Sociology of Religion Essay - 825 Words

Sociology of Religion (Essay Sample) Content: Sociology of ReligionName:InstitutionSociology of ReligionReligion and spiritual belief often tend to be used in the same context, however, though related, they have distinct meanings. The former is more akin to affiliation with public rituals, institutions such as mosques, churches and synagogues, organized doctrines and symbols. The latter is more related to the personal realm and sphere of thought of a person and his or her private experience with nature or a supernatural being (Garrod Jones, 2009). Most persons who consider themselves spiritual but not religious are more inclined to disparage the clergy and their institutions and doctrines as hypocritical and favor spiritual malleability by indulging in mystical interests coupled by experimentation with maverick beliefs and practices. They source their beliefs from different religions with which they relate to. Religious persons, on the other hand, are more disposed to being hard-lined to their doctrines and inst itutions.The advantage of affiliating to a religious institution or doctrine comes with several benefits. For instance, these establishments offer solace, comfort, support, and moral guidelines to a society. At the same time, they cater to those who are in need and non-profitably engaging in community development projects funded through offered tithes and charitable that horde up to substantial amounts to bring change. Religion in these institutions teaches good and bad and helps lower delinquency in the society by derogatorily preaching against acts of violence, crime, and abortion. Studies have also shown that institutionally religious people have reduced chances of getting depressed and their marriages of spouses tend to last (Roberts Yamane, 2011). This is attributed to the sharing of experiences with other like-minded persons in the congregation that have shown to be beneficial psychologically as it helps add value to the mundane personal everyday lives of people.However, this kind of association with mosques, churches, or synagogues can be divisive and act as a source of conflict, hate, bigotry, discrimination, violence, and suffering as is evident in the current world. The religious clerics and hierarchies in these institutions set up moral ethics, laws, and particular lifestyles and are stern on their adherence by their congregation and any disassociation with the rules is cast. The faithful follow the rules without question unlike persons of spiritual beliefs that are free to question everything. The rigidity of religious doctrines is also blamed for its lack of support to some scientific procedures such as cloning which are advancement in human science and are useful in human understanding (Brewer, 2007).Judgment of other religious institutions by another is common in the society. In the current times, Muslims have been associated with terror mores so religious affiliation has been used for political bigotry in the United States. When vying for the presidency in the country, religious affiliation is unremarkably used to sway votes and draw appeal towards particular political parties. In the US, Republicans depict themselves as noble Christians while connoting that democrats are not. Barrack Obama whose middle name is Hussein, vying on a Democrat, withstood deep scrutiny for fear that he was a Muslim (Roberts Yamane, 2011).Despite religious affiliations, persons can have the same spiritual beliefs, which are a personal private search for the true meaning of life without willing to compromise on traditions and culture. This is converse to phenomenon where religious institutions view themselves as superior to others. Spirituality is often sparked, invoked by either religion or revelation and develops and grows freely in any direction within a person. However, religion can be forced or instilled from childhood (Brewer, 2007). It is repeatedly claimed that religion is a source of division within the world separating people with re ligion ever since the era of crusades by Christians who were keen on checking on Muslim expansion. Spirituality, on the other hand, can source for unity since it allows flexibility an... Sociology of Religion Essay - 825 Words Sociology of Religion (Essay Sample) Content: Sociology of ReligionAuthor:Institution:Contemporary studies in social research have tried to depict religionà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬s public influence by placing much emphasis on collective or individual religious actors. Within such a unitary model, religion is comprehended as a uniform feature of a given individual or a collection of people. However, recent studies have demonstrated that religious expressions outside the domain of religious congregations differ by content to a large extent. Of course, there is a palpable human and sinful face to the religion given that religions are characterized by human organizations and confederations, which are very susceptible to sinful activities. One may question whether individuals within the religious associations comprehend this reality more than those who prefer to practice their own spiritual beliefs. In attempts to practice spirituality outside the realms of religious institutions, not all people are likely to contend with the noti on of being indeed à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"religious.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ Rather, there are people who state that they only desire to live moral lives, perhaps one centered on God, but based on their own personality and individuality (Roberts Yamane 2011)One may rethink the whole idea of associating to a particular faith or owing allegiance to churches, synagogues, mosques, and many more. Self-spiritual belief, on the other hand, encapsulates some sense of freedom from unnecessary dogma. The proponents of this realm contend that a person can be oneself before God. Another implication here is that one has sampled several religious beliefs and integrated them into one single life. The resulting religious perspective is one where an individual subscribes into many religious faiths, for instance Muslim, Christian, Buddhist, but without any definite confinement to either of the religions. This way, one has an opportunity to conjure what best shapes their lives without having to subscribe to any of the rel igious faiths as that would be very much confining. Self-spiritual belief means that a personà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬s spiritual belief is not represented by any particular creed (Roberts Yamane 2011)The proponents of religious organizations and associations contend that exercise of own spiritual belief poses several disadvantages. Though being spiritual is healthy, the fact that one is "not religious" may imply that faith is a fundamental issue between the individual and God. While faith may seem like a question between God and man, it is not in any way just a question between one and God. Perhaps, the main reason for such a proposition is that a self-spiritual person may imply that they are relating to God alone; hence no room for anyone from the outside can suggest when the person deviates from the spiritual track (Ammerman 2007). People appear to think that they are perfect in almost everything, spirituality being no exception. On the other hand, lack of allegiance to any one religious commu nity means lesser opportunity of encountering challenge from any tradition of experience or traditional of belief. In fact, it means less chance to perceive when one is being misguided, perceiving only a fraction of the picture, or even wrong (Martin 2012).Consider an individual who desires to emulate Christianity on their own. Maybe such a person has heard that Christianity brings financial success which, of course, is a popular idea nowadays due to the riches some Christians have amassed. If such a person had some allegiance to the mainstream Christian organization such as a church, he/she would be reminded that suffering forms an essential part of life even to the most devout followers. In the absence of wisdom found within the community of believers, such an individual is likely to deviate towards a skewed perception of Christianity. When the dreams of success fail to materialize, the individual may soon abhor God for failing to meet their expectations.Despite the efforts to be as spiritual as one can become, mistakes still occur, and it is important for one to share in the wisdom of a religious tradition. It is plausible that as people who remain unchallenged, religi...