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Religion Unplugged

In: Religion Topics

Submitted By comnsens
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Religion Unplugged
Craig Clifford
December 14, 2011

Religion Unplugged

What is religion? What is the purpose of religion? Why is religion rapidly shrinking? In the perspective of a functionalist, religion has historically been linked to identify an individual and their social group. It was once believed that society was integrated and stable years ago due to how many people that congregated together in church because of their religion. For example: you see with some television shows depicting a whole town congregating at church every Sunday, where everyone knows each other, and everyone always pitches in to help one another out when in need. This was believed for one to be a part of the society. Most people in the society had a belief of a god which seemed to pull the society together as a whole.
Over the years, several religions have become more relevant identifying your exact beliefs and/or followings by how, who, or which god you chose to worship. Today there are even more religions and more individuals who choose to believe but not follow a particular religion. There are also several individuals who choose to be non-believers. Some may say that the fewer people committing to one true religion and only acknowledging a higher power might lead to a dysfunctional society. Some believe if you believe in a higher power, that will help you make the right choices in life because of how religion portraits what is right and what is wrong. Many are choosing not to believe at all which brings some to believe the result will be a dysfunctional society of individualists causing a more chaotic society. This could be just the result of several different factors such as individualism and not so much of a revolt against religion. Some may wonder if this is being caused by our own law of freedom of religion be a cause. After all, if you don’t have to believe in one thing or another, then not believing would seem to be an easier choice to make.
As a country, we have lost our credibility as far as being loyal to one certain religion. As Americans we have the right to not follow a certain religion and be non-believers. This affects the continuity that the country has had in the past. The thought of following an adopted plan and a blue print on how the country has been conducted for centuries scares some people into change. In a new time and era, how sure are we of having the freedom of choice to be non-believers is actually helping our situation. We are at a time when life has been more difficult as a society than the times of the great depression.
So the question is, “Are we sure that allowing use to have the freedom of choice is the right thing?” Non-believers have grown at an alarming rate. Should we have reason to worry and develop an action plan to change current society or should we just continue on the dysfunctional path that has come about. There are many choices throughout life with freedom of religion being one of those, but can we really say it is an actual choice, or have we been presented with options to choose from with no idea in what truly to believe in. With all the rumors and stories of all the religions that exist at this time, it seems to be one’s self choice to believe in ones own feelings to be sure that their thought and reputation are not corrupted by following a religion that already exist. However, we do provide diversity and the freedom of choice and the acknowledgement of change.

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