Discuss the purpose of religion in society?

Answer 1

Religion in society serves as the moral voice in what might otherwise be mainly political or social discussion, and not necessarily ethical. Though not everyone worships by way of the same religion, and though not everyone even within the same religion agrees exactly on its finer details, most religions focus their teaching on the lessons found within each of their respective holy writings: The Bible, the Torah, the Koran (Qur'an), etc. In these holy writings, though they disagree in many respects, can be found a few of the same underlying principles: mainly, love your neighbor as yourself, or, in other words, treat others as you wish to be treated. In a society that is subject to political whims, social controversy, and a capitalistic consumerism, religion serves as the force that tries to renew this idea to the world: love your neighbor as yourself. Whether it be in arguments against abortion or stem cell research or free market enterprise, religion tries to impact society with a stress on morality and ethics over personal gain.

Religion also serves as the voice for multiple ethical arguments; because so many religions disagree on different ideas, when a controversial topic does come to the table, all the different religions in society are able to offer opinions, laying out many different paths that the topic could take, thus, offering a wide array of options to society in addition to those secular.

I'd say that above all else, though, religion seems to serve as the a filler of soul for society, and an emotional satisfaction. Religion offers people the opportunity to a fill a void that they cannot seem to find in daily life, to have the comfort of a constant presence guiding them, to have a community of followers who believe in the same ideas, to feel self-satisfied in the intergrity of their own beings because of the presence of their religion, to have a challenge before them that they must work at daily, and to have a greater being who seems to guide life and help make decisions for them. While occupation can fill the pockets and education fill the mind, in society, religion sort of acts as that which fills the soul, a wide, social function that makes some people feel whole.