Religion: Its Position and Role in Organizing Life and Society

Dr. Michel E. Abs

Secretary General of the Middle East Council of Churches

In sociology, there is no phenomenon more difficult to define than the religious phenomenon, given the historical path in which it has followed, and given the diversity and ramifications of existing religious sects, especially as they deal with the field of the sacred, as well as with the Creator to whom everything is attributed, from eternity to eternity.

Since humanity had begun to ponder over natural and life phenomena, it began to develop anxieties based on the experiences it lived and stored in its memory, so it entered the tunnel of insecurity, a fact which resulted  in creating  a state of constant search for an enduring safety that has lasted up till our day and age.

The first human being was frightened by natural phenomena as well as by prevailing human practices to deal with them alike. This resulted in the search  for figuring out  the best means to safeguard and immunize oneself against them and suggested beliefs and myths in an attempt to understand that which was prevailing so as to find a way for protection from events or from their consequences. So it was that totemic beliefs and beliefs of reincarnation came to appear as myths that developed into paganism as time went on and with which humanity settled for long periods of time until the emergence of what was termed as monotheistic religions.

The Iraqi researchers, Farhan and Abd, mention in their book "The Role of Gods and Priests in Expelling Evil and the Devil in Ancient Iraq" that the people of Mesopotamia believed that "things move by themselves, so the human being saw himself surrounded by powers that were either gods or demons, meaning that the sky and the earth were filled with an incalculable number of spirits. The same researchers postulated that the Sumerians “were the first to imagine that there was a large group of superhuman beings” and that “one had to fear them and work to appease them by means of sacrifices.” They moreover added that some believed that "the evils of the jinn and spirits were the sons of the ancient evil deities, and that these formations were attributed to supernatural powers, and included such mishaps as sudden illness, pain and other frightening conditions." They also believed that " good jinns and spirits were the children of the great gods".

These are a few examples of the first attempts to discover the meaning  the existing supernatural forces of nature and to understand the beyond as well as elucidate what was going on in life and in the universe, which if it is to indicate anything, in addition to the primitiveness of revelation, it shows the prevalence of feelings of insecurity, fear and ignorance that accompanied such beliefs.

Thus it was, that for long periods of time, which we will not dwell upon in the amount of their validation and analysis here, the issue of creation and destiny preoccupied humanity  since it began to become aware of its own existence and tried to find a place for itself in the cosmic system according to such an awareness. It follows that the issue of Divine Revelation as well as of its manifestation evolved among peoples according to the level of their cultural and spiritual progress, with each civilization proposing its own vision of the Creator and of creation, a vision that appeared embodied in various forms, until we reached the era of monotheism.

With the advent of monotheism began a time of different posing of the great questions that humans had tried to answer, and the monotheistic religions came to promote the exclusivity of a number of answers, and present integrated systems of faith that would interpret all the phenomena of life and give immediate or enduring solutions to all problems and crises, and even disasters, that they were felt to be endured. The creature was thus lost in a universe that knew no beginning and no end.

There is no doubt that the modern analysis of the religious phenomenon began with the beginnings of sociology as of the end of the Industrial Revolution, and that the emergence of the features of our modern world where science, and later on measurement, came to be adopted in order to investigate various existing phenomena.

In his book The Sacred and the Profane, Mircea Eliade notes that, while the modern person thinks of the world as being entirely profane or secular, sometimes the attraction of that which is sacred finds itself unwittingly or involuntarily as strongly prevalent.

Moreover, in the Iliad the term `homo religiosus` , which is the Latin term for a religious personality , refers to the idea that human existence is religiously inclined in nature, , i.e., a person whose behavior and thought are completely spurred by religious thoughts and motives.

Inherent religiosity is not due to belief or to institutional affiliation per se, but refers to our existential tendency towards transcendence, freedom and meaning-making, regardless of our religious or non-religious backgrounds or social convictions.

Are humans considered religious creatures?

Homo sapiens is a religious creature. Once we become conscious of our humanity, we begin to search for religion because we are creatures in search of meaning.

We must acknowledge, as researchers in sociology, that religion exists as an organized and integrated set of beliefs, behaviors, and norms that focus on spiritual needs and basic social values. Moreover, religion is a universal cultural element present in all social groups, as Roger Bastide expounds in his writings. He very often mentions in his book "African Religions in Brazil", where he considers that religion has a functional, social and cultural role that is indispensable and needed by all societies, whatever their level of progress is. Bastide considers that if religion constitutes a safe haven for a human being when confronted with the fear of supernatural powers which he does not understand. This is a special feature found in primitive societies. However, in modern society, such an expressed state is exemplified in felt suffering from social forces such as market law, economic crises, bankruptcy of productive institutions and unemployment, factors which can pounce on the human being that which supernatural forces were felt to have pounced on him in primitive society.

On the other hand, if religion is a tool for capitalist exploitation in some advanced industrial societies, it is a tool for liberation, emancipation and growth in other societies, and contemporary history clearly shows instances where  religion and religious leaders were the main masterminds behind the emergence of liberation movements as well as of revolutions.

The lesson of all this lies for us in the individual and collective awareness of the pledge of allegiance adopted by the believing group, and based on this awareness, the relationship of its members with religious belief is determined, that is their relationship with their Creator as well as with one another.