Sociology of Religion (Essay Sample)

Sociology of Religion
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Sociology of Religion
Religion and spiritual belief often tend to be used in the same context, however, though related, they have distinct meanings. The former is more akin to affiliation with public rituals, institutions such as mosques, churches and synagogues, organized doctrines and symbols. The latter is more related to the personal realm and sphere of thought of a person and his or her private experience with nature or a supernatural being (Garrod & Jones, 2009). Most persons who consider themselves ‘spiritual but not religious’ are more inclined to disparage the clergy and their institutions and doctrines as hypocritical and favor spiritual malleability by indulging in mystical interests coupled by experimentation with maverick beliefs and practices. They source their beliefs from different religions with which they relate to. Religious persons, on the other hand, are more disposed to being hard-lined to their doctrines and institutions.
The advantage of affiliating to a religious institution or doctrine comes with several benefits. For instance, these establishments offer solace, comfort, support, and moral guidelines to a society. At the same time, they cater to those who are in need and non-profitably engaging in community development projects funded through offered tithes and charitable that horde up to substantial amounts to bring change. Religion in these institutions teaches good and bad and helps lower delinquency in the society by derogatorily preaching against acts of violence, crime, and abortion. Studies have also shown that institutionally religious people have reduced chances of getting depressed and their marriages of spouses tend to last (Roberts & Yamane, 2011). This is attributed to the sharing of experiences with other like-minded persons in the congregation that have shown to be beneficial psychologically as it helps add value to the mundane personal everyday lives of people.
However, this kind of association with mosques, churches, or synagogues can be divisive and act as a source of conflict, hate, bigotry, discrimination, violence, and suffering as is evident in the current world. The religious clerics and hierarchies in these institutions set up moral ethics, laws, and particular lifestyles and are stern on their adherence by their congregation and any disassociation with the rules is cast. The faithful follow the rules without question unlike persons of spiritual beliefs that are free to question everything. The rigidity of religious doctrines is also blamed for its lack of support to some scientific procedures such as cloning which are advancement in human science and are useful in human understanding (Brewer, 2007).
Judgment of other religious institutions by another is common in the society. In the current times, Muslims have been associated with terror mores so religious affiliation has been used for political bigotry in the United States. When vying for the presidency in the country, religious affiliation is unremarkably used to sway votes and draw appeal towards particular political parties. In the US, Republicans depict themselves as noble Christians while connoting that democrats are not. Barrack Obama whose middle name is Hussein, vying on a Democrat, withstood deep scrutiny for fear that he was a Muslim (Roberts & Yamane, 2011).
Despite religious affiliations, persons can have the same spiritual beliefs, which are a personal private search for the true meaning of life without willing to compromise on traditions and culture. This is converse to phenomenon where religious institutions view themselves as superior to others. Spirituality is often sparked, invoked by either religion or revelation and develops and grows freely in any direction within a person. However, religion can be forced or instilled from childhood (Brewer, 2007). It is repeatedly claimed that religion is a source of division within the world separating people with religion ever since the era of crusades by Christians who were keen on checking on Muslim expansion. Spirituality, on the other hand, can source for unity since it allows flexibility an...