Religion
The life of early man was taken with hazards, irregulations and perplexities. Even now with all our understanding and scientific achievement, life runs an uncertain course.
There are no hostile animals to fear but epidemics still sweep across the land taking a heavy tool to life. Accidents take place leading to mutilation and suffering. One season the rivers run dry and the next they overflow with flood.
Moreover much that is not hazardous is confusing, and this is true for us, how much more so far early man. There is the mystery of birth. Some woman bear no children while others have twins. Dreams are storage, so too are rainbows and eclipses of the sun. And then is the final mystery of death.
Why do such things happen? And such other questions naturally exist before man. When confronted by what is puzzling, he gets answer. When beast by difficulties, he tries to escape them and somehow tries to find an explanation that will let him live with a sense of security in life. Men along have sufficient curiosity, intelligence and imaginations to ask why? When man lacks the real explanations of any phenomena he invents one.
This tendency is sometimes called man’s guess for certainty. A man out of his imagination evolved the idea that the phenomena he could not explain naturally must be due to supernatural forces. The belief is supernatural forces is at the heart of religion.
Religion is inherent in mans nature
Thus religion existed in the primitive age when man had no sufficient knowledge to solve problems. So he believed in supernatural powers and he obeyed and respected them. From this the belief in religion started.
It is possible to define religion as an emotional reaction to the mysterious or to a belief in a higher power it is well to supplement such a definition with the idea that organized religion may be complex of functions relating to many aspect of social life.
The religious spirit of mankind is not as old as its family life. The religion required further development of mind and imagination. It is possible that the religion goes back to the beginnings of culture itself.
It is a fact that the religion is very ancient institution. All the proletariat societies known to as have religion.
The individual in the simplest cultures believe in supernatural powers. It is difficult to describe the supernatural belief because it is supernatural outside ordinary natural terms.
The belief in the supernatural impersonal power that course through the world and is capable of accomplishing all sort of things is not otherwise possible. Although impersonal and diffused, this power is capable of entering into objects and persons giving them properties and capacities they lacked.
Yet in some primitive religions the supreme power is also mystical force, not greatly unlike the modern conception.
The early religious beliefs which manifest themselves in organized magical practices are applied throughout the various activities of man. Disease is particularly subject of magical rites.
Thus medical practice among primitive man was affiliated to the religion. Early religion was closely related to economic organization. The family was also closely related to religion. Religion thus runs through the daily activities of the early man.
The belief in supernatural power gave birth to religion and with the progress of mind and intelligence the religious organizations were organized. The organization of religion continued to penetrate the various other major social activities such as family life, acquisition, food, medical practice, recreation government and war.
Advantages of the religious institutions
- The religious organization prove more effective for controlling social environments, as the members of the religious organization believe in God, in His power and fear of Him. So as not to be punished, they do not violate the rules of the religious organization which is a part of the society.
- Religious organization helps to fulfill the super social aims. A man can control other by developing his religious capacities based on the understanding given by these organizations.
- Religious organizations develop brotherhood among their followers. It gives birth to the base for their social relations and establishes the cultural centres to develop the community, on this basis the sentiment of nationality develop.
- Religious organization establishes close relations among the members and rejoins them in the principle of unity and firmness. Indian Muslim society is the illustration of the above quoted fact.
- Religious organization are the effective weapons of social control, people fearing God obey the rules of those organizations.
- By worship the religious organizations give chance to their organizations present before them the various types of social ideas which lead to socialization.
- The religious organization decided the relation between the members of the family. So it leads to family organizations.
- The religious organization help in increasing patriotism. It establishes unity on common religious principles.
