ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the social characteristics and the social role of religion in actual contexts. Some comparisons will be made between different types of society and particular emphasis will be given to the differing functions of religion in pre-industrial as opposed to industrial societies. As far as religion is concerned, an undifferentiated society is one where the institutional role of religion cannot be clearly distinguished from other aspects of the social complex. In more complex pre-industrial societies, religion becomes institutionalized. The problem of the decline of religion has been traced and discussed. What is required is some examination of religion as a system of explanation. The argument is that rationality has supplanted religion, and that rationality implies acceptance of a scientifically oriented cause-and-effect world. In functionalist terms, it can be argued that men have almost invariably evolved the forms of religion which provided economic and psycho-social supports.
