One Answer

  1. There were a lot of similar questions, but I'll answer them again. Religion and science have completely different functions. I will not talk about the functions of science, but I will tell you about the functions of religion, referring to the textbook “Fundamentals of Religious Studies”:

    There are several functions of religion: ideological, compensatory, communicative, regulatory, integrating-disintegrating, culturotranslating, legitimizing-de-legitimizing.

    Religion fulfills its ideological function primarily due to the presence in it of a certain type of views on man, society, and nature. Religion includes worldview (explaining the world as a whole and individual phenomena and processes in it), worldview (reflecting the world in sensation and perception), worldview (emotional acceptance or rejection), world attitude (evaluation), and so on. The religious worldview sets “ultimate” criteria, Absolutes, from the point of view of which the world, society, and people are comprehended, and goal-setting and meaning-making are ensured. Giving meaning to existing existence provides an opportunity for those who believe to break out of limitations, supports the hope of achieving a “bright future”, to get rid of suffering, misery, loneliness, and moral decline.

    Reducing religion to an explanation of the world is a very serious mistake!

    Religion performs a compensatory function, makes up for the limitations, dependence, and impotence of people-in terms of both restructuring consciousness and changing the objective conditions of existence. Real oppression is overcome by “freedom in the spirit”; social inequality is transformed into “equality” in sinfulness, in suffering; church charity, charity, charity, and income redistribution mitigate the misery of the destitute; disunity and isolation are replaced by brotherhood in the community; impersonal, material relations of individuals who are indifferent to each other are compensated by personal communion with God and communion in a religious group. The psychological aspect of compensation is important – stress relief, solace, catharsis, meditation, spiritual enjoyment, even if the psychological process is set in motion by an illusion.

    Religion provides communication, performs a communicative function. Communication develops in both non-religious and religious activities and relationships, including the processes of information exchange, interaction, and perception of a person by a person. Religious consciousness prescribes two plans of communication: 1) believers with each other; 2) believers with God, angels, the souls of the dead, saints, who act as ideal mediators, intermediaries of communication between people – in the liturgy, prayer, meditation, “secret vision”, etc.

    The regulatory function is that certain ideas, values, attitudes, stereotypes, opinions, traditions, customs, and institutions are used to manage the activities and relationships, consciousness, and behavior of individuals, groups, and communities. Especially important is the system of norms (religious law, morality), models (numerous role models), control (monitoring the implementation of prescriptions), rewards and punishments (“rewards” that are valid and promised in the posthumous existence).

    The integrating-disintegrating function unites individuals, groups, and institutions in one respect and separates them in another. Integration contributes to the preservation, disintegration-to the weakening of the stability and stability of the individual, individual social groups, institutions and society as a whole. The integration function is performed within the limits within which a more or less unified, common religion is recognized. If the religious consciousness and behavior of the individual are found to be inconsistent with each other, if there are different and even opposing confessions in social groups and society, religion performs a disintegrating function.

    Religion, being an integral part of culture, performs a culturtranslating function. It promotes the development of certain strata of religious culture, such as writing, printing, and art, ensures the protection and development of the values of religious culture, and transfers the accumulated heritage from generation to generation.

    Legitimizing-de-legitimizing function means legitimizing certain social orders, institutions (state, political, legal, etc.), laws, norms, patterns as due, or, conversely, as the opposite.the statement of illegality of some of them. Religion puts forward the highest requirement-maxima (Latin maxima – the highest principle), according to which an assessment of certain phenomena is given and a certain attitude towards them is formed. The maxim is given a mandatory and immutable character.

    As you can see, there is nothing in common with the functions of science.

Leave a Reply

Categories