Understanding Religious Experience and Expression in Today’s Society

This essay delves into understanding religious experience and the expression of religion in contemporary society, highlighting the enduring importance of religion despite modernization and secularization. It examines the various functions religion serves, such as providing meaning and purpose, reinforcing social unity, and promoting well-being. The essay also discusses sociological perspectives, including functionalism, conflict theory, and symbolic interactionism, to illustrate how religion shapes individual behavior and societal values. Furthermore, it emphasizes the impact of religious engagement on mental and physical health, noting its role in reducing anxiety and depression. The essay concludes that religion continues to exert a significant influence on people's lives by fostering positive beliefs, ethical behavior, and a sense of connection with the divine.

Understanding
religious experience
and expression of
religion in today’s
society

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION....................................................................................1
Main Body................................................................................................1
CONCLUSION.........................................................................................4
REFERENCES.........................................................................................5

INTRODUCTION
The concept of the religion can be defined and presented as the social
cultural system that is tend to reflect about the designated behaviour and
practices along with reflecting about the morals, beliefs, worldviews and
social ethics (Bruce, Steve 2002). The current essay writing is tend to be
based on the topic of the Understanding religious experience and
expression of religion in today’s society that tend to covers ad provides
complexity of religion. Along with this, a discussion about the fact that
spite of the adoption of the modernization as well as the secularization in
the todays world the religion aspects tend to plays an important and vital
role in the society as well as within the life of the individuals. Beside
this current essay also tend to provides a discussion about the fact that
why is it essential and needed to take religion in to consideration while
trying to understand the behaviour as well as the way of thinking of
people.
Main Body
It has been seen and find out that the religion tend to put and serve
the several function within a society that comprises of the giving
improved meaning as well as the purpose to the once life. Along with
this, the religion tend to be important and vital as it helps in reinforcing
the social unity along with brining and supporting a higher level of
stability. Beside this, it has been also seen and find out that the in spite
of the fact that a higher level of the modernization as well as shift
1

towards the secularization is seen in toady’s world but still the religion
splays an important role in society and in the life of the individual as it
tend to serve as the agent that supports higher social control as well as
also tend to promote the physical as well as the psychological well being
of the people (Ristiniemi, Skeie, 2018). Apart from this, an important
role of religion in society can be reviewed and analysed based on the
fact that it tend to brings and lead to higher level of motivation in the
people in order to direct them to have positive social change and better
implication of their responsibilities. Beside this, it has been also seen
and reflected that the In spite of modernization and secularization it has
been seen and reviewed that religion still plays an important role in
society and in the life of the individual as it supports and brings to a
feeling of having a direct as well as personal level of experience and
connection with the God that tend to brings and lead to positivity in
individuals. Further, it has been also seen that the religion tend to
supports and reflects about the individuals experience that is significant
for the person tend to experience as it supports and brings a scene of
holy it numinous thus supports a greater positivity and higher ethical
implication in individuals (McGuire, Meredith 2002).
Along with this, it has been also seen and find out the spite of
modernization and secularization it has been seen that the religion still
plays an important role in society and in the life of the individual as it is
something that supports the improvement within the health of
2

individuals both in mental as well as physical health (Wulff, David M
1997). Further, a higher level of learning along with the economic
wellbeing and enhancement within the self-esteem, self-control and
empathy is also being lead and supported by the religion which reflects
its importance and benefits in the life of individuals in current society.
Along with this, it has been also seen and find out that the implication of
religion in day to day life also helps an individuals to reduce the level of
the incidence of the social pathologies along with reducing the negative
impacts and beliefs based on the wedlock, crime and delinquency.
Beside this, the religion also supports a more moral as well as ethical
based life of individuals in current society by the way of reducing the
implication of drugs and need of alcohol addiction through solving
various mental and health problem along with supporting reduction in
stress and anxiety level based on positive thoughts and responsible
behaviour (Franck & Thalén, Peder 2018).
Further, it has been also seen and implicated that the religion is tend
to an universal institution within the human society that is concerned
with the shared beliefs and supports positive practices. Along with this,
it has been also seen and implicated that the Religion tend to helps to
effectively knit the Social Values and well as principles of a Society into
a Cohesive Whole that is taken and lead to as an ultimate source of
social cohesion. Beside this, it has been also seen and analysed that the
primary set of the requirement of the society is the common possession
3

as well as it also lead to individual with the help of social values by that
way of the which individuals control the set of the actions along with
leading the self as well as the others and through which society is
perpetuated. Along with this, the two key perspective of religion are tend
to based on the Sociologists perspective and Functionalist perspective
(Peach, 2012). Based on the sociologists perspective of the religion it
has been seen and find out that the relation often tend to applies and
includes of and aiming at to effectively understand the functions religion
that tend to serves and helps in mitigating the inequality as well as the
other set of the problems that helps that it can reinforce and perpetuate.
Thus, the religion tend to have a role that it tend to plays in once daily
lives and also effect the behaviour as well as the attitude level of the
individuals. Along with this, based on the Functionalism set of the
perceptive the concept of the religion can be understood and taken as the
one that tend to serves all the set of the several functions for society.
Based on the functionalism perceptive of religion it tend to include of
the one that tend to giving and effectively reflecting the meaning as well
as the purpose to life. Along with this, Functionalism perspective of the
religion it has been also seen and implicated that the religion is the on
that is based on the reinforcing and leading of the social unity as well as
a higher level of the stability within the current society (Flensner, 2017).
Beside this, the Functionalism view point also present and reflects the
religion as the means that tend to help in serving the world as an agent of
4

