Religion is a social institution found in all societies that helps explain life's mysteries and provide meaning and purpose. While religions vary in beliefs and practices across places and times, they generally propose sacred explanations for life's questions like what happens after death. Sociologists study how religion impacts society and social institutions, and how society shapes religion. Functionalism views religion as promoting social cohesion by creating a community and shared values, while Marxism sees religion preventing awareness of social inequalities. Individual perspectives emphasize how people construct their own religious beliefs and relationships.

2. Religion is a collection of belief, systems, cultural
systems, and worldviews that relate humanity to
spirituality and sometimes to moral values. Many
religions have narratives, symbols, traditions, and
sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to
life or to explain the origin of life or the universe. They
tend to derive morality, ethics, religious laws, or a
preferred lifestyle from their ideas about human
nature. According to some estimates there are roughly
4,200 religions in the world.

3. “Men in every society throughout the ages have
pondered over questions dealing with such matters
as existence, purpose and divinity. To help explain
the unexplainable, provide a sense of purpose in
life and make the unknown future less threatening,
every society has developed the institution of
religion”

4. Religion is a social institution found in all societies.
However, there are variations in many of these institutional
ideas and beliefs from place to place and time to time. The
common idea and belief across most religions is that there
are sacred elements that should govern our lives as opposed
to the profane things of this world- the ordinary. All
societies have developed religion as a social institution in
some way and offer varying explanations for questions such
as the possibilities after death, relationship with the
spiritual being or life force, coping with distressing
situations and more. Sociologist studies the role that
religion plays in society (how it impacts on members and
other social institutions) as well as how the society impacts
on religion.

5. This perspective emphasizes on how religion functions
in a society to preserve order and social cohesion. It sees
the participation in religious activities and bury oneself
in the values, attitudes and beliefs of the particular
religion. Functionalism sees religion as helping
members to feel a sense of belonging to provide support
and guidance and to create a community of believers
through rituals and practices.

6. Marxist shows the dark side of religious commitment.
Marxist feel that religion prevents people from really
experiencing the inequalities, discrimination and
oppression that are inherent in how society treats with
the lower social classes, women and other
disadvantaged groups.

7. In this perspective religion is seen or understood as a
subjective experience. Emphasis is on understanding
how an individual or a group constructs their ideas of
god, and their relationship with the god and/or
church, how they choose what to believe and what not
to believe, how they relate to other religions, and how
beliefs and non-beliefs affect their daily actions.

8. US missionaries especially in the last half of the
20th century have brought their unique brand of
Pentecostalism and Fundamentalism to the region.
 After emancipation combined religious forms
flourished such as Myal as well as African ones
such as Vodun. Laws were often passed to restrict
these practices such as the OBEAH act in Jamaica
which outlawed its practice.

9.  Resistance also created other distinctive world
views such as through Rastafari formed in the
1930’s in Jamaica based on Marcus Garvey’s
philosophies.
In the 19th century in Trinidad, Guyana and
Suriname there were Hindus belonging to various
sects who have schools today. Many Hindus were
also converted to Presbyterianism due to the
Canadian missions there who marketed it as a
means towards upward mobility.

10. Our people did accept the religious beliefs of the
smaller denominations who came as missionaries in so
the Caribbean countries have wide varieties of
Christianity.
Religion is influenced by the stratification of society
where Europeans and Coloreds normally attended
mainstream religions and more syncretic (combined)
religious forms were associated with the poorer
groups. Dual membership often existed where people
would have formal alliances with a mainstream
religion but still would practice traditional forms such
as in Cuba with Santeria.

11. Ideas of the dominant class are usually
perpetuated in religious beliefs. The system of
religion in the Caribbean has been a struggle
between the ideas of the dominant Europeans and
colonized peoples.
 Syncretism and Hybridization have re-created
the institutions of religion primarily through the
Africans and Amerindians adopting many
Europeans forms and practices into their own
traditions from slavery until now.

12. Religion can help groups maintain solidarity (
integration, union or fellowship) and keep their
traditions alive in the face of globalizing western
culture. For example the Garifuna ( descendants of
the Caribs,Arwaks and West African people) still
practice many of their African customs today.

13. Religion can be a source of oppression. For
example the oppression of women in almost all
mainstream and alternative religions. A woman in
a mainstream religion such as Roman Catholicism,
plays a conservative role where religious laws affect
her reproductive health that is birth control and
abortion.

14. Institutions
Religion is seen as a major factor in the
establishment of the justice system as countries
with different religious systems have usually
varying justice systems. For example Sharia law vs.
Western legal system based on Christianity.
Some religion laws have various beliefs which
bind their believers which can affect interaction
with other institutions for example Jehovah’s
Witnesses do not believe in blood transfusion
altering relationships with health care
professionals.

15.  Religion also has an immense ability to generate
conflict in a society especially among plural
societies.