Religion has been
described as ‘the opium of the masses’, it is no more and no less than
ideology. Critically discuss this claim using a single religious phenomenon in
one or two cultures.
Every, or at least most cultures have a way
of honouring their dead. A person’s funeral is a way of celebrating a persons
life as well as introducing them into the afterlife in whatever way seems
appropriate. Religion is seen as the ‘natural order’ of thing, its logic is
based on historical events and it assumes that things will stay the way they
are, that the way things are now is the way they were meant to be. These are
also the three theories of ideology proposed by Karl Marx. The philosopher
Immanuel Kant has also claimed that religion is a mere body of laws. These laws
are the beliefs and rituals that people follow in life and are still affected
by them when they die. Many see religion as a form of control, mediating all
aspects of life from childhood to adulthood, and then old age, it would also
seem that religion affects us even in death.
In Castile, ancient Spain, death was ...
