The functions of religion: A reappraisal

Author:
  • BWBryan R. Wilson
    Bryan R. Wilson
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Abstract
The loss by religion in the West of its social functions is seen as the circumstance that has permitted social, political, and economic agencies to reduce and abandon their support of Christianity. Toleration of different denominations by the state (and ecumenism in the churches) is taken to have become possible as religion was extruded from the institutional framework of society. Once its erstwhile latent fimctions were appropriated and rationalized by specialized agencies outside the religious sphere, religion was liberated from its role of providing support for secular authorities, and acquired unwittingly a new ideological independence and the potential capacity for social criticism. However, since religion has become so largely privatized, the churches suffer from uncertainty of social purpose. The functions of religion have become largely explicit and increasingly personal, hence religion has become a matter of individual choice among a variety of promised and mainly this-worldly benefits. New relig...

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