambulance drivers and medics rather than soldiers
- Campaigning to save Jewish people from Nazi Germany during the Holocaust
- Establishing relief organisations to help those affected by war and persecution
Impact: In recognition of their humanitarian work, two Quaker relief organisations were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1947. This example shows how religious conviction can drive positive social change and care for others.
Exploring the big questions of life
Is there a supreme being?
This fundamental question has occupied religious thinkers throughout history. Different religious traditions approach this question in distinct ways.
Arguments for the existence of God:
The eighteenth-century theologian William Paley proposed the 'watchmaker argument':
- If you found a watch on a road, you would naturally assume someone made it
- The world is far more complex than a watch
- Therefore, the world must have been created by some form of sentient (thinking) being
Scientific perspectives:
Charles Darwin's evolutionary theory, presented in On the Origin of Species (1859), offered an alternative explanation:
- The world and its complex life forms developed through natural processes
- Species evolved over long periods through natural selection
- No divine creator was necessary to explain the development of life
Modern religious responses:
Religious people respond to evolutionary theory in different ways:
1. Creationists believe Darwin's theory is incorrect. They hold that the Book of Genesis is literally true and that God created the world in six days, only a few thousand years ago. Some fundamentalist Christian groups in the United States have established 'Creationist Museums' to promote this view.
2. Moderate believers accept evolutionary theory while maintaining religious faith. Many Christians and Jewish people view Genesis as a beautiful metaphor rather than literal historical fact. They believe biblical stories served different purposes than providing exact scientific explanations.
Religious traditions without a creator God:
Not all religions focus on a supreme creator being. In the principal religions of India, China, Japan and South-East Asia:
- The cosmos (universe viewed as an ordered system) is often believed to have always existed
- Creator gods, where they appear in stories, shaped existing material into new forms
- Buddhists revere Buddha not as a creator but as an enlightened teacher who discovered inner wisdom
- Hindus worship gods who help create, destroy and re-create the universe in endless cycles
Key terms:
- Agnosticism: The doctrine that it is impossible to know whether God, gods or spirits exist. Agnostics maintain that definitive proof either way is unattainable.
- Atheism: The doctrine that there is no evidence for the existence of God. Atheists hold that gods and spirits do not exist. The term comes from Greek 'a' (against/no) and 'theos' (god).
Ultimately, belief in a supreme being remains a matter of faith, intuition and emotion. Believers often describe this as something they 'know' in their hearts rather than something they can prove empirically.
Why do evil, pain and suffering exist?
Different religious traditions offer varying explanations for the presence of suffering in the world.
Buddhist perspective:
Buddhism teaches that suffering exists because people desire worldly things too much. The Buddhist system helps adherents understand that:
- Desires and emotional reactions to events create suffering
- These reactions are not necessary or inevitable
- Through practice and understanding, suffering can be transcended
Monotheistic explanations (Judaism, Christianity, Islam):
These traditions explain pain and suffering through several concepts:
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Free will: Humans possess the freedom to make their own choices. This autonomy means people can choose to act in ways that cause harm to themselves or others.
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The presence of Satan or evil forces: Some traditions teach that Satan or the devil actively works against good, tormenting people in hopes they will turn away from goodness.
The problem of evil:
The satanic explanation for evil presents a theological challenge:
- If God is omnipotent (all-powerful), God should be able to destroy Satan
- If God can destroy Satan but doesn't, questions arise about God's nature
- Monotheists counter this by emphasizing free will: humans ultimately choose their own paths, and this freedom can lead to pain and suffering
Different believers within monotheistic traditions take the concept of Satan more or less literally, with some viewing it as symbolic of human tendencies toward wrongdoing.
Is there life after death?
Most major religions address what happens after death, though their answers vary significantly.
