Influences of Religion

Similar to social institutions such as family and education, religion pervades many aspects of
our everyday lives. Many of us were born in a particular religion such as Christianity or Islam and so
participating in religious activities or believing in a particular view of God may have become
unquestioned habits. That religion has become part of one’s identity renders it not just as sacred
character but personal too. In any case, in what follows, we shall look into the following key elements
of religion: worldview, spiritual world, sacredness, community, central stories, rituals, ethical codes,
and artistic expressions.
Religion contains a worldview. A worldview refers to a set of beliefs that is both coherent and
comprehensive. First, religion consists of beliefs. Beliefs generally refer to assertions, claims, or
thoughts about things that are held to be true. Beliefs are strictly speaking, mental states that advance
claims or knowledge about the world, and are expressible in the form of statements (or propositions).
Second, a set of beliefs forms a system when these beliefs are coherent; and they are coherent when
they are consistently interrelated, being interrelated, the beliefs in a system influence or affect one
another. Lastly, a belief system is comprehensive when it accounts for a wide range of phenomena (or
events in the world) or when it deals with a wide range of human concerns. Religion believes or
assumes that there is a spiritual world or a transcendent reality. As such, the spiritual world refers to
what is sometimes also called transcendental world or supernatural world. The sacred is contrasted
with the ordinary, secular, or profane. While ordinary things can be used as mere instruments to satisfy
human interest, sacred things are treated with respect or reverence. Some of these ethical codes are
revealed by a God to chosen messenger; while some are realized through a heightened form of spiritual
activity like meditation. The community of believers usually involves an organization consisting of a
hierarchy of authorities. Religions have sacred writings, which contain their main teachings or
doctrines, central stories, ethical codes, and prophecies. Sacred writings are divinely inspired. Religions
have rituals, which include ceremonies that re-enact sacred stories. And various activities, such as
songs and dances that express praise or thanksgiving to God, gods, or a revered teacher or prophet.
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For our purposes, we shall examine certain approaches to the study of religions that are based
on certain academic disciplines. Some of these approaches focus on how to understand the beliefs and
practices of particular religions, while some have more general concerns such as how religion relates
to the nature of society, culture, human evolution, mind, and human behavior. The etymological
meaning of the word theology-based on its Greek origin namely theo, which means “God and logos
which means “discourse” or “study.”- “study of God”. Theology, however, is not just God, for it also
studies in a systematic way the main doctrines of a particular religion.
Religious Studies and Comparative Religion, Furthermore, if theology studies a particular

religion always from the inside, religious studies study different religions mostly from the outside.
Comparative religion refers to a branch of religious studies that is concerned with the systematic
comparison of the doctrines and practices of two or more particular religions.
Philosophy of religion deals with philosophical issues in religion.

Philosophy of religion tries to settle issues in religion solely by means of the human power of
reasoning. This means, among others, that the philosophy of religion justifies claims by the strength
and coherence of arguments. Psychology, in general, is defined as the study of “psychological and
biological processes and behavior in humans and other animals” (Encyclopedia Britanica 2013).
Psychology of religion is the application of the different psychological theories and methods to
explain religious phenomena, which include the belief in God, religious experiences and behaviors,
and spirituality. In brief, it is the study of religious phenomena in so far as they may be understood
psychologically (Merkur 2005, 65). Sociology “studies human societies, their interactions, and the
processes that preserve and change them. It does this by examining the dynamics of the constituent
parts of societies such as institutions, communities, populations, and gender, racial, or age groups”
(Encyclopedia Britanica 2013).
Williams James (1842-1910) focused on the psychological process that occurs in a religious
conversion, when non-religious person becomes religious (Merkur 2005, 172).
Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) was the founder of psychoanalysis, which generally claims that
our behaviors are largely controlled by our unconscious mind which contains our repressed sexual and
violent desires.
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Carl Jung (1875-1961) was the founder of analytic psychology, the name given to Jung’s
psychological-therapeutic system which divides the unconscious mind into the personal and the
collective.
Sociology of religion, on other hand, studies religious beliefs, practices, and organizations
using theories and methods of the discipline of sociology. The word “anthropology” means science of
human beings or humanity. Sociologist are primarily interested in examining the effects of religion on
society. Influential sociological theories of religion came from Karl Marx (1818-1893), Emile Durkheim
(1858-1978), and Max Weber (1864-19-20). One of the significant sociological findings of Max Weber
was the significant contribution of that the Calvinist religious ideas had on the development of the
economic system of capitalism. While for Marx religion is a creation of capitalism, for Weber it is the
other way round— capitalism is largely due to religion, more specifically, the Calvinist religion.
Accordingly, Calvinists believed in predestination, the view that God has already decided on who will
enter heaven or not.
Anthropology has two major fields: physical anthropology, which studies the “origin,
evolution, and diversity of people,” and cultural anthropology, which studies “culture in all of
its aspects and uses the methods, concepts, and data of archaeology, ethnography and ethnology,
folklore, and linguistics in its descriptions and analyses of the diverse peoples of the world”
(Encyclopedia Britanica 2013).
Edward Burnett Tylor (1832-1917), in his work Primitive Culture (1871), claimed that the
essence of religion or the minimum defining property of religion, is the belief in Spiritual Beings,” which
he called animism.
Cultural influence on religion. Two powerful cultural factors that work against spirituality in
Western Societies today are materialism and individualism, especially in combination. I have written
about their influence on health elsewhere. In promoting the importance in life of money and
possessions, materialism is a cultural antagonist of the spiritual, hindering or distorting its expression.
Historically, individualism was concerned with freeing the individual from social regulation, including
by the church. But, as sociologist have noted, it is two-edged sword: the freedom we now have is both
exhilarating and disturbing, bringing with it both new opportunities for personal experience and
growth and the anxiety of social dislocation. The hazards of individualism are growing as it become
increasingly associated with the belief that we are independent of others.
4
Morality is an important dimension of religious belief and practice. Values
provide the framework for deciding what is important, true, right and good, and so have
a central role in defining relationships and meanings. Consistent with what is known
about well-being and with Durkheim’s ideas about social integration, most societies
have tended to reinforce values that emphasize social responsibility and self-restraint
and discourage those that promote self-indulgence and antisocial behavior. Virtues are
concerned with building and maintaining strong personal relationships and social
affiliations, and the strength to endure adversity. Vices are about the unrestrained
satisfaction of individual desires, or the capitulation to human weaknesses.
Individualism and materialism reverse these universal virtues and vices, thus weakening
one of the core social functions of religion, one which is central to health and wellbeing.

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Similar to social institutions such as family and education, religion pervades many aspects of

Religious Studies and Comparative Religion, Furthermore, if theology studies a particular

Philosophy of religion deals with philosophical issues in religion.

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