Religion and Society: History, Power, and Moral Order

Introduction: Defining Religion and Its Social Role

Religion is defined as an organized collection of belief systems, views about the universe, or cultural systems that humans use to relate spiritual and moral values to their lives. Many religions have symbols, traditions, and histories that explain the origin of life, the way the universe works, and the moral, ethical, and legal ways to organize human life (De Vries, ed., 2008). While the exact origin of religion is unknown, anthropologists suggest that it evolved both to explain the nature of humanity and the universe and to allow for a basic degree of organization within society:

"Many of the great world religions appear to have begun as revitalization movements of some sort, as the vision of a charismatic prophet fires the imaginations of people seeking a more comprehensive answer to their problems than they feel is provided by everyday beliefs. Charismatic individuals have emerged at many times and places in the world. It seems that the key to long-term success — and many movements come and go with little long-term effect — has relatively little to do with the prophets, who appear with surprising regularity, but more to do with the development of a group of supporters who are able to institutionalize the movement" (Monaghan and Just, 2000, p. 126).

Within different cultures, religion takes on different forms, levels of importance, rituals, and emphasis on belief or practice. When one looks comparatively at surviving documents from world religions, one finds a great deal of common themes that focus on helping people deal with the problems of human life and culture, conflicts, and "how and why the world is put together" in ways that allow people to accommodate fear and cope with negative consequences (Monaghan and Just, 2000, p. 124).

Psychological and Materialist Theories of Religion

Some thinkers, particularly during the 19th century, viewed religion as either psychologically or materialistically based. One of the more influential thinkers of that era, Sigmund Freud, acknowledged that religion had an extremely powerful effect upon society. In his view, religion and faith were supernatural explanations of deeply buried emotions, wants, and needs within the subconscious. Humans use religion to organize the universe into understandable frameworks, give structure to social groupings, explain the unknown or unexplainable, control self and society, and provide hope during times of crisis or for an afterlife. As Freud saw it, "Religion is an illusion and derives its strength from the fact that it falls in with [human] instinctual desires" (Kenneally, 2011).

Karl Marx, another 19th-century philosopher, believed religion was often a tool for the elite to control the masses — to make them feel better about their lot in life, to work hard, and not to question the social order. In other words, religion makes people feel better about their suffering, and because humans suffer so profoundly, they come to depend on this constant consolation. Like a drug, religion not only makes humans feel better but is also addictive, and it obscures the truth about exploitation and control from the minds of the masses (Pals, 2006).

Religion in the Ancient World: Early Monotheism and Moral Order

Surveying religion from a historical and sociological framework, one finds that the central theme of explaining and organizing society dates back to the ancient world. The Great Hymn to the Aton, for instance, was a remarkable example of early monotheism expressed in poetry and literature. The text dates to the 14th century BC and was surprisingly modern in its cosmological outlook, anticipating many of the views that would become central to the Abrahamic religions:

"How manifold are all Thy works! / They are hidden before us, / O Thou sole God, whose powers no other possesseth. / Thou didst create the earth according to Thy desire, / While Thou wast alone: / Men, all cattle large and small, / All that are upon the earth, / That go about upon their feet; / All that are on high, / That fly with their wings" (Akhenaton's Longer Hymn to the Aton, n.d.).

Societal organization and moral and ethical behavior — or law — is another prime example of religious influence within society. Gaius Sallustius Crispus, commonly known as Sallust, was a Roman historian and politician who opposed the Roman aristocracy throughout most of his career and was also a supporter of Julius Caesar and his reform program (Mellor, 1999, p. 30). His comments on the moral decline of Rome sound remarkably contemporary and focus upon the lack of a solid moral and ethical foundation within Roman society — a deterioration he believed was aggravated by the spread of foreign religions from conquered territories as well as a general decline in traditional moral standards. Thematically, this exemplified the notion that for society to be just, it must also have a moral and ethical standard:

"As soon as wealth came to be a mark of distinction and an easy way to renown, military commands, and political power, virtue began to decline. Poverty was now looked on as a disgrace and a blameless life as a sign of ill nature. Riches made the younger generation a prey to luxury, avarice, and pride… Equally strong was their passion for fornication, guzzling, and other forms of sensuality. Men prostituted themselves like women, and women sold their chastity to every comer. To please their palates they ransacked land and sea. They went to bed before they needed sleep, and instead of waiting until they felt hungry, thirsty, cold, or tired, they forestalled their bodies' needs by self-indulgence. Such practices incited young men who had run through their property to have recourse to crime. Because their vicious natures found it hard to forgo sensual pleasures, they resorted more and more recklessly to every means of getting and spending" (Sallust, c. 146 BC).

Conclusion: Common Themes Across History

These are but a few examples of the way religion has impacted society, showing a number of common themes that are present even in 21st-century global culture. The Hymn to the Aton was one of the first expressions of a more monotheistic approach to religion, causing great turmoil in ancient Egypt while setting the stage for a more personal relationship with God. Religion as a basis for moral authority was the focus of Sallust's commentary on Roman decline, finding that without a sound foundation of moral law, society crumbles. Frederick II elaborated on religious authority by invoking the Divine Right of Kings and arguing that the Church and State must coexist in mutual reinforcement. Finally, Voltaire rejected centuries of Christian persecution of "the other" in favor of using religion in its most positive sense — to guide and organize a tolerant and just society.