Religion's Role in American Life
The Benefits and Drawbacks of Religion and Faith
With April ruminations of Easter behind us and world tension prevalent between different monotheists, the mere questioning of one’s religion is a radical proposition. A recent text by Christopher Hitchens [2007] prompts one to question religion as an institution of faith and healing. Other written efforts [Ferriss, 2002, Yi, et al, 2004] provide introductions into the relationships between religion and quality of life. These and other textual exhibitions into the roles religion plays in people’s lives inherently coach us toward understanding religion’s connection to everyday life. With this, one might be interested in looking closer at the benefits and/or drawbacks of religion in American life.
The Evidence: Benefits of Religion
It is important to keep in mind that weekly church attendance in the U.S. has been stable since 1990 [Presser & Chaves, 2007]. Much of the stability in attendance can be attributed to immigrant groups, without these groups, attendance would be declining. Thus, regardless of the effects of religion on individuals, attending religious ceremony is a staple in American society. In order to ascertain the benefits of religion we can choose to look at past writings which have documented the benefits of religion in communities and the everyday lives of people. However, three more recent works [Ferriss, 2002 and Yi, et al., 2004; Aranda, 2008] illustrate the diversity of such benefits.
For instance, Ferriss [2002] found that religion promotes happiness in people through social cohesion, increased self-esteem and community service. Yi, et al [2004] discovered that greater spiritual well-being correlated with less risk of depression. Aranda [2008] found that higher levels of religious attendance were associated with low risk of depression. Aranda’s research also indicates that private prayer did not correlate with depression. The summary of these pieces of research lead one to couch religion in a positive light. In other words, religion appears to build community, increase self-esteem and reduce the likelihood of negative mental disorders such as depression.
The Evidence: Drawbacks of Religion
First and foremost, there is no scientific evidence that God nor a religion is anything other than man-made. The most recent literature on the drawbacks points us to Hitchens’ [2007] text “God is Not Great.” As an atheist, Hitchens work is subjective. However, his documented intellectual background and academic prowess do provide him with a position of authority in the debate over religion’s value to society. His central argument is one focused on religion’s mis-representation of man’s origin and its use by those in authority to subjugate the powerless.
Recent research into the role that religion plays in deviance has found an inconsistency. For instance, one group of researchers indicates that religious attendance itself is the key determinant not religion per se.
"Exploratory analyses also found that individuals with high religious importance but low attendance were more likely to have had an affair and weak evidence that marital happiness moderated the association between religiousness and infidelity" [Atkins, et. al., 2008].
In another study [Goode and Willoughby, 2006] it was illustrated that religiosity is not the key, but in fact, just being a part of any community is the essential causal effect. Thus, an important aspect of the debate of the value of religion is that religion itself may be less important than the community dynamic produced by religion.
The Arguments Summarized
Regardless of one’s views on religion or one’s religious behavior, the research indicates that there are benefits and drawbacks to active involvement in religion. The historical etiology of religion elicits much evidence for both. However, the recent literature reveals that Americans are leaning toward personal faith and a migration away from organized religious groups. A key question is whether or not Americans are moving away from church toward other communities or are migrating away from community itself. The latter would most likely be detrimental to both American individuals as well as the wider society.
References
Atkins, David C.,and Deborah Kessel. [2008]. Religiousness and Infidelity: Attendance, but not Faith and Prayer, Predict Marital Fidelity. Journal of Marriage and Family, Volume 70, Number 2, May 2008 , pp. 407-418(12)
Aranda, Maria P. [2008]. Relationship between Religious Involvement and Psychological Well-Being: A Social Justice Perspective, Health and Social Work, Volume 33, Number 1, February 2008 , pp. 9-21(13)
Good, Marie and Teena Willoughby. [2006]. The Role of Spirituality Versus Religiosity in Adolescent Psychosocial Adjustment. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, Volume 35, Number 1, February 2006 , pp. 39-53(15).
Hitchens, C. [2007]. god is not great: How Religion Poisons Everything. New York: Twelve.
Presser, S. and Mark Chaves. [2007]. Is Religious Service Attendance Declining? Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, Volume 46, Number 3, September 2007 , pp. 417-423(7).
Yi, Michael S., Mrus, Joseph M., Wade, Terrance J., Ho, Mona L., Hornung, Richard W., Cotton, Sian., Peterman, Amy H., Puchalski, Christina M., and Joel Tsevat. [2004]. Religion, Spirituality, and Depressive Symptoms in Patients with HIV/AIDS. Presentation at the Society of General Internal Medicine, Annual Meeting. Chicago, IL. 2004.
Religion
|
What do you think about this article?
More in Politics & Society
Latest Articles