I believe myself to be a strongly devoted Catholic. I was born into a strong Catholic family. I attended mass every Sunday since I was a child. I have practiced my religion pretty well I would say. In my opinion I feel as if religion is a huge part of the majority of the human race. I will respect anyone’s religious beliefs as long as they don’t intend to hurt or harm other or insult any other religion. Catholicism has always been very important to me; therefore I feel that religion is very important and positive in society today. I have no problem or anything against atheist either, but I feel that those who have religion help improve society both in their view and society in itself. I love the way that structural-functional theory looks at religion as it expresses the way that I view and have always viewed religion. It does this through what Durkheim identifies as the three major functions of religion.
When I was a kid I always expressed my religion in some way or another. I would wear a rosary or a cross around my neck. Before I went up to bat in my baseball league I would do the sign of the cross just as a simple reminder that my faith makes me strong. Always a signal to myself that I have a purpose in life or that I at least serve God. One of the three functions that Durkheim recognizes is that of “providing meaning and purpose.” In it, it explains how we are strengthened by our beliefs which helps us better manage obstacles or situations. This notion gives us comfort. Personally I have always been very comforted by my religion and those many I know that are religious have felt the same. They always rely on their religion and faith to help in situations such as through prayer.
Another function of Durkheim’s is “establishing social cohesion.” Religion has never set me far apart from others in the form of disagreement, but it has brought me closer and happier in relationships through agreement. This function explains how religion unites people by its shared ideas, values, norms etc. A good example of this is my relationship with my girlfriend. We are both very devoted Catholics. This has made me very happy and comfortable because we share the same beliefs when it comes to basically all of life. Our religion is a huge part of our relationship because God is such a huge part of it, and we agree on that. We share the same beliefs and morals making us feel very united when it comes to our relationship. Another example is how when I was a child I would relate to a lot of my heroes through religion. Whenever I had role models religion was always a significant part of my admiration for them.
Lastly in the three functions is “promoting social control.” Religion gives us ideas to promote conformity. One example is when I took the oath to serve in the United States Army. At the very end of the oath we so “so help me God.” That shows how we use religion to guide us when it comes to control in society. We obey the “laws” of God in society through whether it be military, law enforcement or law in general. Such as when in court and you raise your right hand to swear. We use God as a “judge” causing people to be encouraged to obey norms in society.
Structural-functional theory captures how important religion has been to me since I was a kid. It explains how it actually helps society function well through its morals, beliefs, and everything else helping unite society as a whole. While it does miss how religion can be used to support negative actions such as terrorist acts, it doesn’t fail to mention any of the positive things that religion (as I said those religions that don’t support bad ideas) does for a person and its effects on the whole society.
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