Religion and Society Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Religion and Society - Essay Example Bureaucracy is the regularized procedure, and formal divisions of responsibility characterize its structure and set of rules and regulations to control activity in the government and large organizations.Bureaucratization of religion is seen in Middle East over past half-century. In Middle East three religious processes have grown together. Two things are seen in Middle East:1.Growth of fundamentalism that has received worldwide attention both by the international establishments and journalists. 2. Bureaucratization of religion and the state co-optation of religion. The bureaucratization of religion focuses on the chain of command of religious professionals and the state co-optation of religion focuses on their neutralization as political rivals. Fundamentalism, the bureaucratization of religion and state co-optation of religion has become intertwined in equally supportive as well as in hostile relations in Jordan. Bureaucratization of religion and politics is also seen in contemporar y Iran where there is due to emphasis on Shia radicalism, national character and revolution. In Iran, the relationship between politics and religion is because of historical context from the past time, and the role of religious leaders in the Iranian political movements and setup. It is said that the Iran has introduced radical sect of Islam for its national character of independence and for its historical culture and tradition to show itself as a great regional and world power. Shi'ism is an end product of the Iranian historical traditions of state, religion, and politics, and of its cultural contributions to the Islamic and world civilizations. Therefore, a remarkable continuity in Iran's past heritage of asserting her independence in the modern world of global transformation which is led by the superpowers of this modern world. Just like Zoroastrianism was of the ancient Sasanid Persia, Iran is the motherland of Shi'ism and Shi'ism is an integral part of Iran (Johnstone,2008). Another example for the Bureaucratized religion is Saudia Arabia.Although Saudi Arabia is thought to be the most religious among all Muslim countries, the question of who in the kingdom determines its central Islamic tract has been the subject of controversy since its foundation. The formation of Saudi Arabia in the early twentieth century involved the unique requirement of the Wahhabi da'wa in the service of the political aims of the Saudi family, Al Sa'ud. The regime has not been without its enemy, but for the most part the Al Sa'ud has been able to contain them. However, since the Gulf War, the social and economic problems that have inundated the country have led to the rise of a radical Islamic fundamentalist movement that has challenged Saudi Arabia's public role as the one Islamic country that has successfully combined culture, tradition and modernity (Wilson, 1986). Religiosity is a term used in sociology that refers to many faces of religious activity, belief and dedication. Religiosity refers more with how religious a person is, and less with how a person is religious in terms of practicing certain rituals, telling the myths, knowing some specific symbols, or accepting certain doctrines about his/her duites and life hereafter. Most of the debates in the study of religion have grappled over conceptualization issues that are really measurement issues. Much had been written in press in the 1960s and 1970s for the typology of the church-sect. Following that period people have seen similar disagreements about secularization which depend heavily on how one decides to measure the concept. Now we argue on what leads to a strict church (Hill & Hood,1999). Life would be more simpler if we could all use the same set of conceptual measures, apply them consistently, and be able to compare our findings systematically (Harvey Whitehouse,2000). Emile Durkheim(1858-1917) is considered to be the father of sociology. He is recognized for making sociology a science, and making it part of the French academic