To gain knowledge on religion from a functionist and conflict perspective, it is important to define these perpectives to set a base to the dicussion.
These perspectives are drawn fom sociological theories which propogate a statement of why and how things are related.
Funtionalism is a sociological perspective that views society as a complex whole whose individual parts work towards promoting solidarity and stability. This perspective views society as stable and oderly.
The key elements of this paradigm include social structure and social funtions. Social structure refers to any stable pattern of social behaviour found in social institutions, wherein each of these institutions have a social function to perform.
It is important to mention
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Religion creates social cohesion and integration by reaffirming the bonds that people have with each other. Taking rituals into consideration, fom the view of functionalism, these express the spiritual convictions of the members of the religion and help increase the belongingness of the individuals to the group.
For example, Christians ' pilgrimages to the holy land or Muslims ' pilgrimages to Mecca. The daily prayers and cleansing rituals of Islam or the Sunday morning worship in Christian churches serve to unite those who enter into the forms and rituals and separate them from others who do not. According to Durkheim, these reminders of religious belongingness create, express, and reinforce the cohesion of a social group.
According to functionalism, individuals who perform a religious ritual or practice do so not only for spiritual reasons, but also to express their identification with the religion and its members as a whole.
The integration of a society is the foremost requisite for human survival.
Religion emphasises societal integration by authorising society’s values and norms by providing divine sanctions for normative behavior and through creating rituals that strengthen feelings of collective