The Structure and Functions of Religion |
The Sociology of Religion According
to sociologists, there is only one religion practiced by all of humanity. Now
you will object to this interpretation, as we have Orthodox Judaism,
Conservative and Reform Judaism, and several similar denominations. There are
numerous Protestant denominations and of course a variety of Muslim and Hindu
practices. Yet, there is only one religion. Consider
this. All religions separate the mundane, everyday life from the sacred. We have
the sacred Shabbat, sacred builings we give the Greek name syn or together and
agogue assembly. Each religion uses
symbols and languages to separate these sacred expressions from everyday talk.
The Hebrew word hallelujah, meaning Let us praise
Hashem, is used by Christians as well as Jews, as is Amen, meaning “so be
it.” Messiah means “smeared.” Translated into Greek it becomes Christ and
in Latin it becomes “anointed,” derived from “annuere” or smeared. All
religions are totemistic. That South Pacific word means ancestors. We pray
“Blessed are you, Lord. Our God, God of of our Fathers, Abraham, Yitzhak and
Yaakov. Christians use the New Testament, which tells them that Jesus was
descended from King David. Eskimos set up totem poles and Hindus pray to
ancestors. Muslims view Mohammed as a sacred person, and Buddhists view the
Buddah , Siddartha Gautama, as a sacred ancestor. The word religion is derived from Latin. Res Legare means “the thing that binds,” as those who belong to the same religion feel bound together. Religion
can also be destructive. The Latin author Lucretius, 99 BCE -55 BCE, “Tantum
religio protuit suadere mallorum” or
“To how much misery has religion persuaded us?” Muslims stand on the
sidewalks of American cities and scream “Kill all Jews,” which is a central
belief of all Muslims. According to
the Koran, the Muslim Bible, no one born of a Jewish mother or father has the
right to live. The
word Bible is derived from the Lebanese city of Biblos. The ancient Greeks
imported the wide leaves of palm trees from Biblos and wrote on them. They
rolled the full leaves into scrolls and called them Biblos or books. Over
the centuries there have been numerous religious wars. Christians killed each
other between 1618 and 1648 during the Thirty year War between Protestants and
Catholics, and only one month ago, Muslims attacked Israel in an effort to kill
all Jews. Religions
of all kinds teach their followers the dogmas that they hold sacred. We teach
the Torah (the Way) and “The Talmud or
Scholarship . Muslims teach not only the Koran but also the Hadith or Muslim
Law. We view Hebrew as a sacred
language, Catholics views Latin as sacred, and Muslims consider Arabic, in which
the Koran is written, as sacred. Every
religion designates a few followers as a sacred clergy.
Jews call their clergy Rabbi, derived from the Hebrew word Rav, meaning
more. The Rabbi knows more than we. Catholics call their clergy Father, Muslims
call their clergy Imam. All
religions use a separate calendar. The Jewish calendar determines the Jewish
Holy Days and Festivals, as does the widely accepted Christian calendar called
The Gregorian calendar, named after Pope Gregory, who was instrumental in having
the old Julian calendar revised to its present condition. There
are those who believe that Shem Yisborach views all men according to their
adherence to His most important teaching. “…and you shall walk humbly with
your God and you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” We have Rabbis such as
Rabbi Laizer Labkowski, who is a role model for all of us. The same was true of
Rabbi Martin Goldberg, as well as a Christian man who risked his life to save me
from murder by the Nazi killers. I
taught The Sociology of Religion at Buffalo State College for many years. There
is of course much more to be learned about this. Why not go to a library and
read a book about this. Be well, my friends, and love your neighbor. Shalom u'vracha. |