Definition & Characteristics of Religion, Social Functions of Religion, Structural aspects of Religion, Theories of Origin of Religion, Organization of Religion — Church, Denomination, Sect Cult

The Constitution of India calls itself secular, yet personal law in India runs largely along religious lines — Hindus, Muslims, Christians and Parsis each governed by their own law of marriage and succession. That arrangement only makes sense once you understand religion the way sociology does: not as private belief alone, but as an organised social institution with its own structure, functions and forms, powerful enough that the legal system has had to build around it rather than replace it.

In two minutes

Religion is a social institution organised around shared belief in the sacred, performing real social functions — integration, social control, meaning-making — well beyond individual faith, and it takes organisational forms ranging from the church to the sect and the cult, each with a different relationship to mainstream society.

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