Religion as a Meaning System

Religion as a Meaning System 

At the center of functionalist definitions of religion is the assertion that religion is a meaning system.

This definition, however, is to broad.  It would be more accurate to say that there are several types of meaning systems and religion is one of those meaning system.  The difference is syntax.  In geometry (although I'm sure not many want to go back to those years) we learned that every rectangle was a parallelogram but not every parallelogram was a rectangle.  The principle is the same here.  If every meaning system was a religion then everything we do, believe in, support, would be considered an action of religious participation.

On that notation we can now consider Nationalism.  Nationalism is a meaning system.  It can bring a country together in times of hardship, take the Revolutionary War in American history or the events of 9-11 for examples.  During world cups around the world, countries come together to support their teams.  They preform rituals.  It could even be said that the teams are worshiped, praised.  Does this sound like the beginning of a religion?

For many social scientists meaning systems like religion, create, manufacture, and recreate human identities and create and recreate human groups and communities including families, cliques, enclaves, regions, nations, and a sense of global community through shared meanings, shared cultural interactions, and shared perspectives. 

Can it not be said that Nationalism creates human identities on a large scale?  

Another interesting idea is atheism as a meaning system.

If, on the other hand, one defines religion in functional terms seeing religion as one form or type of meaning system that gives meaning to people’s lives then atheism can be viewed as a religion or better a meaning system.

This is an example of how the functional definition of religion as a meaning system is to broad.  I find it hard to even call atheism a type of meaning system.  It does not give meaning to the world around it in the say terms as traditional religion or even nationalism.  It is more that with atheism is almost always science.  

Science is a meaning system.  In fact, science could be called a religion as well.  There is a lot of blind faith, known truths, that one must believe are true without doing the calculations oneself (for you would need many a life-times to prove all that has already been proven).  It is a progressive religion that changes with society and the increasing knowledge of the world and universe.  If there is an unanswered question in this world, like black holes and dark matter, then scientist will say the answer can be found in science, but we just don't have the technology yet to prove it.  This is faith.  It gives comfort and meaning to the world without always giving answers.

Religion and the Individual

Humans have two types of identities: social identity and self-identity. Social identity is what other people attribute to someone. Self-identity is the process of self-development through which we formulate a unique sense of self and a sense of our relationship to the world. 

Religion and Age

I find the best examples of religion and age come from the Children of God and the Boston Church of Christ religions.  Both religions targeted young adults, those right out of college or those currently in college.  They targeted an age of discover for human self-identity.  They gave out of work colleges students something to do and a place in the world.  The Children of God used the age they were in (a time of sex and drugs) to their advantage.  Their idea of free sex did well in that time period.  The Boston Church of Christ gave an intense support system to their members.  At a time when the young adults were far from home (most of the time for the first time in their lives), the Boston Church of Christ gave emotional support.  It is no wonder they did well with recruiting.  It should be noted that despite high recruitment rates they also had low retention rates.  The Children of God's type of living arrangements made it hard to leave the church and remain financially stable.

Religion, Ethnicity, and Race

They found, in other words, that American Christianity remains the most segregated institution in the US today just as it was in 1963 when the Reverend Martin Luther King remarked that Sunday beginning at 11 am was the most segregated hour in the United States. ("Hues in the Pews: Racially Mixed Churches an Illusive Goal", Christian Century, 28 February 2008, http://hirr.hartsem.edu/cong/articles_huesinthepews.html).

The British-Israelism and Christian Identity are probable some of the most extreme christian religious groups with regards to religion and race.  The British-Israel rationalized that they were descendants of Israel.

According to British-Israel theology, the true inheritors of the birthright and name of Israel can  be found today as the 'white, English-speaking peoples'. 

This rationale can only lead to race superiority.  Although the British-Israelism racial chauvinism was mostly covert, the Christian Identity another version of the British-Israelism was anything but covert.  The Christian Identity grow out of the face of social changes and a need to preserve the status quo.  Groups like the Ku Klux Klan held similar beliefs.  I'm sure I don't need to elaborate to get my point across.