Hannah Murray

Sociology of Religion

Assignment 3

11 April 2018

Power and Religion

Power is fought over and desired by some who are ambitious for it. In many cases

people have used power to control a religious group for their benefit. I believe that

sometimes humans unintentionally crave power or being in charge. People like the sense

of having power over others and I think it goes hand in hand with religion. “‘Power’ is a

quality inherent in all human relationships, at least partly determining the character of a

society. The significance of power to every individual makes it into something that is

desirable, intimidating, and dangerous. One might say that this alone gives power

something of the sacred” (Borg, 2017). In my opinion power and religion is the most

relevant to our modern world of religious beliefs because people who have power in a

religious group have the ability to share with a larger population. Because these people

have power they are able to influence the people involved in the religion. I believe that

power and religion go hand in hand.

Religion provides hope even when humans are in hopeless situations. When

referring to religion, I don’t think that this term is limited to a belief in God. According to

the article Religion and Power “Belief in political doctrines, such as communism or

fascism, can also be religious in nature, as can ad hoc religious movements focusing on

football stars, pop stars, etc.” People will use their power to manipulate others into doing
whatever they please especially when in a religious group. The “leaders” of the religious

organization have a large influence on the members because the people have faith in

these leaders to help.

Power gives people the ability to control and influence other peoples feeling,

thoughts, and behaviors. For example, the story of Jonestown, Jones was a white minster

who preached to mostly African Americans and they called themselves the Peoples

Temples. Jones became very paranoid and convinced his people to drink punch that

would kill themselves. There were over 900 people who died in Jonestown including Jim

Jones, but they found Jones with a gunshot to his head. It’s baffling to me that Jones

convinced over 900 people to kill themselves including their children. The Peoples

Temple were so persuaded by Jones that he convinced them that killing themselves was

the right thing to do. Even survivors from the massacre explained that what they were

doing was incredible and they were doing the right thing. In my opinion this is a perfect

example of power and religion.

“Religion has power. It has authority, and it can get people to do things that

nothing else can. One-way that religion gets power through is fear. The fear of an eternal

punishment and the chance to receive an ultimate reward are very tempting to some

people, and when people begin to adhere to the religion, and raise their children with the

religion, the children don't dare to question the religion, partially because of the fear of

being disinherited, as can occur in some religions, and partially because they have been

taught not to, which allows religion to go by undisturbed” (Cawley, 2016). I thought this

quote was worded very nicely and explains it extremely well. When you grow up in a

family who has a certain religion they aren’t going to question their parents because they
have been taught to obey their parents. A lot of people have faith because they fear they

will not have eternal life after death if they do not believe in a higher power. As the quote

states power creates a sense of fear so the people will obey the rules.

As Borg says stated in his article, “‘religious power’ is the chance of getting

people to do things, by making reference to ‘realities’ or meanings that transcend what is

ordinarily thought of as human.” Humans need the feeling of being accepted and being

apart of a religion allows that feeling. Having power in the religious group allows them to

have a force over the people. Essentially the leader, priest and pastor could say whatever

they like and most of the time the people will believe them. The people expect them to

tell them the truth about their religion so they usually believe what they are telling them

even if it is nonsense.

Many men are malicious and have taken advantage of their capability to twist

what is right and wrong. In our resources for further readings and studies there are

articles that discuss the religion Muslim. “More than 1.5 billion people profess the

religion called Islam. For vast numbers of these believers, their religion is their life.

Rightly or wrongly, they are passionate about their religion. Though many Muslims are

basically peaceful and mean well, the powerful influence of Islamic religious beliefs—

and the extremists who capitalize on the most militant understanding of those beliefs—is

causing many others to become violent” (The Power of Religion, 2015). People take

their power too far and become violent to prove they are in control.

In conclusion, most people crave power especially in religious groups. People are

vulnerable and are trust the leaders in their religions. “Religious power has characteristics

that are identical to those of other kinds of power. It is very unstable and unpredictable,
like any form of power. It can be converted in other kinds of power—for instance,

financial power. It can be part of power constellations. When it dominates these, we

might speak of religious regimes. The significance of religious power for the

development of society cannot be overestimated, and is studied intensively” (Borg,

2017).
Reference:

Borg, M. B. (2017, June 16). Religion and Power - Oxford Handbooks. Retrieved April

10, 2018, from

http://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199588961.001.000

1/oxfordhb-9780199588961-e-011

Cawley, J. (n.d.). Figure 2f from: Irimia R, Gottschling M (2016) Taxonomic revision of

Rochefortia Sw. (Ehretiaceae, Boraginales). Biodiversity Data Journal 4: E7720.

https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.4.e7720. What Is the Relationship between Religion and

Power?doi:10.3897/bdj.4.e7720.figure2f

The POWER of Religion. (2015, May 20). Retrieved April 11, 2018, from

https://www.tomorrowsworld.org/magazines/2015/may-june/the-power-of-religion