System of belief, thought, and action that lies at the bottom of every culture is a
religion. However E. Adamson Hoebel in the “Man in the Primitive World” expounded “of all the manifestations of mans intellectual and social life none is so elusive of definition as is a religion”. It thus embodies supernatural beings and manifests as animism or naturism or some or other ilk of it.
These kind of
religious practices were obvious for the fact that
science was at its lowest ebb. Now, science is progressing by leaps and bounds and semblance of
changes underwent in every realm of life. Society develops with manifold of changes in mores, customs,
public health, communication, infrastructure, agricultural practices and above all technology. It is also true for the social
institutions like marriage and family. After more than three thousand years since the discovery of iron all these have experienced a change.
However, equal changes in religious beliefs and practices are not palpable everywhere. Religion is becoming embroiled as a dimension of ethnicity and bitter underlying cause of the
prejudice. Religion is being preferred as an end towards the exploitation of political and democratic institutions, rather than a way of peaceful living. Nay, its public form “religiosity” is becoming a venomous divisive force for the national and international conflicts.
According to Prof. R. J. Rummel “The near universal assumption that war is mankind's foremost killing machine is wrong. In fact genocides have caused more deaths than all the wars in history”. The deep-rooted religious prejudice is one of the strongest causes of such bloodbaths. It is more devastating and responsible factor of our times. Studies on religion have been surrounded to its origin and evolution in primitive context. Functionalist school of thought tried to explain the functional aspect of religion but few efforts were made to conjoint or synthesize it to the modern values.
Marx considered religion a part of superstructure that would vanish almost automatically when social equity was genuinely established. Waber also hold similar view that religion would vanish with the progression of modernity. Indeed it was a general belief that traditional forms of religion would slowly die away. Emile Durkheim didn't believe the theory of vanishing religion. Durkheim hypothesized that new and rational religion will develop to give a moral basis to the values of rationality and individualism.
It is a time now to rethink. What is the need of religion to modern society? Could religion be aborted or which religion is more suitable? There is an urgent need that social sciences must undertake the scientific study of religions worldwide.
More summaries about the Rethinking religion