The Importance Of Religion As An Agent Of Socialization

The religious organization I had the privilege to study this semester was the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Santa Rosa (UUCSR). The UUCSR is a liberal religious group who meet every Sunday for worship. They welcome all walks of life, and seek to provide a place for spiritual worship without judgements from others. They claim they are not necessarily a Christian group, as some members are Christian and others are not, but a non-dogmatic religious tradition. The topic I found most interesting, and is my primary concern, is how the UUCSR uses religion as an agent of socialization, both internally, as in morals and values, demonstrated by the symbolic importance of the children’s affirmation, and externally, as an outward agent for social …show more content…
In class, we discussed Wood’s “Faith in Action: Religion Race and Democratic Organization in America,” that provided a framework in how to view religion as an agent for social change. It discusses the organizing process based on religion, and how the church can transform into a political power to influence the community. The UU Congregation provides me with a firsthand experience seeing this in action. They sent fifty ministers to the Standing Rock protests in North Dakota. Their intention was to stand as a witness to the events at hand, and stand in solidarity, in a prayerful nature, with the local tribes. The church use existing social networks, with relationships built upon more than just casual chat to communicate the messages from leaders of the church to lay members. Wood defined this as social capital, and it is what makes the church function so effectively as an agent for social change. The UU chose to make a public stand against something that all members felt was against human rights, and chose to act in a political way to reinforce their beliefs on the importance of the individual, and their connection to society and the greater world around