social control of behaviour which tend to control the attitude level of
individual and at the same time it tend to supports and helps in
promoting of the physical and psychological well-being. Along with
this, based on the Functionalism perceptive religion is also taken as the
means that helps in motivating as well as directing the people and
individuals towards a positive life by the way of leading to the work for
positive social change. However, based on the conflict theory and
perceptive the concept of the religion is tend to present and given as the
one that tend to reinforces as well as helps in promoting and leading out
the social inequality along with helps in mitigating the social conflict
(Hood, 2022).
Along with this, as per the conflict perceptive of the religion it has
been also seen and implicated that the religion is the one the helps to
convince the poor people to accept that there is lot of happiness and
good thing in life. However, still based on the conflict theory and
perceptive it has been seen that religion still tend to be taken a means in
current society that leads to higher hostility level in society along with
the higher chances and situation of the violence that is motivated and
lead by the religious differences that always tend to presents within the
society (Bruce, Steve 2002). Further, the another important perceptive
and view point of the religion is also tend to be presented and lead by the
level of the symbolic interactionism that comprises of the perspective
which tend to have the focuses on the ways in which individuals
5

interpret their religious experiences. Apart from this, the symbolic
interactionism perspective of the religion is also tend to present and
emphasizes on the common beliefs and the set of the practices which are
not taken and based on the sacred unless the people tend to be regard
them as such. Beside this, it has been also presented and reflected by the
symbolic interactionism perceptive as that once the people are tend to be
regarded as sacred, they take on special significance and give a positive
and improved meaning to the people’s lives (Weber, 2022).
Apart from this, it has been also seen and reviewed that the
understanding of the religion is tend to be important and essential vital
as it helps to understanding more about the other people and their
cultures that tend to reflects about their behaviour as well as the way of
the thinking. It has been seen that most of the religion across the world
tend to enforce and supports the moral inhabit in the human being and
people through leading and considering the positive and negative
reinforcement. Further, the religion also tends to present and reflects
about the allocation of the different level of the logical thinking to the
religious material thus supports and helps in effectively determine and
understanding about the behaviour and way of thinking of people. For
instance: it has been seen that the concept of karma and reincarnation is
highly seen and reflected within the Hinduism religion that are based on
implication of good and bad thinking and activity (Ho, 2022). Further,
the heaven-hell and salvation are seen as the main thinking and
6

behaviour pattern within the Christianity religion. Beside this, the
paradise and hell are taken as the key values and behaviour within
Islamism while the peaceful afterlife as well as the reincarnation in
indigenous are also implicated and reflected by the concept of religion.
Along with this, the impact of the religion and its consideration while
trying to understand people’s behaviour and way of thinking comprises
of the fact that people who are tend to have proper engagement and
involvement within the religious activity tend to have and show the
fewer symptoms and issues of anxiety and depression. Along with this, it
has been also seen and analsysed that the religion tend to lead to many
positive action in people such as prayer and meditation that helps in
coping with the stress as well as it reshape the brain as well as the
thinking of the people thus lead a positive impact on the behaviour and
thinking pattern of people (Bezemer, Langmann & Vlaar, 2022).
CONCLUSION
On the basis of current essay, it has been seen and concluded that the
concept of religion tends to reflect about the belief in as well as the
worship pattern of the superhuman controlling power by the people who
especially tend to devotee of there God. Further, a summarisation can
also be made that there are various perceptive of religion that tend to
base on Functionalism and conflict theory and perceptive. Beside this, it
has been also concluded that a positive impact of religion is being seen
on the behaviour and thinking of the people by the way of supporting
7

medication and positive belief along with reduction in anxiety and
depression.
REFERENCES
Books and journal
Bezemer, P. J., Langmann, S., & Vlaar, P. W. (2022). Death or
Resurrection? Christian Church Leader Responses to External
Change. Journal of Management, Spirituality & Religion, 19(1), 1-
20.
Bruce, Steve (2002). God is dead: secularization in the West. Oxford:
Blackwell.pages: 2692.
Flensner, K. K. (2017). The Religious Landscape. In Discourses of
Religion and Secularism in Religious Education Classrooms (pp.
5-14). Springer, Cham.
Franck, Olof & Thalén, Peder (red.) (2018). Interkulturell
religionsdidaktik utmaningar och möjligheter. Lund:
Studentlitteratur
Ho, Y. Y. (2022). A Qualitative Case Study of Catholic Patients’
Responses to Pain, Suffering, and Redemption: Application and
Evaluation of the Rational Choice Approach to
Religion. Sociological Focus, 55(1), 68-84.
Hood, R. W. (2022). William James and the (non) replication crisis in
psychology: conjectures and controversy in the psychology of
religion. In Research in the Social Scientific Study of Religion,
Volume 32 (pp. 373-398). Brill.
McGuire, Meredith (2002). Religion: The social context. Belmont, CA:
Wadsworth publishing company. pages: 413.
Peach, F. (2012). Reflections on Philosophical Faith and Faith in the
Twenty-First Century. In Philosophical Faith and the Future of
Humanity (pp. 253-266). Springer, Dordrecht.
8

Ristiniemi, J., Skeie, G. och Sporre, K. (2018). Challenging Life:
Existential Questions as a Resource for Education. Münster:
Waxmann. 415 s.
Weber, S. (2022). Religious Education in Christian Schools: Towards
Faith Formation of South African Youth. The Bloomsbury
Handbook of Religious Education in the Global South, 227.
Wulff, David M (1997). Psychology of Religion. London: John Wiley
and sons. pages: 784
9