Essay Sample on Religion and Social Change

Introduction

Historically, religion has been one of the most powerful agents to facilitate the change in people's behavior and attitudes. Traditionally religion usually defines what it means to be a person, as well as the nature of peoples' goals and relationships. Religion has been a constant and lasting dynamism in the manifestations of the beliefs, experiences, and behaviors of human beings. It has been part of the cultural and social expressions in all the conglomerates. Beliefs and religious practices are integral parts of every culture and permeate all levels of society; therefore, the presence and influence of faith cannot be easily obviated (Adamson, 2019). Throughout the world, the religious dynamics will be there latent, present, active and possibly with very marked influences in the state or government; because it is the manifestation of the soul and feeling of the phenomenon of the grafting of the very essence of the divine spark. It is necessary to have a clear idea of the role that religion plays in the people and to weigh the shared benefits between the state, governments and the bodies of ecclesial organizations (Fact Monster, 2018). It is good to understand that all cooperation between state or governmental and ecclesial authorities begins with the mutual acceptance of the parties.

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The Diversity of Religions

There are many religions in the world and each one more varied. Some of the different religions of the world have millions of followers and on the contrary, others are reduced to small nuclei that have their own beliefs based on very peculiar thoughts and phenomena. Of all the religions in the world, Christianity has the most followers, one-third of the world's population practices and is faithful to Christianity (about 2.2 billion) (Fact Monster, 2019). The origin of Christianity is Judaism. In the Christian religion, the figure of Jesus Christ as God, founder, and messiah of the Christian religion is recognized. Christianity is the name by which the religion founded with Jesus in Jerusalem is known (Hackett & McClendon, 2017). Their beliefs are based on the texts of the Bible, the sacred book for Christians. In the religions of the world, Judaism is one of the oldest and monotheistic religion in the world with the smallest number of faithful. Judaism is characterized by belief in an omnipotent, omniscient and providential God who chose the Jewish people to reveal the law in the Ten Commandments and the ritual prescriptions in the third and fourth books of the Torah. The principles and guidelines that appear in these books along with the oral tradition constitute the guide of life of the Jews.

Islam is a monotheistic religion with about 1.6 billion followers that bases its beliefs on a book, the Koran. This book is sacred to the faithful of Islam who believe that God sent him through the Prophet Muhammad (Hackett & McClendon, 2017). Followers of the Islamic religion, known as Muslims, believe faithfully in the writings of the Koran and believe that Muhammad was the last prophet sent by God to the earth. Islam is one of the religions of the world with the most faithful, occupies the second place with 20% of the population of the world (1.8 billion people). Hinduism is one of the religions that have more followers in Asia, especially in India, with more than 1 billion followers (Fact Monster, 2019). Hinduism is a mixture of philosophy and religion. They are a set of beliefs, customs, rituals, and cults that make up a way of life with strong traditions. Practitioners of the Hindu religion believe in karma and reincarnation. They have no concrete religious' cult; their cult is individual. The arrival in Brahma, the final salvation place for Hindus, is obtained by individual religious experience. Once a month they perform a private act of reflection where they analyze individually and reflect on their actions. Being a good person and carrying out good deeds on this earth will determine the life one will have in the afterlife.

Buddhism occupies the fourth place in a number of followers with about 380 million followers, behind the monotheistic religions (Fact Monster, 2019). The majority of the faithful and followers of this religion are in Asia. Buddhism is a mixture of religion, psychology, and philosophy developed by a well-known instructor, Buddha. Buddha is not considered a god, nor a prophet, Buddha means "he who has awakened" and is a title given to beings that are considered to have had relevant personal discoveries, but they are not divine revelations (Hackett & McClendon, 2017). Buddhism seeks the awakening of people, seeks a state of fulfillment, which is achieved with mental and emotional effort and training of the mind and the study of ethics.

The Relationship Between Religion and Social Change

Theoretically, the relationship between religion and society is in two areas, namely: religion affects society, and religion is influenced by society. In the empirical reality, religion turns out to be an important factor in human life. Religion is a guide in life and religion is also a daily reality in people's lives. Religion is a decisive factor in people's lives, and it can be a spiritual and moral source for people's lives (Kimball, 2011). The phenomenon of social change today illustrates and explains to us that religion is one of the factors of social change itself. Religion as a result of culture, which exists, lives and develops in society has an important role in social change. Every society must change. There is nothing stagnant in this life and everything follows the flow of change, both changes in macro and micro scale, whether fast or slow. Change is the nature of this world, change is something that must occur in people's lives.

