“What functions does religion perform in a pluralistic society?” (2023)
Émile Durkheim (The Elementary Forms of Religious Life, 1912) saw religion as the cement of a single moral community. A pluralistic society has many such communities under one state, so religion’s functions work at two levels: within each community and across communities. Peter L. Berger (The Many Altars of Modernity, 2014) argued that the modern age is marked not by secularity but by pluralism.
Functions within communities
- Identity and belonging: for minorities and migrants, religion anchors identity. Gurdwaras, temples and mosques in the diaspora act as cultural and welfare centres.
- Meaning and coping: Bronisław Malinowski and Talcott Parsons showed that religion helps people deal with death, uncertainty and suffering, whatever the faith.
- Moral regulation and welfare: communities regulate conduct and run schools, hospitals and charity. The Sikh langar feeds all comers regardless of faith.
Functions across communities
- Overarching civil religion: Robert N. Bellah (“Civil Religion in America”, 1967) described a shared sacred frame of flag, constitution and founding myths above denominations. India’s Constitution, Republic Day and national symbols play a comparable role.
- Civic bridging: Ashutosh Varshney (Ethnic Conflict and Civic Life, 2002) found that Indian cities with dense Hindu–Muslim associational ties had far fewer riots. Shared festivals and syncretic shrines such as Ajmer Sharif build such ties. In the United States, Robert D. Putnam and David E. Campbell (American Grace, 2010) found that interfaith friendships and marriages make people warmer towards other faiths.
- Ethic of coexistence: traditions of sarva dharma sambhava (equal respect for all faiths) legitimise tolerance. In the Pew Research Center’s 2021 survey of 29,999 Indians, 84% said respecting all religions is very important to being truly Indian.
- Voice and social reform: religion gives minorities and the marginal a platform. Examples are the Black churches in the American civil rights movement and B. R. Ambedkar’s conversion to Buddhism (1956).
- Relativising absolutes: Berger notes that pluralism turns faith from fate into choice, encouraging reflexive and tolerant belief.
Limits
Robert K. Merton warned that in multi-religious societies religion can be dysfunctional, dividing rather than integrating. The same Pew survey found that 86% of Hindus draw close friends mainly from their own faith, and religion mobilised for electoral ends can deepen such boundaries.
Conclusion
In a plural society religion integrates within groups easily. Integration across groups depends on civil religion, civic ties and a fair secular state. Its functions are therefore conditional, and whether religion bonds or divides depends on social structure.