Relationship Between Religious Beliefs Essay

The relationship between sacred beliefs, spiritual organisations and sociable groups is complex and diverse. Different groups slang different needs and priorities. To what extent do sociological arguments and evidence support this view? Statistics show that women have a greater participation rate in religious organisations than men. Women argon more(prenominal)(prenominal) app bent to express a greater interest in devotion, to have a stronger personal faith and believe in keep by and by death. They be more believably to involve themselves in religious rituals and worship, for example, dish out religious services and lead a more religious life generally. There be many sociological explanations as to why women atomic number 18 more religious than men. Firstly, Miller and Hoffmann advise that gender kindization direction females are brought up to be more compliant, obedient and nurturing than males. They state that women are more involved with feelings, co-operation and caring for others.However, Walter and Davie see women as more overt than men, to the ups and downs and changes of life. This is because of their biological involvement by childbirth, and with their greater participation in paid caring jobs, for example as teachers, nurses, social workers. Davie suggests that these factors give women a closer association with birth and death than men, and these are also key issues for many religions. They make women more aware of the helplessness of human life, and more familiar to the sacred dimensions for human existence. Women are also more likely to turn to religion as a core of feeling divest they are more likely to experience poverty, family problems, less self authorisation and less power. This smasheds they turn to religion for comfort, particularly in religious sects and new religious movements which provide theodicies explaining their feelings, as well as solutions and support. billet frustration whitethorn be experienced by appro ximately women, who omit personal fulfilment or status as a result of being restricted to the home by the constraints of housework and childcare, or are in unsatisfying lower-middle-class jobs, which are mainly done by women. spectral participation, particularly in religious sects or new larn cults, may help to overcome or compensate for this. Due to women staying at home for child care or having part time jobs, slightly would argue that this allows women to have far more spare time to be able to attend religious groups, whence increase their attendance. Statistics show womens attendance to religious organisations are higher than mens, however some Marxistfeminists such as Bevoir and Bird argue that religion is employ to oppress women. The view that religion has negative consequences for women is conveyed in the study by Bevoir, who sees religion as patriarchal and autocratic.She supports the Marxist perspective and suggests that religion is oppressive and serves to preva il and reimburse the second class status given to woman. Which is quasi(prenominal) to Marxs viewpoint on the polerteriants who believe religion gives women a bastard belief that they will be compensated for their suffering on land by equality in heaven. This argument suggests that religion is patriarchal in that locationfore it is inevitable that it will end up having negative consequences for women. According to feminists there are countless example of patriarchy which have been used to control and later oppress women. Places of worship show this as they often separate the sexes. An example of this is the Jewish synagogue in which women are placed posterior screens separate from the men who in turn are situated in the main centre space. This highlights the marginalisation between the men and women. Although there are some rising female readers of religion, scriptures were first and fore about written and interpret by men and it is men that are the head of the churches in Is lam and Catholicism.This could mean that many values and ideologies such as wearing the Burka, beatings, female circumcision and bans on contraception may have been misinterpreted for mens gain and passed on through generation to generation. May religious women are still not permitted to per normal priests or are only allowed to work themselves up to a certain level before they hit a religious screwball ceiling, identifying where they want to be, barely not being able to conk it due to the constraints set upon them. On the other hand, there are views to suggest that women are no pineer oppressed in religion. For example, many cults are run by women and Paganism, from which many New Age religions originate, remains the almost female-friendly approach to religion with a strong feminist element, where God is a mixture of male and female, and strong female leadership is common. Individuals seem to develop a greater attachment to religion as they grown older.Religious belief is low est among those under 34, and highest among those over age 55. vernal batch are not only less likely to participate in mainstream religious activity than older batch more than half of them rank they dont regard themselves as religious at all, as shown in such studies as the BritishSocial Attitudes survey and the European Values study. There are three main reasons as to why older people might be more religious than the junior generation. The first being disengagement. This means that as people get older, they become detached from integrating mechanisms of hunting lodge, such as participation in workplaces through paid employment. senior(a) people may face increasing social isolation as partners and friends die. Participation in religious organisations provides a form of social support in this situation, and a network of people to contact to.The second is religious socialization, where older people are more likely to have a greater emphasis places on religion through the educa tion system and socialization in the family when they were lateer. Lastly, ill health and death. Older people tend to be faced with declining health, and death looms on the horizon. These are the very things that religion concerns its self with. The aging process and disengagement from society may therefore generate an engagement with religion for comfort, coping, meaning and support. Young people are less religious in terms of their denotative religious belief in surveys and their participation in mainstream religions, however this may be because these are simply being expressed in new, individual(a) ways which are difficult to record in surveys.Lynch suggests that young people may be running away from conventional ideas of religion as they can now go spiritual shopping. This involves an increasing exposure and accessibility to a diversity strand of religious and spiritual ideas. This has encouraged new ways of exploring religion and spirituality. Young people may be choosing t o take of their religion, of whatever faith or mix of beliefs, as a private matter. Davie expressed this in the words believing without be. This is where individuals may have a belief in something, however they do not chose to practice this belief.Secular spirituality and the sacred, Lynch suggested that young people may not have lost all religiosity , but that is simply finding new forms, many of which are associated more with the blase and non-religious world than with religious as it is currently understood by most people. Pragmatic reasons also mean there are a range of possible more practical or pragmatic explanations for the decline of religious belief and commitment amongst young individuals. Leisure activities have become a much bigger part of life, and shops and pubs all open for very long hours, including Sundays. Young people have more demands on their time and they maysimply have more interesting ad enjoyable things to do.