From the religion, culture and unchurched spirituality powerpoint I learned that religion influences culture and culture influences religion. Religious culture is a form of identity, whether that may be through food, dress and even music, whereas religion is a way of life which has an impact on national culture through laws and education as well as relationships.

Many social issues revolve around religious culture such as material claims. Religion encourages altruism. Religious communities have throughout time provided people in need with material resources such as food, shelter, educational resources and care of the vulnerable. Another social issue revolving around religious culture is claims of community. Religions provide not only the material framework for decent but also people to relate. This makes individuals tackling social problems part of a wider community tackling the same problems. A third social issue which revolves around religious culture can be spiritual claims as it creates a “spiritual” community for its believers and spiritual belongingness influences how believers as a collective body live on this earth in preparation for the afterlife.

However religion can be susceptible to internal extremist forces as it can be easily hijacked by fundamentalist forces who can misuse it to promote violence and conflict. As well as this some aspects of religion are known to inhibit deviant tendencies. For example, certain  aspects of Scientology are problematic as are some Islamic practices which are known to incite controversy on the ethics of veiling or so-called “honour” killing. Also some religious adherents refuse medical treatments if these are in conflict with their religious beliefs. Jehovah’s Witnesses, for example, don’t to accept blood transfusions on religious grounds.

I have understood

Max Weber states that as culture, Christianity (Protestantism) contributed to the success of socio-economic patters in the Western world as protestantism enabled the ideological atmosphere in which a capitalist system could thrive in Europe.

Karl Marx reduced religion to socio-economic causes and stated that religion was used as a tool of the ruling class to oppress the masses. His view was that religion gives false consciousness in oppressed people to accept their predicament as religion promises of better life after death was a capitalist illusion.

Bruce Lincoln stated that religion, like all culture, should be approached as a negotiation of power through rhetoric, by paying attentions questions such as “Who speaks.. to what audience.. who wins what, and how much? Who conversely loses?”

However I still can’t fully recognise why religions are dominated by spirituality and how there are overlaps between religion and spirituality. Thus I intend to read over the powerpoint and do further research into this.

I feel I have better understanding of the impact religion has on culture and how much influence it can have on a persons life. I also have further knowledge on the social issues which revolve around religion and feel I could teach these to my class as part of a religious education lesson.

After listening to the power point I have learned that Religion can be approached in two ways. The inside approach is the study and practice of one’s own religion where it is assumed that the belief in question is true. Whereas religion viewed from the outside approach is a neutral and non-committed view of religion where there is no interested to know whether the faith in question is true or false. There are also different types of religion. An established religion is a religion that has been around for a long period of time and has established roots. A sect has the characteristics of counter-culture, trying to introduce some kind of radical change. Finally, a cult is a group with more radical ideas and practices, which falls outside the sphere of the main religion within society. The power point also explores the functions of religion under the headings: dealing with life-crises; social relations; unites people within the group; sentiments and structure; peace in the community; basic needs; identity and explanation and meaning.

By participating in the independent task I was able to analyse the research exhibited by social psychologist and philosopher, Emile Durkheim, in more depth. His findings were mainly based on how societies maintain their integrity and coherence in modernity and understand how religion comes to be and what it does. According to Durkheim religious rules of conduct direct people in specific religious groups on how they are expected to behave in the presence of the divine or sacred objects. Therefore Durkheim states that religious beliefs and practices unite a group into one single moral community and as this is a collective affair, it serves to bind the group together. For Durkheim, diversity is generally a negative factor for religious faith because it brings competition and disputes between groups over the “ultimate truths”.

I found the tutorial useful as we were able to discuss in groups particular aspects of religious diversity. Specifically, my group discussed the consequences of religious diversity, which I felt was valuable as I could listen to other people’s opinions and undertake points others had made that I hadn’t thought of. We came to the conclusion that there were in fact several negative aspects of religious diversity. For example the transition from a minority to a majority religion could bring resistance from other religious groups. Another example is that an increase in religious diversity may require styles and management of care in public institutions to be altered to suit circumstances such as diet and places of worship. A final example is that it can also lead to conflict when alternative or new religions in a country challenge widely held norms such as religious freedom. The tutorial also allowed us to listen to the other groups’ answers to their questions, which I felt helped to expand my knowledge on those particular areas such as what benefits are created from religious diversity.

I feel by listening to the power point presentation I am able to establish the functions of religion as it highlighted research exhibited by several scholars. For example Bronislaw Malinowski outlines a function of religion, under the heading “Basic Needs”, that magic fulfils a psychological need in times of fear and provides a sense of security necessary to complete economic tasks such as fishing. A.R Radcliffe-Brown also outlines a function of religion, under the heading “Sentiments and Structure”, that religion helps to support values and attitudes which keep a society working together harmoniously. Thirdly Emile Durkheim outlines a function of religion, under the heading “Unites People Within the Group”, that religious rites provide rules of conduct to govern how people in a specific religious group should behave in the presence of the divine or sacred objects. Finally M.F.C Bourdillon outlines a function of religion, under the heading “Social Relations”, that certain rituals are performed to help people in their transition from one stage to another at key points in their life. I also feel I now have a stronger knowledge of the negative and positive aspects of religious diversity by engaging in the tutorial and by reading through the written material given at the beginning of the lecture. For example a positive aspect of religious diversity is that religious institutions may be agents of social integration as public voices and sources of social support. An example of a negative aspect of religious diversity is that religious groups may be unbeneficial by promoting conflict through negative representations of other communities, encouraging minatory separation or attempting to undermine the social order.

I am still unfamiliar with the concept of how religious diversity is managed and how it is measured/ analysed in a nation state. However I intend to read over the written material we received at the beginning of the lecture as it contains in depth knowledge of these topics.

I feel I have a better understanding of the latent functions of religion, however I feel I still don’t have an in depth knowledge of all functions of religion. Therefore I intend to read through the power point again and take notes of research done by scholars who state the functions of religion.

Now that I have participated in todays lectures and tutorial I feel this has benefited me, particularly when I intend to teach religious education. By being able to explain to children what the functions of religion are and what benefits and consequences relate to religious diversity this will enable the children to reach their own informed opinion on religion.

I feel I could improve on my knowledge of criticism of religion as a culture by reading through my materials such as the power point presentation and written materials.