Religion is often seen as conservative in the sense of being ‘traditional’, defending traditional customs, institutions, moral views and roles. Religion upholds traditional beliefs about how society should be organised. Religion is also seen as conservative because it functions to conserve or preserve things as they are. It stabilises society and maintains the status quo.
The view of religion is held by functionalists, Marxists, and feminists. Although each of these perspectives see the role of religion differently, all of them argue that it contributes to social stability. Functionalists see religion as a conservative force because it functions to maintain social stability and prevent society from disintegrating. For example, as Parson stated; it promotes social solidarity by creating value consensus, thus reducing the likelihood of society collapsing through individuals perusing their own selfish interests at the expense of other. It also helps individuals to deal with stresses that would otherwise disrupt the life of society. Durkheim, another sociologist shares his view that the sacred symbols represent society’s collective conscience, which is the shared norms, values beliefs and knowledge that make social life and cooperation between individuals possible- without these society would disintegrate. For Durkheim, regular shared religion rituals reinforce the collective conscience and maintain social integration. Participating in shared rituals binds individuals together, reminding them that they are part of a single moral community to which they owe their loyalty. By contrast Marxists see religion as an ideology that supports the existing social structures and acts as a means of social control, creating stability in the interests of the powerful. This helps maintain the status quo by preventing the less powerful from changing things. Marx see religion as