Functionalism is the only perspective which has traditionally argued that religion is a source of value consensus, all other perspectives disagree with this in one way or another, but not all believe that religion is necessarily a cause of overt conflict in the world.
- Functionalists generally argue that religion promotes value consensus in a society.
- Durkheim argued that in traditional societies, religious symbols such as the totem represented society, and thus when people worshipped religion, they were really worshipping society.
- Parsons and Malinowski both believed religious rituals helped people deal with life-crises, such as death, thus helping keep societies together during times of change.
- Parsons further believed that religions form the moral basis of law in society, for example the 10 commandments in Christian societies.
- Bellah argues that civil religions bind people together in contemporary societies.
- Marx believed that religion prevents revolution (or violent conflict) by pacifying people, through acting as the ‘opium of the masses’ and making think inequality is Gods will and that suffering in this life is a virtue. The message is to put up with suffering now and seek your reward in heaven.
- However, in Marxist theory, the masses will eventually see through the mask of oppression and rise up bringing about a revolution and a communist society free of religion.
Neo-Marxism
- Religion can be a source of conflict because it is autonomous from the economic base.
- For example, religious leaders in Latin America took the side of peasant against the elite. However, attempts at social reform were ultimately repressed.
- Simone de Beauvoir argued that Religion oppresses women in the same way that Marx argued it oppressed people in general.
- However, Feminism in general points out how traditional religion oppresses women and brings women into conflict with religion, especially right-wing versions of it.
- Feminine forms of spirituality generally emphasis peacefulness, and so don’t really act as a source of conflict.
Secularisation theory
- You can use this to argue that religion has lost its capacity to do anything, positive or negative in society.
- It seems especially unlikely that postmodern forms of religion, such as the New Age Movement are going to be sources of conflict.
Huntington – the clash of civilisations
- Religion has become more important as a source of identity in a postmodern global world where other sources of identity have faded.
- As societies come into closer contact because of globalisation, they rub up against each other and people become more aware of their differences, and thus religion becomes a source of conflict.
- Karen Armstrong criticises this, suggesting that politics and economics matter more than religion as sources of conflict in the world today.
