Rational Choice Theory and Religion †Free Samples to Students

Question: Discuss about the Rational Choice Theory and Religion. Answer: Introduction: Religion is a broad field of study. Religion has many different views. There are different believers of different religion. Religion offers various beliefs and various thoughts. It varies from person to person and it varies within different communities. The religion is defined by different people in different manner. It is included in the academic curriculum in order to highlight the unidentified angle of religion. In the academic curriculum religion is described as the way of living life. The historical aspects related to the religion is being taught in the academic syllabus. While studying the religion in the academic course the people are not concerned whether the claims made are genuine or not. Apart from this the academic curriculum does not compel the students to join that particular religion. In the curriculum religion is studied as a historical, social and cultural phenomenon. The academic curriculum teaches the student how religion affects history, culture, politics and the social norms. The essay however presents a critical thought on the students who are involved in the study of religion has more advantage than the students who are not in the study of religion[1]. The students who are in the study of religion learns to be more rational and they learn to be more practical. They develop certain skills like they understand the skill of thoroughly understanding the religious practices and beliefs. The students develops the thought of the reason of the importance of the religion to the religious community and the society. It enables the students to the cultural context that makes the individuals to react either negatively or positively to the belief or the practices that prevails. The academic knowledge enables the students to judge the practice whether the practice is justified or not. The students are exposed to the social and the psychological aspects of religion[2]. The students who are aloof form the study of religion are not aware of the practical reasoning power of the religion. They are not aware of the fact that there are certain psychological reasons behind every religion. They are not exposed to the cultural reasons of following a certai n religion. Studying the religion as an outsider brings out more possibilities to the concept of religion. The study of religion brings out an outsider view. This is the reason studying religion in the outsider setting is important[3]. The students who are not in the study of religion are not aware of the different angle that are attached to the religion. They believe in a particular religion without knowing the practical reasons that are attached to the belief of the particular religion. Religion is seen by them form a superstitious angle. They treat religion as a means to end. The students who are not in touch with the appropriate study of religion misinterpret the religious texts and they fail to understand the real meaning of the text. The religious texts does not force the individuals to obey the laws. It gives practical and scientific justification of maintaining the aspects that are necessary to live in the society[4]. The students who are not in touch with the study of religion are unable to know the real reasons of believing in religion and the reason of leading the life in the way it is mentioned in the religious texts. Moreover the study of religion makes the students aware of the global culture and glob al religion. The students who are not in touch with the study of religion are not able to have global thoughts and they fail to realize the scope that the other religions have[5]. The students who are involved in the study of religion have the capacity to turn their childish thoughts into mature thoughts. They have the capacity to turn the darkness into light. The most important thing that the students are able to gain by seeking the religious knowledge is they will be able to make the world a better place to live in[6]. It has been observed in the recent times that there are many religious organizations who claim to have the authentic religious knowledge and they have the power to influence others to believe in a certain religion. The religious communities takes the advantage of the illiteracy among the people and they target those who are not literate enough. The religious communities commit the crime under the title of religion. They try to convince the people that they got the instruction from God and that it is written in the holy texts[7]. The students who are not in touch with the religious subject might believe the same and they might commit the crime as well. The person who will go through the religious texts thoroughly or will do an effective research on religion will know the difference between the right and the wring and can challenge the sayings of the communities. This would enable the students to make the world a better place to live in. The other advantage of getting involved in the study of the religion it can be dealt as the extreme power. Attaining knowledge is equivalent of attaining power. Attaining religious knowledge is the same. The knowledge about the religious cultures and religious lives makes it as one of the most powerful social as well as cultural forces in the human history. It makes the students realize that religion is present everywhere and it always remains integral to the cultures of the human beings. It develops a spiritual self-knowledge of the students who are involved in the study of religion[8]. Therefore this can be concluded by saying that the real motive of the study of religion is developing the personalities of the students and to make the students practical and rational. The reasoning power of the students are sharpened with study of religion. This is the reason the students who acquire the correct knowledge of religion is always on the advantageous side as they are not compelled to blindly follow the religion but they are exposed to different truths of the religion. This is the reason they must be studied. References Beidelman, Thomas O.W. Robertson Smith and the sociological study of religion. Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2016. Esack, Faird. "Redeeming Islam: Constructing the Good Muslim Subject in the Contemporary Study of Religion."Alternation Journal11 (2017): 36-60. Furseth, Inger, and Pl Repstad.An introduction to the sociology of religion: Classical and contemporary perspectives. Routledge, 2017. Guyau, Jean-Marie.The non-religion of the future: A sociological study. Vol. 39. HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY, 2015. Iannaccone, Laurence R. "Rational choice."Rational choice theory and religion: summary and assessment(2016). Klass, Morton.Ordered universes: Approaches to the anthropology of religion. Routledge, 2018. Lovejoy, Arthur.The great chain of being: A study of the history of an idea. Routledge, 2017. Mitchell, Claire.Religion, identity and politics in Northern Ireland: Boundaries of belonging and belief. Routledge, 2017.