In theory, there are many experts who contributed in explaining the notions of social change, including William F. Ogburn, Kingsley Davis, MaxIver, Gilin and Gilin, Samuel Koenig and Selo Soemadrjan. Sociologists who set limits on an understanding of social change (Soekanto, 2010) including; first, William F. Ogburn argued that the scope of social change encompasses elements of culture both material and immaterial, emphasizing the great influence of the great elements of material culture on immaterial elements. Second, Kingsley Davis defines social change as changes that occur in the structure and function of society (Smith, 2010). For example, the emergence of the organization of labor in capitalist society has caused changes in the relations between workers and employers and so on to cause changes in economic and political organizations. Third, MacIver social changes are said to be changes in social relationships or as changes to the equilibrium of social relations. Fourth, Gilin and Gilin say social changes are a variation of accepted ways of life, both due to changes in geographical conditions, material culture, population composition, ideology or because of diffusion or new discoveries in society (Soekanto, 2010). Fifth, Samuel Koening said that social change is modifications that occur in the patterns of human life, whether they occur because of internal or external causes.

Soekanto (2010) defines social change as being all changes to social institutions within a society, which affect their social systems, including values, attitudes and behavioral patterns among groups in society. The changes that occur also cannot be separated from the factors that influence it, including increased or reduced population, new discoveries, conflicts in society and the occurrence of rebellion or revolution. Social changes that occur in society are things that cannot be separated from their attachment to the existence of religion (Smith, 2014). In this case, the idea of the relationship between religion and social change starts from the supposition that social change is an ongoing fact, caused by forces that are largely outside our control, that there is not the slightest possibility to stop it. Here, religious disposition, on the one hand, can be an opponent of change and on the other hand, can be a driver of social change. Social change in certain communities or human communities can have a positive or negative impact (Agbiji & Swart, 2015). Religion as a causal variable simply contains the meaning of religion as the cause of a change in society. Sociologically, the emergence of the spirit of social change in countries throughout the world is usually focused more on the developing social dynamics, although in turn, almost all aspects can also trigger the direction of change itself. Even as a sociologist agrees, changes in all sectors are a necessity that cannot be negotiated and postponed, even though there are obstacles that are not difficult in the course of the journey.

Perspectives on the Influence of Society on Religion

The teachings of religion have a great influence in uniting people's perceptions of life about all life expectancies. On the one hand, functionally, religion has the character of "social glue", fosters social solidarity, tolerance, and a set of roles that maintain social stability (harmony). On the other hand, religion also has an atomizing tendency (division), disintegration, and intolerance (Erasmus, 2005). Theoretically-sociologically, this can also be understood from two forms of antagonism in religion. First, tension or conflict that develops among the people of religion (internal). Second, tension or conflict that occurs between religious people (external).

Sociologists like Robertson Smith and Emile Durkheim view the emergence of religion positively in line with the development of society. Religion for them is not an individual problem but a collective representation of society (Girma, 2012). They emphasize that religion is, first of all, a joint action of society in the form of rituals, religious ceremonies, practical prohibitions rather than faith. Thus it can be said that society positively plays a role in the formation or appearance of religion. On the other hand, thinkers like Marx see the emergence of religion as a human reaction to the 'broken' state of society (Mellor & Shilling, 2014). Jon Elster states that the reality of a society divided into social classes encourages a group of people from the oppressed class to escape the structural conditions of a repressive society and then escape their dreams and hopes for religion (Elster, 2015). According to Elster (2015), religion is a human effort to find meaning and meaning of life, in the midst of the suffering that afflicts its tangible form. Such a close link between religion and society has an impact on the utilization of religious collective functions to move society for social change or for certain purposes beneficial or detrimental to the community itself.

The Impact of Religion on Social Unity and Division

Emile Durkheim's religious theory states the function of religion as a unifying society (Pickering, 2015). Religion for Durkheim is a collective power of society that overcomes individuals in society. Each individual, on the other hand, represents society in religion, that is through obedience to religious rules, for example by carrying out religious rituals. Religion, therefore, became the place of the unity of individuals, even when there were many differences between individuals because religion as a collective power of society overcomes individual forces. Besides that, religion also answers certain problems or needs of personal or individual life (Fernando, 2004). In religion, individuals feel strengthened in the face of suffering, frustration, and misfortune. Through religious ceremonies, individuals can build special relationships with the Divine. These rites provide a guarantee of life, freedom, and responsibility for moral values in society. Religion also functions to carry out and enforce and strengthen collective feelings and ideas that characterize community unity (Deats, 2012). Thus it becomes clear that religion can be a force that unites society, even if there are many differences b...