6.3: Functions of Religion
Religion and its purpose varies depending on who you ask, but in a general sense, religions are societal groups of individuals with like-minded values and beliefs about the world. Most use religion as a way to achieve and ensure salvation in the afterlife, or to receive assurance of the purpose of their own lives. Spirituality often provides its followers with moral standards or expectations of how they should live and treat others. A religious group can bring people together, but religion also has a violent history as the driving force behind acts of genocide and oppression. For example, the Crusades were some of the most famous instances of the use of religion to justify violence, the Holocaust being another example. Both are historically significant, and while these are drastic examples, we still see prejudice today with attacks on Muslims based solely on religious ignorance. Anthropologically, religion has many purposes in society and its study can tell much about a culture that is not otherwise understood.