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Essay on Why Is Religion Important?

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In this essay we will discuss the importance of religion in society. We will attempt to explain why societies have religions and what functions their belief system has for them. We will also ask if these functions are now out-dated and if religions have any meaningful function in today's world or are they just stained glass windows into a bygone era? 'Religion' can be defined by two main groupings. 'The inclusive definition' covers all topics and subjects of a persons life including, not only, their belief in a deity but also their belief and belongingness to music, sport and any other interests the person may hold. 'The exclusive definition' refers to just their belief system regarding a 'supra-human' (Browne 2005, p. 311). It is mainly …show more content…

The church was able to explain why such devastation had happened and gave the social masses an explanation to something they could not fathom. The church used this opportunity to gain the respect and belief of the Irish public (Larkin 1984). Religious identity can come in two forms, one from a nation of people all believing in the same values and another from the personal view of each individual or family within that nation. In a family or local community sense, it ties the smaller community together against its neighbouring ethnicities. It provides a feeling of togetherness and strength for the society. It is the basis for 'ethnic honour: the excellence of one's own customs and the inferiority of alien ones' (Weber, cited in Bruce 1996, p. 96). Religious identity brings great pride and hope to the citizens of any particular society and lends itself towards social cohesion (Browne 2005). In a national sense, religious belief and identity can separate whole nations from one another, like in the case of Ireland and England, one of the defining differences is our belief in a different branch of Christianity. This can have disastrous effects on the world as a whole. Religion can be held accountable for the majority of warfare and bloodshed in the world today as nations attack each over their differing beliefs and ideals. Many nations will use religion and beliefs to try to justify the awful atrocities they commit on one another. In this sense, religion

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