Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Sociology of Religion
Assignment 3
11 April 2018
Power is fought over and desired by some who are ambitious for it. In many cases
people have used power to control a religious group for their benefit. I believe that
sometimes humans unintentionally crave power or being in charge. People like the sense
of having power over others and I think it goes hand in hand with religion. “‘Power’ is a
quality inherent in all human relationships, at least partly determining the character of a
society. The significance of power to every individual makes it into something that is
desirable, intimidating, and dangerous. One might say that this alone gives power
something of the sacred” (Borg, 2017). In my opinion power and religion is the most
relevant to our modern world of religious beliefs because people who have power in a
religious group have the ability to share with a larger population. Because these people
have power they are able to influence the people involved in the religion. I believe that
Religion provides hope even when humans are in hopeless situations. When
referring to religion, I don’t think that this term is limited to a belief in God. According to
the article Religion and Power “Belief in political doctrines, such as communism or
fascism, can also be religious in nature, as can ad hoc religious movements focusing on
football stars, pop stars, etc.” People will use their power to manipulate others into doing
whatever they please especially when in a religious group. The “leaders” of the religious
organization have a large influence on the members because the people have faith in
Power gives people the ability to control and influence other peoples feeling,
thoughts, and behaviors. For example, the story of Jonestown, Jones was a white minster
who preached to mostly African Americans and they called themselves the Peoples
Temples. Jones became very paranoid and convinced his people to drink punch that
would kill themselves. There were over 900 people who died in Jonestown including Jim
Jones, but they found Jones with a gunshot to his head. It’s baffling to me that Jones
convinced over 900 people to kill themselves including their children. The Peoples
Temple were so persuaded by Jones that he convinced them that killing themselves was
the right thing to do. Even survivors from the massacre explained that what they were
doing was incredible and they were doing the right thing. In my opinion this is a perfect
“Religion has power. It has authority, and it can get people to do things that
nothing else can. One-way that religion gets power through is fear. The fear of an eternal
punishment and the chance to receive an ultimate reward are very tempting to some
people, and when people begin to adhere to the religion, and raise their children with the
religion, the children don't dare to question the religion, partially because of the fear of
being disinherited, as can occur in some religions, and partially because they have been
taught not to, which allows religion to go by undisturbed” (Cawley, 2016). I thought this
quote was worded very nicely and explains it extremely well. When you grow up in a
family who has a certain religion they aren’t going to question their parents because they
have been taught to obey their parents. A lot of people have faith because they fear they
will not have eternal life after death if they do not believe in a higher power. As the quote
states power creates a sense of fear so the people will obey the rules.
As Borg says stated in his article, “‘religious power’ is the chance of getting
ordinarily thought of as human.” Humans need the feeling of being accepted and being
apart of a religion allows that feeling. Having power in the religious group allows them to
have a force over the people. Essentially the leader, priest and pastor could say whatever
they like and most of the time the people will believe them. The people expect them to
tell them the truth about their religion so they usually believe what they are telling them
even if it is nonsense.
Many men are malicious and have taken advantage of their capability to twist
what is right and wrong. In our resources for further readings and studies there are
articles that discuss the religion Muslim. “More than 1.5 billion people profess the
religion called Islam. For vast numbers of these believers, their religion is their life.
Rightly or wrongly, they are passionate about their religion. Though many Muslims are
basically peaceful and mean well, the powerful influence of Islamic religious beliefs—
and the extremists who capitalize on the most militant understanding of those beliefs—is
causing many others to become violent” (The Power of Religion, 2015). People take
their power too far and become violent to prove they are in control.
In conclusion, most people crave power especially in religious groups. People are
vulnerable and are trust the leaders in their religions. “Religious power has characteristics
that are identical to those of other kinds of power. It is very unstable and unpredictable,
like any form of power. It can be converted in other kinds of power—for instance,
might speak of religious regimes. The significance of religious power for the
2017).
Reference:
Borg, M. B. (2017, June 16). Religion and Power - Oxford Handbooks. Retrieved April
http://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199588961.001.000
1/oxfordhb-9780199588961-e-011
Power?doi:10.3897/bdj.4.e7720.figure2f
The POWER of Religion. (2015, May 20). Retrieved April 11, 2018, from
https://www.tomorrowsworld.org/magazines/2015/may-june/the-power-of-religion