Emile Dirkeheim makes many interesting points about religion in the selections from “The Elementary Forms of Religious Life”. He points out that religion can define how things in society can be determine as “wrong” or “right.” He discusses how religion can completely overtake a society and decides how the society should be run. Dirkeheim points out the differences between the sacred and profane and how they can affect an entire community. Religion can determine how a person lives their life. People are discriminatory to different groups of people because their religion may say that the way a certain group lives their life is wrong. For example, the way that Catholics view homosexuals. Instead of Catholics accepting homosexuals and people who are not heterosexual, they reject them because Catholicism says so. Dirkeheim makes the point that religion is worship of society itself and that all religion is political. This proves true all around the world, especially in the United States. Religion has defined which sexes can marry in the U.S.
This article brought up many different components of religion. For instance, how religion can rule a person's life and run a society. Dirkeheim made many points that I completely agreed with, especially his definition of religion. “A religion is a unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things, that is to say, things set apart and forbidden – beliefs and practices unite into one single moral community called a Church, all those who adhere to them.” (Pg 90) Religion is something that will always be infiltrating society. Hopefully though society can overcome the influence of religion.
I totally agree that religion is something that will always be infiltrating our society. Laws like prop 8 are passed mostly based on religious beliefs. Also, people make judgments upon others based on their beliefs.
ReplyDeleteThe reason why religion will always "infiltrate" many aspects of soiciety is because of how well organized religions are. A well-run organization with a devoted membership will always have influence and gain successes.
ReplyDeleteWhile remaining true to the fact that religion has a way of infiltrating many aspects of society, I do not necessarily agree that people simply make judgments based on their beliefs. What about those who do not believe in a religion? What do they base their judgments and assumptions on?
ReplyDeleteAlso, I have to disagree upon the reasoning that religion infiltrates society simply because it is well organized and has a devoted membership. Yes it plays a tremendous part in gaining successes, but after having read the texts, there is so much more that makes religion influential to the point of where it is successful in the world.
I agree completely that religion does have a major effect on how people live and the decisions that people make whether big or small. I also agree that it has a political effect throughout the world. However, I feel that this force that religion has on peoples' lives is really determined on how their current society is. You may say that Catholics are accepting of homosexuals but I know that this is not completely true. The Catholic Church itself may not be accepting of it but there are actually Catholics that are very accepting of homosexuals. The ones that I do know who are accepting of it are within the younger generation. I feel that the younger generation has a much more open mind but still maintain their Catholic religion. Although some may say that it does not make sense for a Catholic, or any sect of Christian faith, to approve of homosexuality, it is clear that although many people are moved by religion they are also moved by experiences in society that help them make decisions on whats right and wrong. I feel that the combination of personal experiences within society and within one's personal religion is what helps people see what they think is right or wrong.
ReplyDeleteI agree with ember who said "I do not necessarily agree that people simply make judgments based on their beliefs." Many people have conflicting beliefs, and Catholics are no different. Like nlo said, "there are actually Catholics that are very accepting of homosexuals." People can--and often do--pick their beliefs from both the secular and non-secular world.
ReplyDeleteDurkheim is one of the articles that i found to be very thought provoking. A unified system of beliefs and practices is of course going to dictate how society functions as a whole, especially when the society is small and primitive. Bringing up what we discussed today in class about over-beliefs, i would say prop8 is an example of that. The over-belief that gays should not marry led to the banning of gay marriage which had a negative effect on the gay community. Another crucial example would be abortion. Some religious people with the over-belief that abortion is wrong go so far as to kill doctors that perform abortions. As Durkheim argued, what individuals believe is going to effect how they act in society.
ReplyDeleteReligion plays a role in everyones life whether they would like to admit it or not, due to the every day basic 'norms' in our society. As I am one of many who may not know much about religions in general, I do know that if I were to choose to do something out of the common 'norm' it could also be seen as a sin. Although for some they simply do not allow the concepts of religion interfere with their every day practices, but as Durkheim puts it religion will always have an impact on society.
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