The Meaning and Social Implications of Religion

Religion, when used as a broad term, can encompass a range of spiritual and moral teachings and practices. More narrowly, it can refer to specific faiths or even to a person’s regular practice of his or her religion. The word can also be a source of conflict and tension.

The 19th century was a formative period for the modern study of religion. Lucien Febvre and Marc Bloch developed a socio-history approach that broke with the politico-historiographical tradition of previous decades, seeking to uncover the “longue duree” (Fernand Braudel, 1929) of temporal strata that formatively shape not only political and economic history, but the concrete experiential world of general populations.

These sociological approaches to the study of religion emphasize the social, rather than the metaphysical, aspects of the concept. In fact, many sociologists would say that they are using a broader definition of religion than Emile Durkheim ever intended, one that drops the belief in unusual reality and focuses instead on any set of social drivers that can unite a group into a moral community.

For example, people who regularly attend church services appear to have lower rates of divorce and out-of-wedlock births. Religion also appears to have a positive impact on family health, well-being and happiness. But religion can also be a source of stress, especially when religious beliefs lead to prejudice and intolerance. In addition, there is increasing evidence that the practice of religion can be a positive force for social cohesion, and that religiosity is associated with higher levels of empathy.