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Natashia Pettet 13.1 Is religion a conservative force? 'Conservative forces' in this context can be defined as forces, which protect the existing social order, and radical forces being the opposite of conservative forces are those, which promote change. '' Religion is essentially a conservative force in society and if that is true than it would also be true that religion can also play a part in social change.' To evaluate whether religion is a conservative force or a force for social change I am going to first look at the different perspectives of what role religion takes in a society. The functionalist perspective on religion examines it in terms of society's needs and is mainly concerned with the contribution religion makes to meeting these needs; Durkheim presented an argument from the functionalist perspective he stated that all societies divide the world into two separate categories: The 'sacred and the profane'. Durkheim also put forward...

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