Societies in the world have gone through many changes. Societies have gone through the various stages from being agrarian to post modern. There are various factors that have shaped society but none is more important than religion. Religion has also gone through various changes. During the agrarian societies, tribesmen and women use to pray to animals or to nature like the rain. They embrace animism. It kept the communities together. It gave them an identity. As society advanced, various kinds of religions emerged. For example, Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism and Hinduism. Some say religion has lost its importance due to the advancement of science. Some have said that religion has lost the capability to shape one's identity and that mass media has taken over the task. Others have argued that religion is well and alive.
In the following paragraphs, I will try to convince you that religion still exist. I will also show how it has affected society and that it still shapes one's social identity. Mass media has also helped to spark people's interest in religion. However I also agree that there are certain groups of people that have turned away from religion. Ironically mass media has a part to play in this phenomenon.
All religions preached about good and evil. Materialism is seldom preached. However that was not the case in Calvinism. There are guides in religion that will teach how one should behave and live his or her life. These guides shape one's life. For example in Christianity, there are rules that state one should not steal, should not commit murder and should not commit adultery. Buddhism, Judaism, Hinduism and Islam have their own guide lines. One of the major changes that society faced was the rise of industrial capitalism and religion had a hand in it. This was according to Max Weber. He claimed that industrial capitalism was the legacy of Calvinism – a Christian religious movement created by the Protestant Reformation. They believed that one's faith was predestined by God. Those that prospered were blessed by God. Therefore they work very hard in order to make profits. They associated poverty as being rejected by God. These principles were known as the Protestant Ethic which became known later as a work ethic. It was pretty narrow minded of Max Webber to view the birth of capitalism in this manner but it still bears some truth. Marx claimed that religion only encouraged people to think that there were no class inequality but in actual fact there was. Ironically religious fundamentalist have adopted Marxist's teachings and have created social change. For example, the Iranian revolution. In this case, I think Marx was not correct to say that religion does not bring about social change.
Like all good things there are also bad things. There are groups of people who have twisted their concepts of their own religion. They believe that their religion and its doctrines are the only correct teachings. They believe that they are the one's that can reinvent society and make it into a perfect society to live in. The rules and regulations of societies must be based on religious grounds. All people must live a religious way of life. They have brought about drastic changes to society. They have also been the roots cause of wars, revolutions and tragedies. These group of people are commonly know as fundamentalist. They have separated themselves from main stream religion. The three kinds of fundamentalist that I will concentrate on come from three religions in the world. They are Christianity, Islamism and Judaism
One good example of an Islamic fundamentalist is Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. When he took over Iran during the Iranian revolution he said he would enforce religious and traditional values. Women were required to wear the veil. Western music and alcohol were banned and the punishments described by Islamic laws were reinstated. He took control of the mass media as well as newspapers, television broadcasts and radio programs. These circumstamces forced the citizens of Iran to reassess their lives. They had to change their social identity and lifestyles to suit with the religious authority that was governing Iran. Please remember that before Iran was taken over by Khomeini, it was a capitalistic state and western lifestyles were adopted. To adopt to a religious lifestyle would be a great leap. There were those that were unhappy.
Islamic fundamentalist are good at brain washing people to make them agree with their teachings and doctrines. For example, they preach the rejection of western ideologies and that Jihad, holy war, is the only solution to fight against those that oppose Islam. These people shape their social identity according to the teachings of their fundamentalist leaders and will do whatever they say. Chaos and conflict are usually link with Islamic fundamentalism. The "brainwashed people" are willing to carry out bombings in the name of religion. For example. the Islamic Jihad held suicide bombings that killed two hundred-forty one U.S personnel in Teheran Embassy. These acts were not looked at as being bad acts of terrorism, but rather as acts of patriotic heroes. Other examples are the September 11 bombings and restaurants bombings in London.
In the wake of the bombings, Muslims and their non-Muslim colleagues revisited the concept of jihad. They strengthen the scriptural and traditional warrants for non-violent resistant to oppression and injustice by explaining the true meaning of Jihad. People around the world were stereotyping Muslims as terrorist. Muslims had to do something to get rid of the stigma of being labeled as a terrorist.
Christian fundamentalism was mainly formed by the Protestants in the early eighteen and nineteen centuries. They practiced polygamy. They had numerous wives and children. Some Fundamentalist have persuaded their followers to commit suicide. For example, there was a group called Heaven's Gate that persuaded their members to commit suicide because there was a sign (the sighting of the Hale Bopp comet) that indicated that it was their time to go to heaven.
