What is the Roles and Functions of Religion?

Roles of Religion:

Religious norms and practices give rise to different social roles, someone has to carry on. It is aforementioned that, “Gods die if there are no priests to keep them alive”.

Social roles in religion are of two main categories:

(i) The religious thinkers and mystics

(ii) The executives or operators of the formal structure of the Church or the Temple. The first category includes the prophets and the messiahs. The second category consists of the priests or pators, formal teachers, missionaries and various administrators.

(i)

a) The Mystic plays a crucial half within the growth of faith.
He identifies himself or comes into union with the god or the absolute. The mystics believe that, through their dreams, visions and other unique mental experiences, they come into personal communication with divine powers. Mystics are likely to be innovators and disturbers of the established order.

b) The Prophet is an important religious leader. He maybe a priest or mystic. He serves as a spokesman for some divine power, issuing warnings, giving commands and revealing the course of future events. The role of the prophet is set by the culture. The disruption in the established Church hierarchy may give rise to the emergence of mystics and prophets.

c) The Messiah is the divine leader or prophet who is recognised as having supernatural attributes. He often assumes the role of final judge. The messiah comes from among the people themselves, who at a time of crisis look to him to save their society from disaster. Jesus, Christ, Moses, Prophet Mohammad (sm), for example, were regarded as the messiahs or redeemers.

(ii) The religious executives include the priests, teachers and the missionaries.

a) The priest or pastor carries on the religious rituals and expounds or explains the theology. He officiates as the Church ceremonies and cares for both spiritual and temporal or wordly affairs.

b) Religious teachers or philosophers have played a significant role in the history of the great world religions. Jesus, Christ, St. Paul, Prophet Mohammad (sm), The Buddha, Mahavira, Shankaracharya, Basavanna are all well known instances.

c) The missionary is a special teacher whose task is to carry the message, rituals and symbolism of an established religion to non-believers.

d) The religious executive may be, like St. Paul, Shankaracharya, Allammaprabhu, both missionaries and organisers. Sometimes these executives may undertake the priestly work as well as social-service work and management.

The mystics and the religious thinkers are likely to be innovators and disturbers of the established order. On the other hand, the religious executives are generally conservative, who always prefer the old to the new. There is, in fact, a sort of continuous struggle in religious organisations between these two kind of persons. “Some would confine religious expression within rather definite limits sets by symbols, rites, traditions and established theology. Other would not unduly hamper religious experience by such established patterns of thought and action but would leave much to the individuals unique experience.

Functions of Religion:

The universal existence of religion shows that religion has a great survival value. “The catholicity of faith isn't primarily based upon the types of belief and follow, but upon the social functions which religion universally fulfils”. These functions square measure of nice individual still as social significance.

1 . Religion provides Religious Experience:

This is the basic function of religion. Prayer, worship and meditation are the summary of religi0us experience. Through these means man expresses awe, reverence, gratitude and allegiance to the Almighty or the GM, or the Supernatural Force. When an individual comes into contact with the supernatural he undergoes some sort of peculiar, inexplicable experience. He converses with the divine through prayers. He forgets the werldly life and its problems. This non secular expertise ennobles the human wishes, ideals and values. It facilitates the development of personality, sociability and creativeness.

2. Religion Provides Peace of Mind:

Religion provides for the individual the foremost desired peace of mind. At each crisis, personal or collective, religion is called in for consolation and peace of mind. it promotes goodness and helps the development of character. in a world full of uncertainties, indefiniteness, dangers, insecurities and unhappiness, the need for safety and security is really great. Religion here acts as the healer of the ills of life. It reduces one‘s gtievancesto some It gives the individuals emotional support in the face of uncertainty. It consoles them when they are disappointed. It reconciles them when they are estranged from the goals and norms of society. In doing this it supports established values and goals and reinforces the morale. It provides people with inspiration, hope, faith, optimism and courage.

3. Religion promotes social solidarity, unity and identity:

Religion upholds and validates the traditional ways of the life. More than that it unites people. It is known that a common faith, common value judgements, common sentiments, common worship are significant factors in unifying people. By their participation in religious rituals and worship, people try to identity themselves as having something in common. Religion affects an individuals understanding of who they are(people) and what they are.

