Religion Is A Social Control Tool - 1394 Words

Aram Mardiros Religion is a Social Control Tool Throughout history, religion has proved to be the main source of social stability in different communities and cultural groups. Everything that is part of a societal system, including law, is influenced by religious beliefs and practices of that society. This being said, most religions are based on the theory that there is a single more powerful entity, that has control over aspects of which humans do not. For the longest time in history, sociologists have argued that peer group, political movements, schools and most importantly, the family to be agents of socialization. Because of this reason, they have ignored the role played by religion in the perpetuation of cultural as well as social†¦show more content†¦Religion tends to derive preferred lifestyles, ethics and morality from the ideas of human nature. Scholars have studied religions and categorized them into three main categories. These categories include the indigenous religions, transcultural as well as the internatio nal faiths. To understand the religion as a social control tool, it is necessary to understand the term socialization. Many sociologists have placed more focus on defining the term socialization. Ward (2011) defined the term socialization as the process through which an individual acquires the ways of a social group or a society so as he or she can fit in it. In his invitation to sociology, Koenig (2013) defined the term ‘socialization’ as the process through which acquires knowledge of how to become a member of the society. It is only through socializing that an individual is able to learn normative values, skills, beliefs, languages as well as other essential arrangements of action as well as thoughts significant for any given social life. Socialization and Religion It is only through socialization where any individual is integrated to the meaning of societal structure. As argued by Berger (2011), there is a need for a life to have a meaning. As an initiation process into the society, religion is an absolute hinge of socialization. For this instance,