Women are discriminated in Orthodox Jewish sects. It is basically patriarchal. They are excluded from any role in public prayer. Married women must cover their head, unmarried women and girls must keep their hair neatly braided and never dishevelled. All females must wear long-sleeved garments and stockings at all seasons and their clothing never reveal the contours of their bodies. They can't speak loudly. They can't pray in the same space as their husbands. They pray in separated rooms. All of these regulations have created a submissive identity in the women. They have become obedient towards their husbands. These fundamentalist Jews have tried to change the Jewish society in Jerusalem to follow their rules. They have thus only succeeded in certain areas of Jerusalem.
Religion has become popular. However, this is true in some countries but not in others. In Asian countries for example, religion is on the rise. This is mainly to due to the Asian culture where religion plays major part in the upbringing of children. Our parents emphasized the importance of religion to us at a very young age. Therefore religion is one of the factors that shape our identity and how we are suppose to behave in society. There are also factors that can dissuade us from our religion. Two major factors are education and mass media. They do also encourage us in becoming religious. I will explain these facts later on.
The decline of religion is more prevalent in western countries. In these countries, religion is not so much emphasize as being important. Those families that preach the importance of religion have a closer bonding with one another and are less likely to give up religion. However, factors like the persuading power of the mass media and friends can make them leave religion. An example of a country where religion is on the decline is Britain. Only 21 per cent of the British population say they have no doubts about the existence of God, whereas 26 percent either do not believe in God or do not know whether God exists. Churches have seen a fall in membership from about 9 million to 6.4 million. (Sociology – A global Introduction by John J Macionis and Ken Plummer)
I was recently in England and I noticed that there are many nice churches but unfortunately only the elderly and the very young attend church service. Where are the youths? Sad to say they are hanging out at the malls or are at some pubs. One of the contributing factors towards this phenomenon is the mass media and the advancement of technology. With advancements in the arena medical science and technology, illnesses that were not able to be cured are now curable. Unexplained phenomenon's can now be explained with scientific proof. More people believe the explanations science. They are moving away from religion.
The mass media plays a big part in our lives. In the wake of globalization, mass media technology has grown from leaps and bounds. There are now TV, radios, internet, computers, handphones & PDAs. All these equipments provides us the latest world news, latest movies, music and advertisements. Advertisements are shaping the identity of youths of today. For example there is the mp3 player identity & Nike identity. Youths must now at least own an mp3 player or wear the latest fashion in order to be hip. I have also become a victim of mass media in the sense that I also need to own the latest handphone. They have become more materialistic. Something that religion looks down upon. Therefore, youths stay away from church because being in church is not hip. However, various religions have used mass media to encourage youths to come back to church. Christian churches have invested heavily in broadcast media. They have taped into the various media technologies like the TV, radio, internet & print media to spread their teachings and reach out to many audiences as possible. Even Christian fundamentalist invest in the media. For example the Radio Bible Class & the Old Fashioned Revival Hour (The Freedom To Do God's Will – Religions Fundamentalism and social change by Gerrie ter Haar and James J. Buauttil). Therefore mass media also shapes one's own identity. It all depends on how well we are brought up and how strong our beliefs in religious value is. These believes will help us to resist the temptations that advertisements brings about. The first religious book to be printed was the bible. It was printed so that religion could reached a wider audience. Primitives societies used to write on the walls the writings of their religious teachings.
Religion and mass media have the power to create social change and shape one's own identity. Religious fundamentalism can create tremendous social change. They usually use force, violence and persuading speeches to spread their teachings and to force people to live the way of life that they want them to. Religion on the whole is good. It is just these minorities that have given religion a bad name. Mass media can also create social change by persuading youths to buy the latest fashion, listen to the latest music and own the latest gadgets. These youths form a sub culture whereby those in common will flock together like birds. Birds with the same features flock together as the saying goes. Scientist use mass media to publicize their works. They have proven unexplained phenomenon's using scientific methods. These scientific facts have brought about the secularization of religion. People are abandoning religion as there are now more scientific discoveries. TV documentaries have distorted religion's facts, informing people that certain biblical events may not be true or that it was not the act of God. Some documentaries have claimed that religion is still alive but there are now new discoveries with the existence of God. However, these claims do not run parallel with the ancient religious teachings.
Religions groups have used mass media to encourage youths to come back to church. They hold concerts that are youth like, organizing outings that will interest the youths and make the church a fun loving place to be. Therefore, It all depends on how well we are brought up and how strong our beliefs in religious value is that will help us to resist the temptations that advertisement brings about.
I hope this essay have convinced you that religion is still alive. It has the power to create social changes and social identity. Mass media also has a part to play in either encouraging people to be religious or not. It also has the power to change one's own social identity.
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