As Davis said that, "Religion offers a way of uniquely identifying with the distant past and the unlimited future."

As Thomas F O'Dea says, “In periods of fast social change and large scale social mobility, the contribution of to religion identity may become greatly enhanced.”

As A.W. Green has pointed out religion is “the supremely integrating and unifying force in human society.”

4. Religion conserves the value of life:

Religion is an efficient suggests that of protective the values of life. Religion defines and redefines the values. Moral, religious and social values square measure greatly supported by faith. It exercises a tremendous influence over the younger ones and their behavior. Through such agencies like the family and the church, religion inculcates the values of life in the minds of the growing children. Further As Thomas F.O'Dea says, “religion sacralises the norms and values of established society.” It maintains the dominance of cluster goals over individual impulses.

5. Religion-as an agent of social control:

Religion is one in all the types of informal suggests that of group action. It regulates the activities of people in its own way. It prescribes rules of conduct for people to follow. The conceptions of spirits, ghosts, taboos, souls, commandments, sermons etc. control human action and enforce discipline.
Ideas of hell and heaven have sturdy result on the behaviour of individuals. Thus, religion has a great disciplinary value. Religion has its own methods to deal with those individuals who violate it norms. It has its own ways to reintegrate the disobedient into the social group. Further non secular sanctions square measure wide created use of to support the codes and moral practices among several peoples.

6. Priestly function of religion:

By performing it's priestly function religion contributes to the stability and order of the society. Religion offers a sort of relationship with the on the far side through totally different styles of worship and beliefs. By this it provides the emotional ground for a brand new security. Through its authoritative teaching of beliefs and values, it provides similar points of opinion and avoid conflicts. It contributes to the maintenance of the status quo.

7. Religion promotes welfare:

Religion renders service to the people and promotes their welfare. It appears to the people to be sympathetic, mercyful and co-operative. It rouses in them that spirit of mutual help and co-operation. It awakens the philanthropic attitude of the people. It reinforces the sense of belonging to the group. It promotes art, culture and provides means for the development of character on the right lines. Various religious organisations like the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Hindu Seva Pratishthana, Ramakrishna Mission, Arya Samaj, Brahma Samaj, The Society of Jesus etc. are engaged in varied social, educational, aesthetic, cultural, civic, medical and other activities.

8. Religion provides recreation:

Religion promotes recreation through religious lectures, kirtanas, dramas, dance, bhajanas, music, puranas, harikathas, fairs, festivals, musical concerts, art exhibitions and so on. It tries to make men sorrowless and fearless. Various spiritual festivals and rituals will offer relief to the disturbed mind.

9. Religion explains individuals suffering and helps to integrate personality:

Man has never lived by knowledge alone. Man is a rational as well as an emotional creature. The things for which men strise in this world are in some measure denied to them. If the aim is to propagate a faith, persecution may bring failure. If the aim is to realize fame, a mediocre career may bring disillusionment. If the aim is to become wealthy in business, heavy loss in it may bring disheartenment. With a multiplicity of goals no individual can escape frustration. But the culture provides him with goals that anybody can reach. These are goals that transcend the word of actual experience. With the consequence that no evidence of failure to attain them can be conclusive. If the individual believes that he has gained them that is sufficient. All he needs is sufficient faith. The larger his disappointment during this life, the greater his faith in the next. Religion tries to give release from the very thing it guilt. Ritual means that area unit freely provided for wiping away guilt, so that one can count on divine grace.

10. Religion enhances self importance:

Religion expands the self to infinite proportions. Religious belief relates the self to the Infinite or cosmic style. Through unity with the infinite the self is ennobled, made majestic. Man considers himself the noblest work of God with whom he shall be united. His self thus becomes grand and elevated.

Conclusion:

It is true that the Rapid development in the field of Civilization in physical and biological Sciences have affected the functions of religion to a great extent some of the age old religious beliefs have been exploded by the scientific investigation science has often shaken the religious faith the growing secular and the rationalist attitude has posed a challenge, a serious question- can the society rely on the acceptance of certain ethical and moral principles without believing in the existence of a spiritual or super empirical world?— Still, it is understandable that the institution of religion is so deep rooted and long lasting that it will continue to function in the near future withthe dangerous of changes and the ravages of time.