society
groups is often founded upon religious motivation with the development
of religious concepts, rites, and institutions dependent upon the necessi-
ties, desires, and ideals of social groups. Therefore, religion and society
tend to conserve and strengthen each other to such an extent that their
goals and values often appear to be identical. Social groups interwoven
by religious and natural bonds create a strong cohesive force. In concert
with this cohesive effect, religion gives to society a sense of its own sig-
nificance and self-identity.
Society teaches the individual how to come to grips with its body,
sexual roles, and mental modes by serving as a model for proper behav-
ior. Religion can also satisfy a social person’s material needs, desires, and
cognitive requirements by fulfilling a person’s desire to know, under-
stand, and find meaning. A belief in supernatural beings and performance
of ritual can operate to alleviate desires for such essential things as rain,
crops, victory in war, or healing. In addition to relieving such substantive
desires, religion reduces expressive desires such as fear and anxiety by
providing a minimum level of psychological security. Moreover, religion
spurs a release of communal energy for coping with social problems. The
creation and maintenance of means of coping with social problems, such
as hunger, illness, or homelessness, provides a basis for social stability
and integration.
If religion can act as a cohesive force within a particular society, it can
also function as a disruptive, destructive, and disintegrating force. Wars
sparked by religious motives around the globe have been sources of
widespread suffering and senseless devastation. Even within particular
social groups, religious motives cause disagreements, dissent, and divi-
sions. A potential development is the creation of secret societies within
the context of larger societies.
A secret society is an undeveloped form of religious organization that
is not necessarily united by blood, age, or gender status. Members usu-
ally share a common religious experience, or they join seeking such an
experience, although membership is usually by selection or election.
Admission into the group often follows a period of instruction about the
aim and purpose of the group and initiation symbolized by death and
rebirth. Once a person becomes a full member of a secret society he/she
takes a vow of silence concerning its teachings and rituals.
Illustrative examples of secret societies are the mystery cults of ancient
Greece: Eleusinian, Orphic, Dionysian, and Mithraism, with the origin of
such societies usually attributed to a mystical founder. Although they accord
and even preserve the prevailing social structure, they tend to develop on
the basis of popular dissatisfaction with the traditional modes of religious
observance. The Greek mystery cults are voluntary associations rather than