13.9.2: Legitimating Social Inequalities

 13.9.2: Legitimating Social Inequalities 

Conflict theorists stress that religion legitimates social inequalities. By this, they mean that religion teaches that the existing social arrangements represent what God desires. For example, during the Middle Ages, Christian theologians decreed the divine right of kings. This doctrine meant that God determined who would become king and set him on the throne. The king ruled in God’s place, and it was the duty of a king’s subjects to be loyal to him (and to pay their taxes). To disobey the king was to disobey God. In what was perhaps the supreme technique of legitimating the social order (one that went even farther than the divine right of kings), the religion of ancient Egypt held that the pharaoh was a god. The emperor of Japan was similarly declared divine. If this were so, who could ever question his decisions? Today’s politicians would give their right arms for such a religious teaching. Conflict theorists point to many other examples of how religion legitimates the social order. In India, Hinduism supports the caste system by teaching that anyone who tries to change caste will come back in the next life as a member of a lower caste—or even as an animal. In the decades before the U.S. Civil War, southern ministers used scripture to defend slavery, saying that it was God’s will—while northern ministers legitimated their region’s social structure by using scripture to denounce slavery as evil (Ernst 1988; White 1995; Riley 2012).

study Quizz 

https://quizlet.com/31034245/sociology-chapter-13-flash-cards/

LumenLearning link 

https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-intro-to-sociology/chapter/reading-theoretical-perspectives-on-religion/

Miami School chapter 14 religion-K12

https://www.miamieast.k12.oh.us/cms/lib/OH01001222/Centricity/Domain/167/chap14_new.pdf

How does religion relate to social conflict?

Religion reinforces and promotes social inequality and social conflict. It helps convince the poor to accept their lot in life, and it leads to hostility and violence motivated by religious differences. This perspective focuses on the ways in which individuals interpret their religious experiences.

What is social inequality in religion?

Religious inequalities is a term that refers to the way in which individuals and groups suffer from systemic marginalization, exclusion and, in extreme cases, genocide on account of their religious beliefs and affiliation.Nov 9, 2018