Hinduism and reincarnation:
Hinduism teaches a doctrine (body of teachings) of reincarnation:
- A soul exits the body after death
- The soul returns into a new body just before rebirth
- The quality of a person's actions in their current life (karma) determines the nature of their next life
- Good actions lead to a better rebirth; harmful actions lead to a more difficult existence
Chinese ancestor veneration:
Traditional Chinese belief holds that:
- When parents die, children have a duty to honour their memory
- Descendants place food and offerings on the family altar to venerate (show deep respect for) ancestors
- This practice maintains connection between the living and the dead
Buddhist and Chinese synthesis:
When Buddhism arrived in China, its doctrine of rebirth merged with existing ancestor worship practices, creating a complex understanding of the soul's journey after death that incorporated elements of both traditions.
Common themes:
While specific beliefs vary, most major religions agree that:
- Death is not the end of existence
- The soul or consciousness continues in some form
- A person's actions during life have consequences for what comes after
Belief in life after death provides comfort to many adherents, offering hope that death is not final and that they may be reunited with loved ones.
Dynamic, living religions: balancing change and tradition
The phrase 'living religious tradition' appears frequently in Studies of Religion. It refers to how religious traditions remain relevant and meaningful to adherents' lives while adapting to changing circumstances.
What makes a religion 'living'?
A living religious tradition affects adherents' daily lives in multiple ways:
Personal practice:
- Daily beliefs and how they shape thinking
- Personal morality and lifestyle choices
- Focus of devotional life and prayer
Community participation:
- Attending religious services (church, mosque, synagogue, temple)
- Celebrating religious festivals (Christmas, Ramadan, Diwali, Shabbat)
- Participating in communal rituals and ceremonies
Life choices influenced by faith:
- Vocational decisions (becoming a monk, nun, or religious leader)
- Dietary practices (keeping kosher, vegetarianism, halal food)
- Ethical decisions in daily life
Social engagement:
- How religious groups influence society
- Religious leaders who drive social change (Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr.)
- Lobbying and protesting legislation based on religious principles
The challenge of balancing tradition and change
Religious traditions face a constant tension between maintaining their essential identity and adapting to new circumstances.
The role of tradition:
Religion often represents constancy and stability by:
- Preserving ancient teachings and practices
- Providing comfort through familiar rituals
- Maintaining cultural identity across generations
- Offering certainty in an uncertain world
The need for change:
However, if religion becomes too rigid or unchanging:
- It may become irrelevant to people's lived experiences
- Younger generations may struggle to connect with overly traditional forms
- The tradition may fail to address contemporary ethical and social issues
The dynamic nature of religious study:
What makes the study of religion intellectually engaging is examining how religious traditions:
- Maintain their core identity and teachings
- Adapt to changing social, cultural and technological contexts
- React to challenges and crises
- Continue to provide meaning and purpose to adherents
This dynamic quality – the ongoing interaction between stability and change – is what keeps religions 'alive' and relevant for individuals, communities, and broader society.
Religion's dual role in society
Religion operates in society with two sometimes contradictory functions:
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Conservation: Providing stability, comfort, and moral frameworks that maintain social order
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Transformation: Challenging injustice, advocating for change, and confronting social problems
Successful religious traditions manage to fulfil both roles, offering comfort and continuity while also calling society toward justice and improvement. The characteristics of religion – beliefs, sacred texts, ethics, rituals, religious experience – all interact to create this dynamic quality that makes religious traditions living, evolving forces in society.
Remember!
Key Points to Remember:
- Social cohesion describes how religion binds communities together through shared beliefs, practices, and values, providing stability and moral frameworks for society
- Social transformation occurs when religious beliefs and movements challenge injustice and bring about significant social or political change
- Religious traditions address fundamental existential questions: Who am I? Why does suffering exist? Is there life after death?
- Agnosticism is the view that we cannot know if God exists; atheism is the belief that God does not exist
- Living religious traditions remain relevant by balancing constancy (preserving core teachings) with adaptation (responding to changing contexts)
- Different religious traditions offer varying perspectives on creation, suffering, and the afterlife – there is no single 'religious' answer to life's big questions
- Historical examples like the Quakers demonstrate religion's capacity to drive positive social change through commitment to peace and justice