The psychosocial functions of religion in society.

ABSTRACT.
Religion is a system of beliefs usually involving the worship of super natural forces or beings.
Religious beliefs provide shapes and meaning to ones perception of the universe.
Religion also provides a sense of order in what right otherwise be seen as a chaotic existence. it
also provides understanding and meaning for existence event such as a loved one being killed in an
earthquake or some other unpredictable force of nature.
For most religious people, their belief a bout supernatural is at the core of their worldview.
PYCHOSOCIAL FUNCTIONS OF RELIGION IN SOCIETY.

WHAT IS RELIGION?
A religion is a system of beliefs usually involving the worship of supernatural forces or
beings. Religious beliefs provide shapes and meaning to ones perception of the universe.
RITUALS IN RELIGION
The performance of rituals in an integral part of all religion. They are stylized and usually
repetitive act that take place at a set time and location. They almost always involve the use of symbolic
object , words and action. Most of them are performed in special places under special conditions e.g. in
a temple or sacred spot.
The exacted feeling people experiencing during rituals provide positive reinforcement for contimming
them.
NON-RELIGIOUS RITUALS
Not all rituals are religious. Brushing your teeth every morning in the same place and in the same way is
an example. Political ideologies and movements often rave rituals that can be important for people
especially when they become the focus of nationalism. Democratic nation that are international in focus
have oftenly symbolic political objects and rituals connected with them.
PSYCHOLOGICAL AND SOCIAL FUNCTIONS OF RELGION
Religions fulfills psychological needs. They help us confront and explain death, relieve our fears and
anxieties about the unknown, may be oppealed to or manipulated by people in terms of crisis e.g. pray
to win or battle, ease the stress during personal life crisis such as birth, marriage, serious illness, and
death and also get psychological relief divinely given moral codes because in difficult situations, they tell
us what is right and wrong.
Religions also fulfill social needs. By reinforcing group norms they help bring about social homogeneity.
They can provide a basis for common purpose and values that can help maintain social solidarity. A
uniformity of beliefs helps binds people together and reinforces group identity.
They control the society by defining what is right and wrong behavior, that if individuals do the right
things in life, they may earn the approval of gods and if they do the wrong thing, they may suffer
supernatural retribution. The Judeo-Christian bible stories of Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, Noah, Job,
Moses, Solomon, and even Jesus provide examples of how virtuous people should lead their lives
SOCIAL FUNCTIONALIST VIEW
The role of religious as psychological mechanisms to regulate interpersonal relationship and intra group
cooperation in order to ensure the successful reproduction of genes (kirkpatric 2006)is the essence of
the social functionalist view.
During the evolution of homosapiens, individuals who formed groups and who learn to cooperate
among themselves were able toward danger and those who stick together were the ones who
successfully reproduced.
These adaptations had on by-product religious as social phenomenon,of which the purpose is to
improve coorperation whin in human groups (Dennett 2006).
Religion is a form of communication by means of shared acts and rituals contributes to the attribution of
trustworthness of the believers amongst themselves.the enhance trust serves to facilitate coorperation .
Sacrificing time and money (in aid of the congregation),not indulging in certain activities (such as wild
parties)and wearing certain clothes linked to the congregation reliably communicate the level of
committement to the in-group (Kirk Patrick 2006; sossis 2006) and therefore trustworthiness (Afran
2002)
Religious communities functions as networks of resource (money, time,talents) that are shared to the
mutial benefits of all in the congregation (Afran 2006; Nesse 1999).
WORLD VIEWS : FRAMES FOR MEANINGS
People want to understand themselves on the world in which they live.all people inhabit a personal
world within which they create their individual understandings,explanations ans definitions of life and
the universe,which together form their world view.Aworld view is time,place and culture.specific (Muller
2007) and consist of ideas gleaned from ordinary people,experts,social institutions and abstructions
from personal experience ( Harris 2006;Kolko-Rivera 2004).
WORLD VIEW AND RELIGION
Religious believes emanate from notions a bout absolute reality or god(s) empedded in most people's
world view.people mainly represent god(s) as beings whith human characteristics (interested in
humans,loving,caring,disappointed). These beings are also thought to have some supper human
characteristics (omniponent, all knowing,able to function outside natural laws to do miracles.
Religious ideas,assumptions and believes are all part of a persons world view and forms what psyiainen
(2003:119)call a metarepresentational attitude .
KOLTKO-RIVERA 2004:3
There is a sizable group of people who might not believe in any god but they too, due to the
limitations of current knowledge necessarily incorporate some improvable assumptions in their world
views.
Beliefs are principles of action (Harris 2006:52),They not only represent people,s understandings of the
world but strongly guide their behavior and can indeed be so commanding that people are willing to die
or kill for them. Beliefs organize recognitions, behavior and emotions (Hariis 2006 ;KoltkoRivera 2007)
and they relieve insecurity of having to make sense of the unpredictability and often chaos of daily life.
MULTIPLICIY OF WORLDVIEW
As humanity evolved, different worldviews evolved in what WILBER (2006-2007) calls process
envelopment where preceding levels of understanding ,ethics consciousness and ability to care.
Initially, children's point of reference is themselves and their own bodily needs and sensations
(egocentric). In time, they develop to include others like themselves in to the 'we'
(ethnocentric).eventually ,some individuals evolve to include all others sentient beings (all of us) in an
expansion of care from the self to the family and tribe and to the whole of humanity despite
race,colour,and creed (world centric) (Wilber 2007;45-47).in the case of faith, the most evolved stage
according to Fowler (1981) represent a faith that entails a deep insight in, concern for and commitment
to the universal community.
Although these worldwide views are successive (in that they represent development),they to this days
exist side by side in society. Modernity, however widespread) is not conceptionalised and for actualized
societies is vastly different regarding their history, way of living and basic cosmological understanding
(Bastian 2001).
The rational western world view of modernity, which is associated with an epistemology of reason and
has been shape philosophies and is faith commitment (e.g. Christian and non Christians) is prevalent in
South Africa. Many of South Africans countries are still speeded in religion. Mostly Christians and
traditional African religious.


CHRISTIAN WORLD VIEW
Many Christians accepts religious principles ,prescriptions,assumptions and stones rooted in a pre-
modern world view dominated by such concepts ,rules and roles could be described as mythic
(WILBER2006).
An example of a specific Christian world view in die south African context is a calrinistic world view that
is founded on the (objective) revelation of god (BUYS 2000:21). Meaning is framed within the belief of
God as the creator that exists and that humans are fallen sinners in need of redemption in order to
enjoy a restore relationship with God.
AFRICAN WORLDVIEWS
African religious holds as deistic concept of God, an omnipresent reality, who is seldom mention
explicitly and who is elevated above sacrifice and rituals (klilombe 1994;Zahan1999).in african
religious ,ideas and assumptions are passed on through icons, Metaphors
,metonymies,dreams,visions,religious rituals,sonds,dance,and symbols,(kalombe 1999:Zahran
2001). It is Believed that powerful natural and supernatural forces (spiritual life. The spiritual
beings guide, protect and that and chastise the living .there are also evil spirits that can be kept at
bay ley benevolent spirits.
The believe that these forces are invisible and that the forces can neither be understood nor
controlled leads to elaborate rituals to protect and strengthen community members.
Diviners may acquire some insight in to the working of such forces and witches and sources may
secretly manipulate these forces to achieve their evil aims.
Diversity charachterises all human context there is a strong unifying sharing of common myths
.western parttens of belief doing and being however affected traditional African belief system and
can lead to adjustment and chsnges.