Jennifer Rodriguez

World Religions
Essay 1
World Religions

Many scholars have tried to define religion over the years but have failed to do so. How
do you define religion? Can religion even be defined or studied? Scholars have found that
because religions are too complex of a topic they have started asking the question, why are there
religions. Scholars have found three perspectives to help try and define what religion is;
materialist, functional and faith.
Religions were created to manipulate people but also people are pacified falsely and they
themselves become tools of oppression. Ludwig Feuerbach1 said that deities are projections and
objectifications of human qualities like power, wisdom, love and these qualities are put onto an
imagined cosmic deity. Materialist ways of thinking are that the supernatural, the deities that
humans worship, are really imagined by humans, and only the material world exists. This is just
one of the many scientific materialist theories.
There are many explanations of the usefulness of religion through sociology, biology,
medical and psychology. Religions are useful for society and for individuals because of these
useful needs, religion is found everywhere. Emile Durkheim2 proposed that humans simply cant
live in an unorganized society, humans need that social structure to be organized. Durkheim
explains that religion acts like glue, holding society together. Biology, shows functional purpose
that religions bring people together for common survival. John Bowker3 stated that because of its
survival value, the potential for religiosity may even be genetically inherent in human brains.
Religious faith is good for your health, medical professionals have said, theyve also stated that
1 Ibid, p. 4
2 Ibid, p. 4
3 Ibid, p. 5

if you attend your religious services and read your scriptures frequently then you live longer,
maintain low blood pressure and less likely to be depressed. Believing in any religion gives you
a god so powerful that they will protect you from the terrors of life and reward you for obedience
and punish you for disobedience says Psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud4. These are all theories of a
functional perspective.
Why is it that people can determine that there is an unseen reality even though they
cant recognize it? Reaching a mystical experience can help to perceive the truth and go
beyond the human senses. One must learn to use the modes of consciousness in order to
experience an encounter with the unseen reality, like meditation techniques through
concentration with paying attention to your breath or staring at a candle flame. A near-death
experience can bring the unseen reality on spontaneously. Religious faith shows that from the
perspective of faith there really is an underlying reality that cannot be perceived.
It has been said that religion cant be defined because it is too complex of a topic but if
you use the three perspectives, materialist, functional and faith then religion can be defined in a
way. Religion can have different meanings to different people around the world. To live
accordingly and to have faith in a higher power is a religion says, Mata Amritanandamayi5.
i

4 Ibid, p. 5
5 Ibid, p. 5

i Fisher, Mary P., Living Religions, NJ: Pearson 2012