June 3, 2009
-
Another look at Religion
It seems to me that most people greatly simplify the effects of Religion on their lives. They tend to ignore the cultural implications - that is the part religion plays in our, and apparently every other culture that humans have developed.
Religion is one of the five great social frameworks (Family, Education, Government, Economics, Religion) that all cultures use to identify and interpret their basic cultural values.When we twenty-first century Westerners talk about our beliefs, we make assumptions based on our basic value systems - occasionally these values come into conflict and the resolution of this conflict requires some value reinterpretation. Since in our culture, Religion is the primary framework we use for reinterpretation of some of our values, it isn't surprising that our definition of Religion tends to be important.
Psychologically, some sort of religion seems to be built into us; and there is little doubt that each of us tends to interpret this "feeling" to suit our own psychological needs. We seem to really create our God in our own image.
Given this fact, it's fairly easy for a dominating personality to "bully" us into their religious interpretation and to combine with the Governmental social framework to enforce compliance with at least parts of their concept of "True Religion".There has been a lot written about the history and development of the "Mediterranean Religions" (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam). I suggest you check out some of these histories with as open a mind as you can assume.
Comments (8)
I am struggling to understand what exactly you are saying
I admit I have combined a lot of philosophical speculation into a very short post.
Here are the main points:
1. Religion is a social construct designed to enable and strengthen every culture. It is most often used to identify and interpret moral values.
2. When interpretation of moral and other basic cultural values comes into conflict - a fairly common occurrence in the modern world with all its constantly changing social problems - The Religious Institution is often used to re-interpret the values to meet the changing world situation.
3. The concept of God seems to be a fundimental part of human psychology. This concept is used by individuals to help them cope with a confusing and dangerous universe which they only dimly understand. This idea, while colored by the person's culture, is absolutely idiosyncratic. We create our God in our own idealized image.
4. Most of modern Civilization is based on the three great Mediterranean Religions ( Judaism, Christianity, Islam ) all of which have at the heart of their philosophy the belief that the deity is somehow an "Absolute Other" to which all humans are subservient.
5. Modern scientific thought has begun to change human understanding about the concept of the deity.
Ironically I posted on this on my site. Who first came up with the concept of the five social frameworks? That is very interesting.
The idea of the five Great Social Institutional Frameworks is pretty basic Sociology and Cultural Anthropology. A good description with some documentation is here or here.
Sometimes the five are expanded or changed to include linguistic and other unique social attributes.
When I taught HS seniors and college freshmen I tried to give my students some grounding in this as part of History . It is a somewhat different way of looking at culture but I think it's the basis for more complete understanding.
@tychecat - Is there a particular thinker that it is ascribed to?
Sociology is a fairly modern field of study. The first descrete course in Sociology was taught at the U. of Kansas in 1891 (I think). It's still being taught.
Four years later, Emile Durkheim began introducing Sociology in his courses in France.
Sociology is, as I understand it, the institutionalization of the concept of Positivism and is very much the child of the modern era.
Would you consider Sociology a proper science, or more of a philosophy?
Sociology is as much a science as Psychology, Economics, History, or any other of the "soft" sciences - maybe more than say, History, as it certainly uses a lot of math and statistical modeling.