UWS BA ePDPs

With religion being an unfamiliar subject to myself I wasn’t aware of the impact it had on todays society and culture as a whole. In this weeks lecture I learned about ‘unchurched spirituality’ and religion and culture and how they affected each other. In the tutorials we developed into more detail about the three theorists, named Max Weber, Bruce Lincoln and Karl Max who opposed various different views and attitudes to religion and the impact it has on society.

Max weber, one of the three theorists, believes that Christianity (Protestantism) played a significant factor towards the rise of capitalism in the western world which would thrive the work load of people who believed in this religion. Weber named this the ‘Protestant Ethic’. He firmly believed that religion  could be an agent for social change and today’s society would revolve around peoples religious beliefs.

However, Carl Marx was against this case and believed the opposite to Weber. Carl Max believed that religion was used to categorise the rich and the poor for the rich to dominate the poor. Marx argued that religion is an illusion  and is unnecessary part of today’s society it is a human creation ‘man made’ by god. He believed the religion deluded people into thinking that religion was a ranking that only certain people go to heaven, religion is named by carl marx as the ‘opium of people’ it allows people to think that only the rich can control and many people are left to accept there religious ways.

Bruce Lincoln partly agrees with Carl Marx’s attitude by supporting the idea of religion controlling society through power named as ‘hegemonic struggle’. He strongly believes that people must not accept all religious claims and ideas however, should be aware that they are there. In contrast to this Matt Waggoner believes that religion is a subjective imagination and is a myth and performance. He believes that the existence of religion is in fact a myth that controls power in society and that culture is based on religion.

Overall after further reading of all three theorists it is clear that religion has a very large impact on culture and society. I believe that the attitudes and beliefs of the theorists are in some ways different however, all agree that religion is a social change and impacted on culture as a whole.

In addition to this, I found unchurched spirituality a very interesting topic to consider the way religion can explore different in society especially in western countries. Unchurched spirituality is when people seek the help of spiritual guidance even if they are not associated to a particular religious group.

Furthermore, religion can provide a solution to social problems in todays society however, can be said to provide social goods to people. One solution to a social problem that religion  provides is material claims for people in time of need through food, shelter and care of the vulnerable. Secondly, it provides people with claims of community where people feel welcome to talk about their problems with people of similar issues. Thirdly, religion can also protect individuals for their well being and make them feel better as a whole, they may feel more meaningful . On the other hand, religion can also be a cause of social problems by impacting on health as many people refuse to accept medical treatments as it goes against their religion. Another cause may be people will use religion as an act of conflict and promote violence against other religions. Lastly, people may use their religion as an act of kindness to promote their religion and void belief in anything else.

After this weeks lecture I will further my knowledge by completing further reading to develop a real understanding of religion and culture. I have learned that religion will always have some sort of impact on todays society and culture.

It has taken me well over a week to comprehend what was taught in our last lecture. everything was said to fast and there was SO much information to take in all at once.

Nevertheless, one thing discussed that intrigued me was the whole concept of unchurched spirituality. in the lecture, it was highlighted to me just how little I knew of religion and the different ‘branches’ within. Take for example snake handling. Before the lecture I thought it was just some gag in the Simpsons however, I learned that it is a rea thing. Therefore, in order to broaden my knowledge, I have since went out and researched more widely on the topic. We also spoke of the criticisms of unchurched spirituality and how the concept is portrayed/seen throughout society.

I wish that there was more time within class to go over the topic of ‘Religion and Society’ as I am still unsure about certain aspects however, I am going to continue my research into the topic as to help me successfully pass the Society and Lifestyles module.

 

This week’s lecture focused on the relationship between Culture and Religion, and learning the modern concept of ‘Unchurched Spirituality’.

One of the main points of interest for me about this week’s learning was looking into not only how religion influences culture, but how in fact culture influences religion. Reading the ideas of German sociologists Max Weber (1864-1920) and Karl Marx (1818-1883), I learned two antagonising views on how religion impacted culture and society. With Weber proposing that the work ethic of Protestant denominations enabled the state of Capitalism to thrive in the Western world, he therefore saw religion as a social change and appraised religion as culture. Whereas Marx advanced the view that religion is unnecessary and used as a tool to oppress believers. Marx and his followers advocated a Communist state where religion was seen as the ‘opium of people’. Reading these contrasting views on religion as culture intrigued me as both have valid points, however I found myself ultimately agreeing with Matt Waggoner’s (2011) objective and neutral idea of viewing religion as a state of affairs rather than a state of mind.

Later moving on to our tutorial work, I had the opportunity to further develop my understanding and knowledge of ‘Unchurched Spirtuality’ and recognising its differing characteristics to ‘traditional’ religion. With further reading and investigating on the concept, I came to the conclusion that ‘unchurched spirituality’ has gained ground in modern society as a result of the decline of Christendom, also known as Secularisation. This can due to a number of factors including religion losing its presumed central place in society, modern education (scientific theories), reduced prioritisation of attending church, increase in leisure/technologies, etc. All of which relating to how a change in culture can then modify religion and make it less restrictive, allowing more room for flexibility i.e. Spirituality.

This section of Religion and Society has allowed me to enhance my understanding that for many in the world religion is a way of life and identity. I also appreciated learning that there are many modern forms of religion and faith in our society. Overall this week’s learning has strongly built on my comprehension of religion and society.